Here is the much awaited follow-up to our first blog post explaining common acronyms in the PCI (Payment Card Industry).

ACH- Automated Clearing House is an e-payment network which allows fund transfers to occur using Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). The Federal Reserve, in addition to over 98% of US banks belong to the ACH.

Acquirer- A financial institution (bank, public or private company, etc) that develops a seller’s CCP (Credit Card Processing) account. Acquirers maintain all transactions from the seller and distribute them to credit card issuing banks.

AVS- Address Verification System. A service provided by the seller where he/she verifies the cardholder’s address with the issuing bank.

BIN- Bank Identification Number. The Federal Bureau of Standards assigns a 6 digit BIN which is used by credit card companies to keep track of financial transactions. For example,  the Mastercard range starts with a 5 and becomes 5xxxx, and Discover starts with a 6, 6xxxx.(Visa begins with a 4).

ISO- Independent Sales Organization. Third party organizations between merchants and acquiring banks; they must all register with Visa/Mastercard.

MID- Merchant Identification Number. An ID assigned to each merchant by processors for billing and accounting purposes.

POS- Point of Sale. Refers to both the time and place a transaction occurs, and also the devices used to complete the transaction.