Magnetic Information Character Recognition (MICR):
Imprinted bank numbers at the bottom of the check.

Magnetic Stripe:
A stripe on the back of a bankcard that contains magnetically encoded cardholder account information. The name of the cardholder is stored on Track I and the account number and expiration date are stored on Track II. 

Mail Order/Telephone Order (MO/TO):
The direct marketing catalog industry. Potentially risky business types.

MAN:
(Metropolitan Area Network) A network covering a larger area than a Local Area Network (LAN).

Manual Entry:
Credit card information that is entered via terminal keypad or keyboard instead of swiping the card through a card reader.

MAP (merchant account provider):
A bank or other institution that hosts merchant accounts and processes online credit card transactions. The term is also often used broadly to include any credit card processing service, including ISOs.

MASTERCARD:
An association of banks that governs the issuing and acquiring of MasterCard credit card transactions and Maestro debit transactions.

Member:
A financial institution that is a member of VISA USA and or MasterCard International. A member licensed to issue cards to cardholders and to accept merchant sales receipts.

Merchant Account:
A bank account established by a merchant to receive the proceeds of credit card purchases. By establishing a merchant account, the merchant bank agrees to pay the merchant for valid credit card purchases in exchange for the right to collect on the debt owed by the consumer.

Merchant Account Types:
There are two basic types of merchant accounts. A Retail account is merchant account that is approved for use in a physical store where the cardholder and the card are present. Typically the merchant swipes the card through a card reader to get your card numbers so this account is sometimes referred to as a "swipe" account or "cardholder present" account.
Retail accounts are the least risky type of account and therefore the merchant account provider charges the merchant must less than the riskier "card not present" type of accounts.
A "card not present" account is also called a Mail Order - Telephone Order (MOTO) account. This is the account used by mail order companies, anyone accepting phone orders or any other system where the merchant can't physically see the card and/or the cardholder. Currently this is the type of account used for Internet Businesses accepting credit cards online.
Because there is increased risk for charge backs and fraud with MOTO accounts, merchant account providers always charge the merchant higher rates and fees for this type of account.

Merchant Acquirer:
A member that has entered into agreement with a merchant to accept deposits via bankcard transactions.

Merchant Acquirer:
a member that has entered into agreement with a merchant to accept deposits via bankcard transactions.

Merchant Agreement:
The written contract between the merchant and the acquirer regarding their rights, rates, and responsibilities.

Merchant Bank:
A bank that holds a merchant account. After a consumer buys a product using a credit card, the merchant bank places funds into a merchant account in exchange for the right to collect on the debt owed by a consumer. See also merchant account provider.

Merchant Category Code (MCC):
Merchant classification code that identifies the merchant by business type and or processing type, authorization and settlement.

Merchant Number:
A number that identifies each merchant to the processing company.

Merchant Services Provider:
A bank, ISO, or other firm that provides services for processing financial transactions, usually credit card sales. Many MSPs provide merchant accounts, while others require their clients to establish merchant accounts on their own. Some MSPs claim that they do not require merchant accounts; this may indicate factoring, which is illegal in many areas. See also holdback.

M.I.C.R. (Magnetic Ink Character Recognition)
Characters (i.e. account information) printed on a check with ink containing particles of a magnetic material.

Micropayment:
Very small charges, perhaps even less than a penny, processed through e-commerce systems. Until this time, e-commerce has been largely limited to purchases of $10 (U.S.) or more. With micropayments, however, e-commerce merchants can sell products for far lower prices, such as charging small fees for downloading documents or charging per click for online advertising. Micropayment systems are still largely experimental and not widely available.

M.I.D.:
Refers to the Merchant Identification Number. This unique number identifies a merchant.

Mid -Qualified:
A broad term that describes a transaction that did not interchange at the best rate because it was entered manually or was not settled in a timely manner.

MID/TID:
MID - Merchant ID number and TID - Terminal ID numbers. For example, a grocery store typically has a single MID but has a distinct TID for each cash register terminal. By sorting all of that MID's traffic by TID, management can see which register contributed which set of transactions. Most Web retailers have just one terminal, so all traffic is associated with a single MID/TID. However, You may have more than one account associated with the same MID/TID. In that event, you'll find that batches often contain transactions from more than one account.

Minimum Discount Fee:
A fee that is assessed a merchant that does not process at least $25 per month.

MODEM:
Stands for MOdulatorDEModulator. An electronic telecommunications hardware device used by the terminal or PC POS to dial up the PROCESSOR.

MO/TO (Mail order, telephone order):
This is the account used by mail order companies, anyone accepting phone orders or any other system where the merchant can't physically see the card and/or the cardholder. Currently this is the type of account is used for Internet Businesses accepting credit cards online. Because there is increased risk for charge backs and fraud with MOTO accounts, merchant account providers always charge the merchant higher rates and fees for this type of account. A classification of merchant account with a specific set of rules that are more restrictive than retail merchants. Enables a merchant to accept credit card payment without a cardholder's signature. The merchant and the cardholder do not need to be in the same physical location. MOTO accounts are also known as Card Not Present or CNP accounts.

MO/TO discount rate (mail order / telephone order discount rate ):
The discount rate charged by the merchant account provider for credit card transaction in which the actual credit card was not available to the merchant. MOTO discount rates are generally higher than swipe discount rates to account for the increased chance of fraud or nonpayment.

Monthly Minimum:
The minimum amount in fees and percentages charged by a merchant services provider in a given month. If account activity does not generate the monthly minimum, the account holder must make up the difference.

MSP (Merchant Services Provider):
A firm that is directly certified by an acquiring bank to provide credit card accounts.