Void Transaction
The cancellation of a credit card transaction before it has been settled and the funds transferred, effectively erasing the transaction as if it never occurred.
A void transaction cancels an authorized payment before settlement occurs, preventing the transfer of funds from the cardholder's account to the merchant's account. Unlike a refund, which returns money after funds have already been transferred, a void prevents the transaction from completing in the first place. This means the cardholder never sees the charge appear on their statement, and the merchant avoids paying processing fees on the transaction.
Void transactions can only be performed during a limited timeframe, typically before the merchant closes their batch for the day. Once a batch has been settled, the transaction can no longer be voided and must be refunded instead. Most point-of-sale systems and payment gateways allow merchants to void transactions through their management interface by locating the specific transaction and selecting the void option.
Common reasons for voiding transactions include customer order cancellations before fulfillment, accidental duplicate charges, incorrect transaction amounts entered by the merchant, or customer requests to cancel before the product ships or service is delivered. Best practices include voiding transactions as soon as possible when needed, verifying the correct transaction is being voided to avoid canceling the wrong sale, and ensuring staff understands the difference between voids and refunds to use the appropriate action.
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3D Secure
An authentication protocol for online card transactions that adds an additional verification layer between the cardholder and issuing bank, shifting fraud liability from merchants to card issuers when properly implemented.
ACH Payment
Automated Clearing House payment is an electronic bank-to-bank payment method that transfers funds directly between bank accounts through the ACH network, typically used for direct deposits, bill payments, and recurring transactions.
Acquirer
A financial institution that processes credit card payments on behalf of merchants, maintains merchant accounts, and facilitates the settlement of funds from card-issuing banks to merchant bank accounts.
Address Verification Service (AVS)
A fraud prevention tool that compares the numeric portions of a billing address provided during a transaction against the address registered with the card-issuing bank, returning match result codes to help merchants assess transaction risk.
Aggregator
A payment service provider that enables multiple merchants to process card transactions under a single master merchant account rather than each merchant having their own dedicated merchant account, common with services like Square, Stripe, and PayPal.