The words on the other side of the email.

Alphabetical. Each entry says what the term is and why it matters to a wedding business specifically. Terms that have their own guide link to it.

ACH (Automated Clearing House)

The US bank-to-bank network behind direct deposit and "pay by bank" buttons. ACH payments cost less than cards and cannot be charged back the way a card can, though a payer's bank can still return an unauthorized debit for up to 60 days. Payouts from your processor to your bank also travel over ACH, which is why they take one to two business days.

Acquirer (acquiring bank)

The bank that holds a merchant's relationship with Visa and Mastercard and is ultimately liable to the networks for that merchant's chargebacks. Aggregators such as Stripe and Square sit between you and an acquirer; a traditional merchant account puts you directly under one. When a processor "holds funds to cover liability," the liability is the acquirer's.

Aggregator (payment facilitator, PayFac)

A company that signs up thousands of small sellers under one master merchant account and takes on the risk itself. Stripe, Square, PayPal and Whop are aggregators. The trade: instant sign-up with little or no underwriting up front, in exchange for the right to review you later, hold funds and close the account at will. See Choosing a processor.

Arbitration (dispute)

The last stage of a chargeback, where the card network itself rules on who keeps the money. It carries network fees that can run several hundred dollars, so processors rarely take a small-business dispute there.

Authorization

The card issuer's approval of a charge at the moment it is made. An authorization is not money in your account; it is a promise that can still be reversed by settlement failures, refunds or a chargeback.

AVS (Address Verification Service)

A check that the billing address the couple typed matches what their bank has on file. A mismatch raises the risk score of the charge and weakens your position if it is disputed.

Card-not-present (CNP)

Any charge where the card was typed in online or over the phone rather than tapped or dipped in person. Nearly every wedding payment is CNP. CNP charges carry higher fees and shift fraud liability to the merchant.

Chargeback (dispute)

A reversal of a card payment started by the cardholder through their bank. The money leaves your account immediately, a fee is added, and you have a set window to send evidence. See Chargebacks and disputes.

Chargeback ratio (dispute rate)

Disputes in a month divided by transactions in that month, expressed as a percentage. Visa and Mastercard's monitoring programs call a merchant excessive at 1.5% with a minimum count of disputes; processors apply much tighter internal lines (Stripe treats 0.75% as excessive, PayPal says keep complaints under 1%). Because wedding vendors take few, large payments, a single dispute can push a small account over 1%.

Cooling-off rule

The Federal Trade Commission's three-day cancellation right for certain sales made at your home or away from the seller's permanent place of business. It does not apply to most wedding contracts, but couples sometimes cite it. Your signed contract's cancellation terms govern.

Deposit versus retainer

In everyday use both mean "money paid at booking." Legally, a deposit is often treated as refundable unless the contract says otherwise, while a retainer paid to reserve a date is more commonly non-refundable when the contract says so. The word you use matters less than what the contract says and whether a court in your state would read it as a reasonable estimate of your loss. See Contract language.

Statement descriptor

The text that appears on the couple's card statement. If it says a company name they do not recognise, their first call is to their bank, not to you. Make it your trading name, with a phone number where the processor allows it.

Elevated-risk (high-risk) merchant

A category processors apply to businesses with high ticket sizes, long delivery windows, high dispute rates or regulated products. Weddings are often tagged as "future delivery" rather than high-risk outright, but the effect is similar: more review, a higher chance of a reserve.

Compelling evidence

The network term for the documents that can win a dispute: a signed contract, proof the service was delivered, written communication with the cardholder, matching identity details. Each network publishes what counts for each reason code.

Friendly fraud (first-party misuse)

A cardholder disputing a charge they actually authorised, often because they forgot it, regretted it or hoped to skip a refund policy. It is the most common dispute type for service businesses.

Funds hold (payout hold, payment hold)

A pause on moving money from your processor balance to your bank. It can apply to one payment or to the whole account, and usually comes with a request for information. See Holds, reserves and freezes.

Future delivery (delayed delivery)

A business that takes payment now for a service it will deliver later. Weddings are the textbook case: a deposit today for a date twelve months out. Processors watch future-delivery businesses closely because if the business fails before the date, every open booking can become a chargeback they must cover.

Interchange

The fee the card issuer takes on every transaction, set by the networks. It is most of what you pay. Flat-rate pricing (2.9% + 30¢) bundles interchange, network fees and the processor's margin into one number; interchange-plus pricing shows them separately.

KYC / KYB (Know Your Customer / Business)

The identity and ownership checks a processor must run on you by law. "We need more information" emails are usually KYC. Slow replies are a common reason payouts stay paused.

MATCH list (Terminated Merchant File)

Mastercard's database of merchants whose accounts were closed for cause: excessive chargebacks, fraud, violation of rules. Acquirers check it before approving a new account. A listing typically stays for five years and makes most mainstream processors decline you. Being closed by an aggregator does not automatically put you on MATCH, but it can.

MCC (Merchant Category Code)

A four-digit code that tells the networks what kind of business you are. Photographers, caterers and "miscellaneous personal services" each have one. The code affects interchange, risk rules and whether certain protections apply, so make sure your processor has the right one for you.

Merchant account

Your own account with an acquiring bank, usually arranged through an ISO (independent sales organisation). Underwriting happens before approval, so surprises later are rarer, and holds are governed by a contract you negotiated. Set-up is slower and there may be monthly fees. See Choosing a processor.

Negative balance

What happens when refunds or chargebacks exceed what is in your processor balance. The processor will debit your linked bank account to cover it, which is one reason to keep the linked account separate from your main operating account.

PCI DSS

The card industry's security standard. Using your processor's hosted checkout or payment links keeps most of it off your plate, which is a good reason never to take card numbers by email or text.

Pre-arbitration (second chargeback)

The cardholder's bank rejecting your evidence and pushing the dispute forward. You may get one more chance to respond before arbitration.

Representment

The formal name for responding to a chargeback with evidence. Your processor's dashboard calls it "submit evidence" or "challenge the dispute."

Reserve

Money the processor keeps back from your payouts as a cushion against future refunds and chargebacks. A rolling reserve holds a percentage of each day's sales (often 5% to 25%) and releases each slice after a fixed period (often 90 to 180 days). A fixed or capped reserve holds a set amount. A minimum balance reserve requires you to keep that much in the account at all times. See Holds, reserves and freezes.

Retrieval request (inquiry)

A cardholder's bank asking for details about a charge before it becomes a chargeback. Answer fast and fully; a clear retrieval response often ends the matter.

Risk review

A manual or automated look at your account triggered by volume, ticket size, dispute activity or a change in what you sell. It is the stage before a hold or reserve, and the stage where good documentation helps most.

Settlement

When the issuer actually moves money for an authorised charge to your acquirer, usually within a day or two. "Pending" in your dashboard means authorised but not yet settled.

Payout schedule

How often and how fast your settled balance moves to your bank. Two business days after the charge is a common default in the US; new accounts often wait seven to fourteen days for the first payout; some processors offer instant payout for a fee. A longer schedule than you expected is a quiet form of hold.

TMF

Terminated Merchant File, the older name for the MATCH list.

Underwriting

The processor's assessment of how likely you are to cost them money: your industry, your volume, your ticket size, your history, your finances. Merchant accounts underwrite before approval. Aggregators approve first and underwrite later, which is why their holds arrive as a surprise.

VAMP, VDMP, ECP

Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program (which replaced the Visa Dispute Monitoring Program in 2025) and Mastercard's Excessive Chargeback Program: the network programs that fine acquirers whose merchants exceed dispute thresholds. Processors pass that pressure down as tighter internal limits.

3-D Secure (3DS)

The extra verification step (a bank app prompt or one-time code) on some online card payments. When a charge is authenticated with 3DS, liability for a fraud chargeback generally shifts from you to the issuer. Not every processor offers it on every checkout; ask.