Q&A

The billing descriptor (or merchant descriptor) is the way a merchant’s name appears on a credit card statement and is set up together with the merchant identification number when the merchant account is setup. It is used by the credit card holder, to identify the merchant that initiated the charge. Credit card organizations use the billing descriptor within their monitoring systems (e. g. chargeback or fraud monitoring)

A card not present transaction, also known as CNP, MO/TO, Mail Order / Telephone Order represents a payment card transaction, where the cardholders does not or cannot physically present the card to the merchant, at the time when the payment is initiated.

Is a return of funds to a consumer / card holder, initiated by the issuing bank of the payment method used by a consumer to settle a debt.

The “issuer”, “issuing bank” or “card issuer” extends credits to cardholders, establish the terms or cardholders’ account (e. g. credit limits), collect debts, and maintain accounts and cardholder records.

The Merchant Category Code (MCC or “Card Acceptor ID”) is a four-digit number, assigned by different credit card organizations when a merchant first starts accepting the respective form of payment. In the United States, it can be used, to determine if a payment needs to be reported to the Internal Revenue Service for tax purposes. It is used to classify the activity of a merchant and allows the issuing banks to block charges from certain industries (e. g. gambling). In the USA, it is used to block the CNP gambling industry.

The Merchant Identification Number (MID) is a unique identification number assigned by the payment institution (such as an acquiring bank) to a merchant account.