Credit And Debit Terminal Terminology

When discussing credit and debit terminals, some terms come up continuously, while others are more obscure. Some manufacturers refer to terminal technology in proprietary terms. Merchants considering a particular model of terminal need to be able to compare and contrast the features and benefits of the terminals available. The following terms attempt to define features found on terminals from Hypercom, VeriFone and other equipment makers.

Contactless- The terminal can use new cards equipped with secure RFID like components embedded. The card is not swiped, just brought into close proximity with the terminal.

Magnetic reader- a card reader designed to grab data from the magnetic strip on the back of a credit or debit card as it is ‘swiped’ through a credit or debit terminal.

Thermal printer- uses heat to create an image on special application paper. No ink cartridges are required.

Fan-Fold- Receipt paper is a stack, rather than the traditional roll format. Signature capture- The terminal has a touch screen embedded or attached. The customer can sign the screen, and the signature is ‘captured’ into memory on the terminal. This is uploaded to a host server during the batch out process, and stored for later verification.

Drop In- Rolls of paper are ‘dropped in’ to a clamshell holder on the terminal, there is no need for a spindle or to feed paper through a paper path. Makes paper changes very fast and easy.

Active Matrix Display- a type of LCD screen, popular due to weight,image quality, color range and response time.

LED backlight- Light Emitting Diode backlights are used in reliable, low cost displays (as opposed to a bulb).

GPRS- (General Packet Radio Service):Standard for mobile data communication, used in cell networks to transmit and receive data.

Wi-Fi- Communication protocol for (relatively) short wireless LAN connections. Works in a similar manner as a traditional wireless phone in that it needs to relay messages through a base station.

Bluetooth- The most popular PAN (personal area network) protocol. Good for short-range wireless data exchange, and popularly implemented with mobile phone connections.

Battery pack- For wireless terminals, the battery pack stores power. Typically rechargeable, battery packs are available as spare parts as well for extended time away from power sources.

Lithium-ion Batteries - (Li-On) light, high capacity, batteries traditionally used rechargeable applications.

Shopping cart software - Software designed to act as a plug in for internet transactions. Popularly used by web merchants who may not have the expertise to create their own. Many merchant service providers have favorites they work with.

Online payment gateway - Centralized transaction destination point for entry into the payment backend networks. Used for authorizing, processing, and settling transactions online.

Value-added services- In the context of credit and debit processing, services such as gift card, electronic benefit transactions (EBT) and check services that can be added into a terminal’s programming.

RAM Random Access Memory- a non static memory used in electronics.

ROM Disk- A partitioned area of RAM that can be used by a terminal for specific storage needs.

ROM Read Only Memory- a non-volatile form of memory that can retain information while powered off.

Flash Memory- a type of ROM that has become adopted for storage because of increasing capacity and decreasing costs.

RISC processor- Reduced Instruction Set processor- Small instruction set computing is used for some embedded architecture chips. Can be extremely fast when used for specific applications, but takes a memory hit when used for complex operations. A good choice for terminals because of the limited applications that the terminal will be used for.

DUKPT- An acronym for 'Derived Unique Key Per Transaction'. A PIN injection scheme used for secure key-management. This encryption technique uses a unique key for each separate transaction.