The Payments industry can sometimes be a minefield of acronyms, industry jargon and complex definitions.
Here are a few of the main terminologies you will hear within the Payments industry and an explanation of each to ensure you are fully informed.
Acquirer
Acquirer is the term give to the bank that enables you to accept Debit and / or Credit Cards as a method of payment. Your bank will charge you a Merchant Service Fee (MSF) on any credit cards accepted through your Eftpos device.
Contactless
Contactless is the term given to credit cards and debit cards that use radio-frequency identification for making secure payments. The embedded chip and antenna located on the card enables cardholders to wave their card over the Eftpos device at the point of sale to process a payment transaction.
Contactless transactions are traditionally much faster than normal transactions where the card is swiped or inserted, as for transactions under $80NZD, no PIN is required.
EFTPOS (Electronic Funds Transfer at Point of Sale)
Electronic Funds Transfer at Point of Sale (EFTPOS) is an electronic payment system involving electronic funds transfers based on the use of payment cards, such as debit or credit cards, at payment terminals located within a merchants premises.
EFTPOS Reseller
An Eftpos Reseller is a company that leases Eftpos terminals to merchants. These resellers will advise the merchant on which terminal is the most suitable to meet their business needs, and will provide service and support to maintain that Eftpos terminal.
EMV (Europay MasterCard Visa)
EMV stands for Europay, MasterCard and Visa and is a global standard for inter-operation between Chip Cards and Eftpos terminals for authenticating credit and debit card transactions.
This standard was developed to ensure a seamless customer payment experience, regardless of whether the cardholder is using their Chip card in their home country or overseas.
Issuer
Issuer is the term given to the Bank that provides a Debit or Credit card to their customers. As an example, if Westpac provides one of its customers with a Mastercard then Westpac is the Card Issuer.
Merchant
A merchant is any business that accepts Debit and / or Credit cards as a method of accepting payment for goods and services.
NFC (Near Field Communications)
Near Field Communications (NFC) is a short-range (less than 4cm) wireless technology that provides communication between two electronic devices e.g. between a smart phone and an Eftpos terminal. NFC payments are also known as ‘contactless’ payments.
Nitro
Nitro is Skyzer’s fully integrated payment solution. Nitro is made up of two main components. The first is a POS resident software component that resides on the Point of Sale, and the second being the terminal application.
PCI (Payment Card Industry)
PCI stands for Payment Card Industry and consists of all the organizations which store, process and transmit cardholder data. The Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council was formed in 2006 and developed the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards which are used throughout the industry.
PCI-DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard)
The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a proprietary information security standard written by the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council for merchants that handle branded credit cards from the major card brands. This standard governs the rules around the secure storage, processing and transmission of cardholder data and all Eftpos terminals sold in New Zealand and deployed onto the Eftpos networks must meet the relevant PCI DSS requirements.
PA-DSS (Payment Application Data Security Standard)
The Payment Application Data Security Standard (PA-DSS) is a subset of PCI-DSS, and was developed to provide a definitive data standard for software vendors that develop payment applications. The standard aims to prevent developed payment applications for third parties from storing prohibited secure cardholder data. Fortunately, all of Skyzer’s payment solutions have been deemed “Out of Scope” of the PA-DSS standard by Paymark as at no stage does cardholder data ever leave the payment device unencrypted.