Glossary of Terms: M
Magnetic Stripe
A panel located on the back of a payment card containing magnetically encoded cardholder account information.
Magnetic Stripe Reader
A point-of-sale device that reads the encoded information from the magnetic stripe when the card is passed through the reader. Readers may read Track Two, which contains the cardholder account number and expiration date, or both Track Two and Track One, which contains the cardholder name.
Mail Order/Telephone Order Account(MOTO)
An order system that allows you to receive credit card payments without the cardholder’s signature. This is a card- not-present account in which the merchant and cardholder do not have to be in the same location. Examples include a catalog company or the order of flowers by phone. Both of these would have a MOTO account allowing them to accept orders by mail, telephone, or fax.
MasterCard International, Incorporated
A member-owned international bankcard association, governed by a board of directors, which licenses members to issue cards or accept merchant drafts under the MasterCard Program. MasterCard owns and operates its own international processing network.
MCC
Merchant Category Code - a universal four-digit merchant classification code that identifies the merchant by type of processing, authorization and settlement. Similar to a Standard Industrial Classification (SIC), but more defined.
Media
The documentation of monetary transactions (i.e., sales drafts, credit slips, computer printouts, etc.).
Media Retrieval Requests
Media retrieval is the process of obtaining paper documents from a centralized location. There are two types of media retrieval requests: 1) requests for sales records from cardholders, and 2) requests for documentation in defense of a chargeback from card issuers.
Member
A financial institution that is a member of Visa and/or MasterCard. A member is licensed to issue cards to cardholders (issuer) and/or accepts merchant drafts (acquirer).
Merchant
Store owner or seller of products.
Merchant Agreement
The written contract between the merchant and acquirer that details their respective rights, responsibilities and warranties.
MICR Number
Magnetic Ink Character Recognition - the bank routing and transit, checking account number and check number encoded at the bottom of a check that can be used to authorize the check.
MID
IDentification Number - The identification number assigned to a merchant by the acquirer.
Mid-qualified Rate
The rate assigned to a transaction which has met only some of the qualification criteria set forth by the issuer or association. Usually a key entered transaction that has the AVS information entered during the transaction.
