Glossary of Terms: F
Factoring
When a legitimate merchant processes another merchant's transactions in return for payment. This practice is forbidden by the associations.
Financial Institution
Any organization in the business of moving, investing or lending money, dealing in financial instruments, or providing financial services. This includes commercial banks, thrifts, federal and state savings banks, saving and loan associations, and credit unions.
Firewall
A security tool that prevents file access through the Internet. It ensures the safety of cardholder information.
Fleet Card
Payment card designed mainly for fueling, maintenance and repairs of corporate motor vehicles. Fleet cards are normally used to provide specialized reporting.
Folio
A number assigned by a lodging merchant for tracking a guest's charges.
Forced
The process by which a voice-authorized transaction is key-entered to be settled electronically with a batch of transactions. Also known as a "post-auth."
Fraud Investigation
The process of identifying suspicious merchant or cardholder activity.
Front-end Network
Network provider responsible for authorizing and capturing transactions and forwarding the information to the back-end network.
