Credit Card Payments Terminology

When you use online credit card payments, you should become familiar with the terminology. The following table defines key terms.

Terminology

Term	Definition
Authorize	To validate that a credit card account has the requested funds and place a hold for this amount against the available funds balance. An amount is authorized before the actual payment and is only valid for a specified number of days.
Capture	To commit to a particular payment amount and initiate the funds transfer from the issuing bank to the merchant account in the acquiring bank.
Payment provider	Responsible for deducting money from the customer credit card account and transferring the money to the merchant account. To accept online payments, you must sign up with one or more payment providers. On the Dynamics Online sign-up site, you can select a payment provider. For more information, see How to: Set Up a Payment Services Connection.
Refund	To transfer an amount from the merchant’s account back to the consumer’s account. You can have a full or partial refund.
Void	To cancel a previous authorization and release any hold on funds. An authorization is valid for a specified number of days. If the number of days is exceeded, then the authorization must be voided and then reauthorized. Also, if the payment amount has changed, then an authorization must also be voided and then reauthorized.