Glossary of Industry Terms

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PCI Related Terms Technical Terms

Qualification

The interchange category assigned to a transaction based upon the data supplied for the transaction and the merchant category code (MCC) assigned to the merchant. Processing rates are associated with the interchange category and may be passed through to the merchant (Interchange Pass-through processing) or the qualification level may be used to identify the discount rate to assign to the transaction (see Qualified Discount Rate).

Qualified Discount

See Qualified Discount Rate.

Qualified Discount Rate

This is almost always the smallest rate a merchant may pay when taking credit cards for sales purchases. A Qualified Discount Rate is the percentage that a business is charged for processing a traction at the lowest rate possible for the merchant. Discount rate pricing can be tiered in a number of different fashions. A typical discounted pricing scheme is a three tier model where the models are Qualified, Mid-qualified, and Non-qualified discount rates. In these cases, interchange qualification rates are broken down into one of these categories with the Qualified being the best rates possible for the merchant category; mid-qualified is the next best rates (with the merchant supplying additional information, such as industry specific information or zip code); and the Non-qualified being the worst rates for the merchant, usually downgrading the transactions to standard or EIRF, possibly due to timeliness issues, for example.

The following is a breakdown of these tiers and examples of corresponding situations. A Qualified Discount Rate is the rate a merchant is charged when all conditions are optimum – that is, when a retail transaction is card-swiped and the merchant batches-out electronically at the end of the day. (Keyed/Internet merchants can still archive Qualified rates by obtaining an AVS response plus order number, plus batching out.)

A Mid-Qualified Discount Rate is charged when a retail merchant keys a transaction or does not batch-out at the end of the day.

A Non-Qualified Discount Rate is charged when a merchant keys a transaction and when the transactions are not batched-out at the end of the day. They can also be set to a non-qualified rate due to a timeliness reason (too many days pass between the authorization and the settlement of the transaction).

Qualified Rate

See Qualified Discount Rate.

Questionable Merchant

A merchant or merchant location at which an excessive number of confirmed fraud transactions have occurred within a specified period.

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Concordia

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Concordia University

Concordia University

2811 NE Holman Street

Portland, OR 97211-6099

To Whom It May Concern:

This letter is in regards to our experiences with PE Systems LLC in Spokane, WA. When we were first contacted by PE Systems regarding the fees we were paying to accept credit cards, we were interested in the idea but because of internal circumstances we decided to wait a while before moving forward with them. The PE Systems professional was politely persistent in following up with us and sticking with us while we decided what we should do. Although it took us quite a while to decide, in the end we agreed to contract with PE Systems.

They successfully uncovered the issues that were causing us to lose money. Their savings process is not complicated and required minimal work on our part. Their operations team is just as great to work with as the sales team. We appreciate how quickly and efficiently they get the job done. There is honestly nothing to lose and everything to gain by partnering with PE Systems.

I highly recommend the PE Systems team and their service to anyone that is looking to save money on their credit card processing fees.

Sincerely,

Dennis Stoecklin

Chief Financial Officer

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