Glossary

3D Secure

An authentication method used by merchants to validate cardholders. The cardholder authenticates their card against the issuing bank's website. The merchant chooses whether to use 3D secure. This enables the merchant to shift liability from themselves to the issuing bank. 3D Secure requires that cardholder interaction. For more information, see 3D Secure (3DS).

Application owner

An application owner is a person or organization that has submitted an app to the Rebilly App Store. For more information, see Submit an app.

Account updater

A service provided by card networks, such as Visa and MasterCard, that updates cardholder information, such as: expiration dates, card numbers, and account numbers. Using account updater services can help prevent involuntary churn, and reduce the need for customers to manually update their information.

Application user

An application user is a person or organization that installs, and uses an app from the Rebilly App Store. For more information, see Install or uninstall an app.

Automated Clearing House (ACH)

An electronic network for processing financial transactions. An alternate payment method, that uses the routing and account number for US bank account holders, to electronically transfer money to the merchant.

Acquirer bank

An acquiring bank is a bank, or financial institution, that processes credit or debit card payments on behalf of a merchant. The acquirer must approve or decline a credit card transaction. If approved, the acquirer must then complete the transaction by placing the funds into the merchant's account. The term acquirer indicates that the bank accepts or acquires credit card payments from the card-issuing banks within an association.

Acquirer Bank Identification Number (BIN)

A BIN used to settle and clear a transaction. The acquirer BIN is used to activate 3D Secure.

Action

Within the Rebilly rules engine, an action is an operation that executes when an event occurs. Action and event conditions are defined in rules. For more information, see Actions.

Application Programming Interface (API)

A software interface which facilitates communication between two or more pieces of software. An API specification describes how to use the interface.

API authentication

Identity authentication of a user that is trying to access API resources.

API key

The API secret or publishable key. A user can have multiple keys. A user can be a member of one or more merchants. And a merchant can have multiple members. For more information, see API keys.

Apply

Redeemed coupons are applied automatically to a customer's invoice, if this complies with the coupon's restrictions. For more information, see Coupons.

Approval

The result of a valid transaction that is accepted by the issuing bank.

Audit

A compliance or financial evaluation that takes place once, or more, each calendar year.

Auth (authorization)

A transaction type used to authorize that a card is valid. It results in a hold placed on the cardholder's account for the authorized amount. An authorization response code is later used to capture the authorized funds.

Address Verification System (AVS)

Verification of a cardholder's billing address during a transaction. Used in fraud prevention during credit and debit card transactions.

Balance

The amount a customer owes the merchant. To calculate the balance:

1. Add all debit invoice items.
2. Subtract credit invoice items, on invoices that are not abandoned or voided.
3. Subtract all approved sale or capture transactions.
4. Add approved refund or void transactions.

Bank account fingerprint

A unique identifier for a bank account that is generated from the IBAN or BBAN. Bank account fingerprints are used to identify bank accounts and prevent fraud.

Billing

The process of sending payment requests and receiving payments.

Billing address

The address that is associated with a bank card. The issuing bank mails statements to this address. Invoices should also use this address. Note that a delivery address, where products are delivered, may be a different location to the billing address.

Issuer Bank Identification Number (BIN)

The first 6 digits of the payment card, which typically identify the issuing bank. An issuing bank may have multiple BINs.

Bitcoin

A cryptocurrency, and a potential alternative payment method.

Blocklist

A stored value that, if matched, aborts an operation. Rebilly provides blocklists for: customer IDs, emails, IP addresses, BINs and payment cards. Create a temporary blocklist by adding an expiration date. For more information, see Blocklists.

Cancellation

The termination of a customer's subscription.

Capture

Describes the action of capturing authorized payment card funds. A capture debits funds from a cardholder's account, and on settlement, moves the funds to the merchant's account.

Chargeback

A cardholder can dispute a charge with their issuing bank. If the issuing bank accepts the dispute, it becomes a chargeback. A chargeback is sent through the card association to the acquirer, and to the merchant. The merchant has a deadline to respond to the chargeback. The response is called “representment.” A chargeback includes a reason code. Reason codes are specific to and predefined by each of the card brands, such as: Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and so on.

Check

A bill of exchange where the drawee is the bank. A check is for specific amount, to a specific payee, or to cash. A check is for one single payment only. In the US, a check has a routing number and an account number.

Churn

Occurs when the paid service period on a subscription expires. For example, a customer has a subscription which is paid in advance and renewed on the 5th of every month. If the customer cancels their subscription on the 1st of the month, they still have access to the subscription until the 5th of that month. On the 5th of the month, the paid service period ends and the account is churned. The customer can no longer access the subscription. For more information, see Order status.

Compliance

Ensures that a body, for example Rebilly, is aware and of and is taking measures to comply with issued regulatory laws, rules, or specifications that are in place for an industry.

Consecutive decline

The number of times a payment card is consecutively declined while authorizing an auth or capture transaction.

Coupon

Coupons enable a merchant to apply different types of discounts to invoices, subscriptions, and plans. For more information, see Coupons.

Credit

In accrual accounting, a credit is the opposite of a debit. A credit is a positive amount added to an account.

Credit card

A credit card is a line of credit issued to a consumer by a bank. Transactions within the credit limit are financed with the expectation of future settlement with the issuing bank.

Currency

A system of money that is in common use. For example, US dollar, British pound, and so on.

Customer

A customer is an entity that is purchasing goods or services from a merchant, and is the payee in any transaction that is credited to the merchant. Customers are associated with payment cards, subscriptions, invoices and other miscellaneous relationship models.

Card Verification Value/Code (CVV2 / CVC / CVC2)

A verification code that is displayed on a payment card.

Data tables

Data tables are tables of data that are viewable in the Rebilly app by a user. Data table are customizable. Users can add, remove, and edit the column order. For more information, see Data tables and Customize tables.

Debit

In accrual accounting, a debit is the opposite of a credit. A debit is an amount subtracted from an account.

Debit card

A payment card associated with a bank account, which enables the cardholder to pay for goods and services electronically. When a debit card is used, the amount is automatically debited from the cardholder's bank account.

Decline

A response where the issuing bank does not approve a payment transaction. A reason code is supplied, which describes why transaction was declined, such as: insufficient funds, incorrect billing address or CVV, and so on.

Delivery address

The physical address where goods are delivered to a customer. This address may be the same, or different to, the billing address.

Device fingerprint

A device fingerprint is a unique identifier for a device. It is generated from specific device characteristics, such as: operating system, browser, and IP address. Device fingerprints are used to identify devices and prevent fraud.

Direct debit

A payment system, that once agreed, authorizes an organization to collect amounts from your account. Advance notice of amounts and dates of collection must be provided before an amount is debited.

Dispute

A Rebilly term that describes chargebacks and retrievals.

A dispute occurs when a customer contests a charge to their debit or credit card account, and contacts their bank or credit card company about the charge.

Dispute information is made available to the merchant. The merchant then has the option to represent the charge and win the case. This process is called dispute resolution. If the merchant is unable to represent the charge, the card issuer will typically rescind the sale and add fees on top of it. This process is called a chargeback.

Dispute deadline time

The latest time, or date, by which a merchant must submit a representment for a dispute. If the deadline is missed, the merchant loses the dispute.

Dispute reason code

The code used in a chargeback that describes the reason for the dispute.

Doing Business AS (DBA)

A pseudonym used by a company when not operating under their registered company name.

Dunning

The process of methodically communicating with customers to ensure the collection of accounts receivable. In Rebilly's terms and use, it is the process of retrying unsuccessful payment transactions.

Dunning discount

A discount that a merchant can grant the customer in exchange for debt collection of a balance that is due.

Dunning index

The order in which dunning schedules are applied in the dunning process.

Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC)

DCC provides the customer with the choice to be billed in the original transaction currency, or the customer's local currency. For more information, see Dynamic currency conversion

Dynamic descriptor

A descriptor is the text that is displayed on the cardholder's billing statement. It clearly identifies the source of a credit or debit card transaction. A dynamic descriptor can be modified on a per transaction basis.

Exchange rate

The rate at which one currency will be exchanged for another currency.

Exchange time

The time a currency exchange occurred. This time is used to lock in an exchange rate for the exchange.

Events

Within the Rebilly rules engine, an event is a preconfigured occurrence. Events are configured in rules. For more information, see Events.

Forecast

Predicting future revenues, cost, other behavior, and metrics based on historical data and other factors.

Fraud

When a customer uses deception to receive financial gain.

Payment gateway

A payment gateway is a service which enables merchants to receive payments from their customers to their merchant account. A merchant account is a bank account that enables businesses to receive payments. For more information, see Gateway accounts.

Gateway credentials

The credentials given to a merchant by the merchant's payment gateway.

Goods and Services Tax (GST) / Harmonized Sales Tax (HST)

Canada-specific excise taxes on goods or services that are purchased in Canada. For more information, see Canada Revenue Agency.

Installment payments (hire purchase)

The legal term for a contract in which a purchaser agrees to pay for goods in parts, or a percentage, over a number of months. Other similar practices are described as closed-end leasing or rent to own.

Invoice

An invoice is a commercial document issued by a merchant to a customer, relating to a sale transaction and indicating the products, quantities, and agreed prices for products or services the merchant has provided the buyer. Payment terms are usually stated on the invoice. For more information, see Invoice lifecyle.

• Invoices are associated to a customer, currency, and website.
• Invoices have an issued time, due time, and closed time when it has been paid.
• Invoices may also have a voided time or abandoned time, if the invoice is voided or abandoned.

Invoice item

Refers to a line on an invoice, which may contain information about the product, quantities, duration, and prices.

Issuing bank

The bank that issued the payment card to the cardholder.

Late fees

Fees a customer may be charged, in addition to the balance due, if their payment is not received by a specific due date. Some merchants allow a grace period before charging a late fee.

Layout

A collection of plans, in a specific order, which a merchant may present to a customer or prospective customer, on a "pricing" or "plans" page.

Lead

A lead is an individual or entity who has not made a payment yet. A customer is an individual who has made one or more payments. For example, a lead may be an individual or entity who just started a subscription, but their first invoice is not due for payment until the end of the month. After they pay their first invoice, they become a customer and are no longer a lead.

Lead source

A lead source is the marketing campaign that generates customer interaction, a sale, or a trial. For more information, see Lead source attribution.

Lead source attribution

The process of tracking and attributing leads with customers. This metadata is added to the customer's information, and contains common attributes from Google analytics and affiliate tracking applications. For more information, see Lead source attribution

Like for like

A phrase that means processing and settling in the same currency.

Live and sandbox environment

The sandbox is an isolated testing environment that facilitates testing of configurations and code. It is not accessible to users outside your organization. Configurations are tested in the sandbox before they are moved to the live environment, where the configuration is accessible to real users. For more information, see Environments.

Merchant

A merchant sells a product to end users or consumers.

Merchant account

A merchant account is a business bank account that enables merchants to receive payments from customers.

Merchant Category Code (MCC)

A four-digit number assigned to a business by credit card companies when the business first accepts a credit card as a form of payment. MCC is used to classify the business by the type of goods or services that it provides.

Merchant discount rate

The rate a merchant is charged for payment processing services on debit and credit card transactions. This rate is in addition to other fees that a payments processor may charge the merchant.

Merchant Identification Number (MID)

A unique merchant identification code provided to merchants by their payment processor.

Net payment terms

Number of days in which payment is expected. Payment terms that are stated on an invoice, or contracts related to services and payment, and communicate the expected time frame for payments.

For example, an invoice is issued with Net 15 payment terms, and is issued on the first of the month, it should be paid on or before the 16th of the month.

One-time charge

A single, non-recurring, amount that a merchant can charge a customer using the Rebilly API.

Organization

An organization is an entity that represents you, or your company, as a merchant. When you first sign in to Rebilly, you are prompted to create an organization. For more information, see My organizations and websites.

Organization owner

An organization owner is a person who: created an organization, was associated with an organization when it was automatically created, has been granted administrator permissions on an organization, or has been granted all organization permissions. For more information on permissions, and how to assign them, see Users.

Payment Account Number (PAN)

A payment card number. Typically, 12 to 16 digits in length. PANs must be protected according to PCI compliance.

Payment card

The card a customer is using to pay for goods or services.

Payment card fingerprint

A unique identifier for a payment card that is generated from the PAN that is associated with the payment card. Payment card fingerprints are used to identify payment cards and prevent fraud.

Payment instrument

A payment instrument is a term which describes any means of making a digital payment, such as: credit cards, debit cards, direct debits, payment service providers, and digital wallets. For more information, see Payment instruments.

Partial payment

Different from an installment payment, a partial payment represents a customer who has paid any amount that is less than the balance due.

Past due

A customer balance of more than 0, that is past the due date of an invoice.

Payment

The action or process of paying for goods or services. A payment creates a transaction.

Payment collection

The process of collecting the balance due from a customer on behalf of a merchant.

Payment method

The type of payment used to settle a balance due. Some examples are:

• Payment card (credit or debit)
• Check
• Wire
• ACH
• Direct debit

PayPal

Both an acquirer and an alternate payment method.

Paysafe card

An alternate payment method that is a prepaid online payment card.

Payment Card Industry (PCI)

The payment card industry consists of all the organizations which store, process, and transmit cardholder data.

Payment Card Industry (PCI) Compliance

A set of regulations that Rebilly must comply with.

Plan

A template of the key terms describing a subscription. A plan may have optional setup fees, an optional trial period and fees, and an optional recurring fees and frequency. A plan may also expire, or be valid only for a limited number of recurrences. For more information, see Products & pricing.

Prepaid card

A payment card, which requires that funds must be loaded to an account before it can be used.

Pricing

The amounts set up for specific plans that a merchant may offer.

Processing limits

A limit on the amount that a processor is willing to process, for the merchant, for some frequency. Rebilly uses calendar month as the period frequency.

Processor

A term that is used interchangeably with gateway, which describes the mechanism that provides communication to the acquirer or acquirer's platform.

Product

The product a merchant is selling. A merchant may sell many products. A product may be attached to a plan. For more information, see Products & pricing.

Product bundle

Selling more than one product as a package.

Purchase order (PO)

A purchase order is a document that is created by a buyer and sent to a seller. It describes all items and terms related to a sale of goods or services, such as: number of units, price, expected delivery date, and payment terms. If the seller accepts the PO, they fulfill the order. When the order is delivered, the buyer must pay for the order based on the terms of the PO. Purchase orders are more commonly used in Business To Business (B2B) transactions than Business To Customer (B2C) transactions.

Purchase order number (PO number)

A purchase order number is used to track and book purchase orders.

Quote

A quote is a pricing estimate for requested goods or services and can help facilitate negotiation before creating an order. Customers can accept or reject a quote. If accepted, depending on which acceptance conditions are defined and fulfilled, an order is created or modified based on the quote. A quote has an expiration date. Merchants can recall or cancel an issued quote. For more information, see Quotes.

Reconciliation

The process of checking merchant account statements, from a merchant's processor or acquirer, against actual deposits that are in a corporate bank account, against sales records in Rebilly. For more information, see Transaction reconciliation

Rebill

A Rebilly term for a recurring payment.

Rebill number

The number of recurring payments in a subscription, excluding trials or setup fees.

Rebilly app

The Rebilly merchant-facing web application. This may also be referred to as the Rebilly UI. For more information, see Rebilly.

Recurring amount

The agreed balance that a customer will pay in recurring intervals for a subscription.

Redeem

The act of applying a coupon to a customer. For more information, see Redeem a coupon.

Refund

A refund removes funds from the merchant and transfers them back to a customer. A refund is similar to a void, except a void must happen before settlement of funds.

Renewal

A customer agreement to continue a subscription for a new period of time.

Report filters (also known as: extended filters)

The ability to filter report data by a variety of fields. The fields may or may not appear on the actual report.

Representment

The term used to describe the merchant's reply to a chargeback, with the intent to prevent the acquirer from retrieving funds that were previously settled.

Reserve

The amount of funds a processor withholds from a merchant, usually in a specially designated reserve account. The purpose of the reserve is risk mitigation for the processor. The reserve amount may be 0, a flat amount, or a percentage of transactions. The reserve may also be a rolling reserve, where the amounts in the reserve are released after some period of time. A typical period of time for a rolling reserve may be six months.

Response

This term describes the response message when interacting with a payment gateway. Each gateway has unique response messages. Some gateways may also have response codes.

Response types:

• Approved: Transaction approved.
• Declined soft: Transaction declined, but may work at some point in the future.
• Declined soft fix: Transaction may be retried with additional data, or data correction, from the customer.
• Declined hard: Transaction cannot be retried. Examples: "No such card issuer", "Transaction not allowed", and "Stolen card".

Restrictions

Settings applied to a coupon that restrict the usage.

Retention

The continued use or payment of a good or service by a customer.

Retrieval (also known as: information request)

The process where an issuer requests information about a transaction through the card association to the acquirer, which passes it to the merchant. A retrieval precedes a chargeback.

Rules and binds

There are two methods of creating automations in Rebilly:

• Rules: Can be configured to stop subsequent rules in the event list from being executed.
• Binds: Can be configured to always execute, regardless of rule-based events. Use this automation type when you want to ensure an automation always executes when an event occurs.

Rules and binds are created on events. When the event occurs, configured actions are executed. Each event maintains a list of rules and binds that are to be executed under specified conditions when the event occurs, called rulesets. For more information, and how to configure automations, see Rules engine.

Ruleset

Each event in Rebilly maintains a list of rules and binds that are to be executed under specified conditions when the event occurs. These lists of automations are called rulesets. Rulesets are executed in the order they are listed on the event. Draft rulesets provide a means of testing, and comparing changes with the active ruleset before publishing.

For more information, and how to configure automations, see Rules engine.

Sale

A transaction type that captures funds from a customer. A sale can be voided prior to settlement, and it can be refunded after settlement. A sale debits a customer account and credits a merchant account.

Schedule

The plan or configuration to carry out a subscription. Elements include:

• Duration: Length of time that a plan is valid until.
• Time unit: Unit of time that defines a plan's interval, such as: day, week, month, bi-monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, annual, and so on.
• Number of units: Number of time units that occur between each plan interval.
• Repeats on: Day of week, day of month, or the anniversary that an interval repeats on.
• Number of occurrences: Number of intervals in a plan. A plan with no end is defined with 0 number of occurrences.

Setup amount

A fee charged to a customer for setting up a new subscription. Usually a one-time charge.

Status

The state of a model entity, such as pending, active, inactive, and so on.

Stop

The termination of a subscription, which may be due to cancellation or expiration.

Stop reason

The reason a subscription stopped.

Subscription

A subscription is an instance of a plan for a specific customer and website combination.

A subscription has the following properties:

• Plan.
• Customer.
• Website.
• External ID.
• Start time.
• End time, canceled time, or renewal time.
• Rebill number, which increments each time it renews.
• Quantity.
• Product.
• Billing address.
• Delivery address.

Subscription order

An order is a customer's request to purchase items. It can contain subscription and one-time sale items. If an order contains one subscription item only, it is a subscription order. For more information, see Orders

Tailored pricing

The creation of unique prices that are specific to a customer, or group of customers, for specific products or product bundles. A merchant may want to charge customers different prices for the same product. This pricing strategy is common in SaaS models.

Tokens

A string that can be used once, which represents a customer's payment card details. A token expires within 24 hours. For more information, see Tokens.

Trial

A trial is an attribute of a plan, which indicates a period that has different pricing, with the possible inclusion of being free. For more information, see Trial-only subscription.

Transaction

An instance of an action regarding a payment. A transaction:

• Contains a result, which is: approved, declined, canceled, abandoned, or unknown.
• Has an amount and a currency.
• Is related to a specific merchant website and a customer.
• Can be related to another transaction, such as the void of a previous sale.
• Is related to a payment method.
• Cannot be deleted. The only property of a transaction that can be updated is the result.

For more information, see Transactions

User

An entity that can be authenticated and granted access to the Rebilly system through API or app. For more information, see Users.

User roles

A defining attribute of a user that determines their level of access and privileges in the system. For more information, see Create roles.

Void

A transaction type that reverses an authorization, capture, or sale transaction. A void can only occur before settlement, otherwise a refund must be used to credit the customer.

Webhooks

An HTTP request to a merchant defined URL, which notifies the merchant in a programmatic way of certain events, such as: a new transaction, a new subscription, or a new invoice. For more information, see webhooks.

Website

Similar to a store, a website links a customer to merchant through a subscription. A website typically determines the processor account and billing descriptor used for payment transactions. For more information, see My organizations and websites

Weights

A method of attaching a priority or value to an entity that is being programmatically selected amongst others. Used in processor selection, and plan layout selection. The higher the weight, the more likely an entity is to be selected.

Wire

An alternate payment method. An electronic transfer of funds. Wire transfers transfer money from one bank account to another.