This glossary explains key concepts, transaction behaviors, and operational terms used across the Interlace card and payment ecosystem.

Acquirer

An acquirer, or acquiring bank, is a financial institution that partners with merchants to process card payments. It receives authorization requests from merchants and communicates with card networks and issuers.

Authorization

Authorization is the initial stage of a card transaction where the issuer verifies whether a transaction can be approved.

During authorization, the issuer checks factors such as available balance, spending limits, card status, and risk controls before approving or declining the transaction.

Common Example

A customer makes an online purchase using a card. The merchant sends an authorization request, and the issuer temporarily holds the authorized amount until settlement.

Auth Control

Auth control refers to issuer-side rules and restrictions applied during transaction authorization.

Auth controls may include spending limits, merchant restrictions, MCC restrictions, geographical controls, transaction amount checks, and risk screening.

Authorization Release

Authorization release refers to the process where previously held funds are unfrozen and returned to the available balance because the transaction was not fully settled.

Common Examples

A hotel authorizes $200, but the final settled amount is $180. The remaining $20 is released.
The merchant does not complete settlement within the allowed timeframe, causing the authorization to expire automatically.
A merchant cancels an order before settlement.

BIN (Bank Identification Number)

A Bank Identification Number (BIN) is the first 6–8 digits of a card number that identify the issuing institution and determine card behavior, such as supported use cases, acceptance scope, and payment network.

Budget

A budget is a shared virtual funding pool allocated to one or more budget cards. It controls how funds are consumed and enforces spending caps across associated cards.

Budget Card

A budget card is linked to a shared budget instead of holding an independent balance.

Multiple budget cards can consume funds from the same budget pool. Once the shared budget is depleted, all associated cards become unavailable for spending.

Cardholder

A cardholder is the end user to whom a card is issued. Cardholders use cards to make purchases or payments.

Cardholders may be individual consumers, employees, or authorized users under a business account.

Card Fraud

A fraudulent transaction refers to a transaction initiated without the legitimate cardholder's permission, usually due to stolen or leaked card information.

Common Examples

Unauthorized online purchases
Card information leakage
Phishing or malicious website transactions

For recommended actions and prevention measures, refer to the Transaction Scenarios and Handling guide.

Chargeback

A chargeback is a formal dispute process initiated through the issuer after a cardholder challenges a transaction.

During the chargeback process, funds may be temporarily reversed while the issuer, merchant, and network investigate the case.

Common Chargeback Reasons

Fraudulent or unauthorized transactions
Goods or services not received
Duplicate charges
Refund not received
Charges continued after subscription cancellation

Clearing

Clearing is the stage where authorized transaction information is transmitted and prepared for settlement.

During clearing, the merchant submits finalized transaction details to the acquirer and network before funds are transferred.

Declined

A declined transaction is rejected by the issuer or payment system and cannot proceed.

Transactions may be declined due to insufficient balance, spending restrictions, risk controls, invalid card details, or compliance requirements.

Dispute

A dispute occurs when a cardholder challenges a transaction and requests investigation or reimbursement.

Disputes may be resolved directly with the merchant or escalated into a formal chargeback process.

Distributor Mode

Distributor mode is a business model where a distributor manages downstream customers or sub-clients under a unified issuing structure.

Distributors may handle customer onboarding, operational management, and platform distribution for their downstream ecosystem.

Force Post Transaction

A force post transaction, also known as a merchant-initiated debit, refers to a transaction initiated by a merchant without the cardholder's valid authorization, or beyond the originally agreed scope or authorization terms.

Common Examples

Subscription charges after card details were previously saved
Additional hotel or rental fees charged after checkout
Merchant retries after a failed transaction

For common handling approaches and recommended actions, refer to the Transaction Scenarios and Handling guide.

Gateway Mode

Gateway mode is a card issuing model where clients operate as independent businesses while using Interlace infrastructure for card issuance and transaction processing.

Under this model, clients are generally responsible for their own merchant operations, customer relationships, and compliance obligations.

Issuer

An issuer is the financial institution or fintech platform that issues cards and manages the associated accounts, balances, budgets, and transaction approvals.

Within the Interlace ecosystem, Interlace works with licensed financial institution partners to provide card issuing services.

KYC (Know Your Customer)

KYC is the identity verification process required before users can access regulated financial services.

KYC typically includes identity verification, document checks, sanctions screening, and compliance reviews for individual users.

KYB (Know Your Business)

KYB is the business verification process required before companies can access regulated financial services.

KYB typically includes company registration verification, UBO identification, business document reviews, and compliance screening.

Merchant

A merchant is a business or service provider that accepts card payments in exchange for goods or services.

Merchants may support online payments, offline payments, subscriptions, or recurring billing models.

MoR Mode (Merchant of Record Mode)

MoR mode is a card issuing model where the platform acts as the merchant of record for downstream transactions.

Under this model, the platform typically manages merchant onboarding, transaction settlement, compliance responsibilities, and user-facing payment activities.

Negative Card Balance

A negative balance occurs when the final debited amount exceeds the available card or budget balance, resulting in a balance below zero.

Common Examples

Additional merchant debits or force post transactions exceed the remaining available balance.
FX or cross-border fees cause the final settlement amount to exceed the authorized amount.

A negative balance may require manual repayment depending on the integration mode. For repayment methods and handling logic, refer to the Transaction Scenarios and Handling guide.

Network

A card network routes transactions between acquirers and issuers and defines the rules governing card payments. Major card networks include Visa, Mastercard, and UnionPay.

Physical Card

A physical card is a traditional payment card designed for offline and in-store payment scenarios.

Physical cards may support features such as NFC contactless payments, ATM withdrawals, and mobile wallet provisioning.

Prepaid Card

A prepaid card is funded directly by a wallet or account balance. Cardholders can only spend the amount that has been loaded onto the card.

Within the Interlace ecosystem, prepaid cards are funded by the Infinity Account.

Recurring Payment

A recurring payment allows merchants to charge a card automatically on a scheduled basis after the initial authorization.

Common Examples

Subscription services
Membership renewals
Monthly software billing

Refund

A refund occurs after a transaction has been settled and the merchant returns funds back to the cardholder.

Common Examples

Returned goods
Cancelled services
Partial refunds such as price adjustments

Reversal

A reversal is the cancellation of an authorization before final settlement, preventing the transaction from being completed and releasing the held funds back to the available balance.

Common Examples

The customer cancels immediately after payment.
The merchant cancels due to inventory or operational issues.
Risk systems automatically block suspicious activity.

Settlement

Settlement is the process where funds are transferred between financial institutions, finalizing a transaction.

After settlement is completed, funds are deposited into the merchant's account, minus applicable fees.

Settled

A settled transaction has completed the fund transfer process between the issuer and acquirer.

Once settled, the transaction is considered financially completed.

Transaction Adjustment

A transaction adjustment occurs when the final settlement amount differs from the original authorized amount. This commonly happens in industries such as hotels, restaurants, gas stations, and car rentals.

Common Examples

The final settlement amount exceeds the authorized amount due to additional charges.
The final settlement amount is lower than the authorized amount after tip or deposit adjustments.

For detailed adjustment scenarios, handling logic, and webhook behaviors, refer to the Transaction Scenarios and Handling guide.

Velocity Control

Velocity control defines rules that restrict how cards can be used within specific timeframes or spending conditions.

Businesses may configure transaction count limits, spending caps, merchant category restrictions, geographical controls, or usage scenarios.

For detailed usage scenarios and limit calculation rules, refer to the Velocity Control Usage Guide.

Virtual Card

A virtual card is a fully digital payment card designed primarily for online transactions and digital payment scenarios.

Virtual cards provide flexible issuance, spending control, and enhanced security for online payments.

Some BINs may also support mobile wallets such as Apple Pay and Google Pay.