Infrastructure
Issuer
Definition
Issuer the bank or financial institution that issues payment cards to consumers and maintains the cardholder relationship. Also called issuing bank. The issuer receives interchange fees, handles cardholder disputes, makes authorization decisions, and bears fraud risk on the cardholder side. Major issuers include Chase, Bank of America, Capital One, and Barclays.
Related Terms
Acquirer
A bank or financial institution licensed by card networks to process card transactions on behalf of merchants. Also called acquiring bank or merchant acquirer. The acquirer provides the merchant account, assumes liability for merchant behavior, manages settlements, and handles chargebacks. Major acquirers include Worldpay, First Data (Fiserv), Chase Paymentech, and Elavon. Different acquirers have different risk appetites for merchant verticals.
Authorization
The process of requesting approval for a card transaction from the issuing bank. The authorization request includes card details, amount, and merchant information. The issuer checks available credit/funds, fraud rules, and account status before responding with an approval or decline. Authorization is the first step - funds are reserved but not transferred until capture.
BIN (Bank Identification Number)
The first 6-8 digits of a card number that identify the issuing bank, card type, and card product. BIN data enables routing decisions, fraud screening, and interchange optimization. Useful for determining if a card is debit or credit, domestic or international, and which network to route to. BIN databases are available from various providers.
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