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Glossary - Process Credit Cards

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Perpetual Payments is a Payment Service Provider. We process credit card payments on behalf of our Merchants and make sure that their transaction details are kept secure throughout the transaction process with our online debit and credit card payments - accept debit and credit card payments from the internet, by telephone or mail order.

We have achieved the highest level of compliance under the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI). We adhere to the most stringent levels of fraud screening, ensuring that your customer's details remain secure throughout the transaction process.

When a customer pays for products or services with a credit card, the card information is recorded—either by manual entry, a card imprinter, point-of-sale (POS) terminal, or virtual terminal—and then verified so that the merchant can receive payment for the transaction.

This process involves the following parties:

  • Cardholder: the owner of the card used to make a purchase
  • Merchant: the business accepting credit card payments for products or services sold to the cardholder
  • Acquirer: the financial institution or other organization that provides card processing services to the merchant
  • Card Scheme: a network such as VISA® or MasterCard® (and others) that acts as a gateway between the acquirer and issuer for authorizing and funding transactions
  • Issuer: the financial institution or other organization that issued the credit card to the cardholder