Glossary

Also called: acquiring bank

The bank or company that handles card sales for a business: the business's side of a card payment. Interchange is paid by the acquirer to the customer's bank.

More: Payment Processor vs Merchant Account

Also called: network fee

A small fee a card network charges on each sale, separate from interchange. TD's fee list names one for each network.

More: Assessment Fees Explained

The check a card payment goes through: the customer's bank approves or declines the amount. The money moves later, when the sale is completed.

More: Tips and Pre-Authorizations

Your average sale: total card sales divided by the number of card sales. The smaller it is, the more a fixed cents-per-sale fee adds up as a share of each sale.

More: Per-Transaction Fees

The group of sales a terminal sends for payment, usually at the end of the day. TD's fee list includes a fee for closing a batch.

More: Per-Transaction Fees

The company behind a card brand, which sets its rules and network fees. Examples are Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, UnionPay and Interac.

More: Assessment Fees Explained

A sale where the card and the cardholder are not at your location: online, by phone or keyed in. Visa's rate sheets list different rates for these sales than for in-person ones.

More: Card Processing for Online Stores

Also called: stored card

A customer's card saved by a business so it can be charged later. Visa's rules ask for the customer's consent before a card is stored.

More: Card on File and Recurring Payments

A lower price for paying with cash or another method, taken off the posted price. Canada's Code of Conduct allows discounts for different ways to pay.

More: Dual Pricing and Cash Discounts in Canada

A card sale reversed by the customer's bank after the customer disputes it. The business can answer with evidence, and some processors charge a fee for each one.

More: Chargebacks

Also called: Code of Conduct for the Payment Card Industry in Canada

A Canadian code that the major card networks have agreed to. It sets rules on fee disclosure, notice of fee changes and cancelling. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) publishes a page on merchant rights under it.

More: The Code of Conduct

Also called: business, corporate or purchasing card

A card issued for business spending, such as a Visa Business, Corporate or Purchasing card. These cards have their own interchange rates, and on Visa's Canadian sheet most are higher than everyday consumer card rates.

More: Why Business and Corporate Cards Cost More

A flat fee for paying through a channel outside a business's usual ones. Visa's US rules say it is not charged just for accepting a card, and not on top of a surcharge.

More: Cash Discounts and Surcharges Under Visa's US Rules

Also called: foreign card fee

An extra card network fee on a sale made with a card issued in another country.

More: Foreign Card Fees

Also called: Digital Commerce Services Fee

A Visa network fee on card-not-present sales. TD's fee list shows a domestic and a foreign version.

More: Assessment Fees Explained

Also called: discount rate adjustment fee

A Canadian pricing model: a base rate, plus an extra charge on card types whose interchange is above a set level. TD's statement guide calls the extra a discount rate adjustment fee.

More: Flat Rate vs Interchange Plus vs Tiered

What a processor charges if a business ends its contract before the term is up, or without the notice the contract asks for.

More: Early Termination Fees

Total card fees divided by total card sales, shown as a percentage. It turns a whole statement into one number.

More: How to Read Your Merchant Statement

A pricing model with one rate for every card, or one per card brand. The rate covers interchange, network fees and the processor's markup together.

More: Flat Rate vs Interchange Plus vs Tiered

The name often used for tap payments on Interac debit, including on TD's rate sheet.

More: Interac Debit: How It Is Priced

A small fee Interac charges banks and processors on each Interac debit sale. Interac says it is the only fee it charges on Interac debit.

More: Interac Debit: How It Is Priced

The part of a card fee that goes from the business's side (the acquirer) to the customer's bank (the issuer). The card networks publish the rates.

More: What Is Interchange?

On a differential (DRAF) plan, the part of a card type's interchange above the level built into the base rate. TD's statement guide uses it to work out the discount rate adjustment fee.

More: How to Read Your Merchant Statement

A pricing model that passes on each card's interchange and adds the processor's markup as a separate amount, so the two can be seen apart.

More: What Is Interchange Plus Pricing?

Also called: issuing bank

The bank that issued the customer's card. Interchange is paid to it.

More: What Is Interchange?

A direct agreement between a business and an acquirer: a bank or company that is a member of the card networks.

More: Payment Processor vs Merchant Account

A four-digit code that says what kind of business you are. Card networks use it to decide some rates.

More: Industry pages

Also called: Acquirer Network Access and Brand Usage Fee

A Mastercard network fee. TD says it replaced Mastercard's acquirer clearing fees in Canada on October 19, 2026.

More: Mastercard's NABU Fee

The American Express program that lets small businesses accept Amex through their processor, with one statement and one deposit for all card brands.

More: American Express in Canada

A company that has its own agreement with an acquirer and signs up businesses under it. Stripe and Helcim say they are payment facilitators.

More: Payment Processor vs Merchant Account

The card industry's security standard for anyone who stores, processes or sends card data, including merchants. It is run by the PCI Security Standards Council.

More: PCI Compliance Fees

Also called: hold

A hold on a customer's card for an amount, with the final amount charged later. Visa's rules say an estimated hold must be a genuine estimate.

More: Tips and Pre-Authorizations

The part of card fees a processor sets and keeps, on top of interchange and network fees.

More: Processor Markup

A charge to a stored card on a schedule, such as a monthly plan or a monthly donation.

More: Card on File and Recurring Payments

Also called: the Durbin Amendment rule

A US federal rule that caps the interchange on debit card sales for large card issuers, and sets rules on debit routing. A federal court set it aside in August 2025 but paused that ruling pending appeal, so the cap stays in force meanwhile.

More: US Debit Fees: Regulation II

Money a processor holds back from a business's sales to cover refunds and chargebacks. Square says reserve funds still belong to the business.

More: Deposits, Holds and Reserves

Also called: Self-Assessment Questionnaire

The PCI Security Standards Council's form for checking how a business takes and stores card data. There are several, each for a different way of taking cards.

More: PCI Compliance Fees

Also called: payout, deposit

When the money from card sales is paid to the business, usually as a deposit to its bank account. Each provider publishes how long this takes.

More: Deposits, Holds and Reserves

A Visa Canada interchange program with its own, smaller rates for businesses under a yearly Visa sales limit.

More: Visa's Small Merchant Rates

An extra fee added to a sale because the customer paid by credit card. Card network rules allow it in Canada with limits, and Visa's rules set a cap.

More: Surcharging Credit Cards in Canada

A pricing model that sorts sales into buckets, usually called qualified, mid-qualified and non-qualified, each with its own rate.

More: Tiered Pricing Explained

A processor's review of a business before, and sometimes after, it can take cards. It covers who owns the business and what it sells, and can include the industry, sale sizes and finances.

More: Getting Approved for a Merchant Account