A 9-digit number established by the American Bankers Association (ABA) used to identify a bank or financial institution when clearing funds or processing checks. Also referred to as a routing transit number.

A retrieval request occurs when a cardholder cannot remember a credit card transaction, or when the bank wants order information. The card issuer initiates the retrieval request, and the merchant has 10 days to respond with the order information or the retrieval request will turn into a chargeback. Retrieval requests usually include a fee issued against the merchant.

See “Holdback.”

Money returned to a customer in exchange for the return of purchased goods or services, or when the purchased goods or services were unsatisfactory or unfulfilled.

Regularly scheduled customer payments that occur over time at specific intervals, such as daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annually.

Regularly occurring charges for maintaining a merchant account. Recurring fees include the discount rate, transaction fees, statement fee, and monthly minimum.

A hardcopy document representing a transaction that took place at the point of sale, with a description that usually includes the transaction date, merchant name/location, primary account number, amount, and reference number.

The process of having a customer’s credit card information validated and processed automatically and in real-time. The credit card will be charged and the money will be deposited into your bank account all automatically.