Glossary
The following terms, organised alphabetically, are used within the cards industry. Here you will find simple explanations to help you navigate the jargon and specialist terminology.
| PAN (Primary Account Number) |
The cardholder number, usually a sixteen digit sequence, that is embossed on a card and encoded on the card magnetic stripe. |
| PAN Key Entry (PKE) |
A service which may be provided at a merchant terminal where a card details are keyed into the terminal instead of the terminal reading the card magnetic stripe. |
| Payment Card |
A generic term for any plastic card (such as credit, debit and charge cards) used to pay for goods and services. |
| Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) |
An additional monthly insurance premium, based on the outstanding balance on a credit card, that provides a cardholder with protection in the event of illness, disability or unemployment. Cardholders should always check that this sort of product is appropriate to their personal circumstances. |
| Personal Identification Number (PIN) |
A set of characters, usually a four-digit sequence, used by a cardholder to verify their identity at a point-of-sale or at a customer-activated device such as a cash machine. The number is generated by the card issuer when the card is first issued and may be changed by the cardholder thereafter. |
| PIN Pad |
The numeric pad into which a cardholder enters their PIN to authorise a transaction. |
| Point-of-sale(POS) |
A physical location where a customer makes a purchase. |
| POS Terminal |
An electronic device used to process card payments at point-of-sale. |
| POS Transaction |
A transaction taking place at point-of-sale. |
| Pre-authorisation |
Allows the cardholder/merchant to obtain advance approval or verification that sufficient funds are available to make a subsequent purchase using a payment card. |
| Pre-Paid Card |
A stored-value card used to pay for goods and services, mainly as an alternative to cash. |
| Premier Card |
A credit or charge card, usually with a higher credit limit than a standard or classic card, and sometimes providing a wider range of benefits such as travel insurance. Includes gold, platinum and black cards. |
| PSP (Payment Service Provider) |
An organisation which provides a secure payment page for a merchant customer to enter their card details and passes these on to the merchant acquiring bank for processing. The PSP may also offer a 3D Secure service such as MasterCard SecureCode or Visa Verified by Visa. |
| Purchasing Card |
A payment card issued to businesses, companies or government departments to make supplier and/or trade payments. Also known as a procurement card. |
| PWCB (Purchase with Cashback) |
An optional transaction type where a merchant may allow a cardholder, who has already used their card to purchase goods or services from the merchant, to draw cash up to a limit agreed with their acquiring bank. |
