Real-Time Authorization:
Authorizes a credit card in real-time, as a customer makes their purchase.

Real-time Processing:
The verification and processing of credit card transactions immediately following a purchase. Real-time verification on the Web usually takes less than five minutes. Real-time verification is especially important for Web sites that sell products and services that consumers expect immediately, such as memberships to the site or software downloads.

Reason Code:
A code used to provide additional information to a member regarding chargebacks, presentments, or retrieval requests.

Receipt:
A hard copy of an invoice or sales draft that took place at the point of sale that includes a date, merchant name and or location, account number, dollar amount, reference code and the type of account.

Reconciliation:
An exchange of messages between two institutions (acquirer, card issuer, or their agents) to reach agreement on their financial totals.

Recurring Fees:
Regular, usually monthly, charges for maintaining a merchant account. Recurring fees include the discount rate, transaction fees, statement fee, and monthly minimum.

Recurring Transaction:
A transaction that is charged to the cardholder on regular scheduled intervals for goods and or services provided.

Reference Number:
A code given to a transaction by Host based processors.

Replacement Authorization:
An authorization used when a previous authorization was approved and a subsequent authorization is required because the amount of the transaction is now different from the originally approved amount.

Representment:
A financial transaction originated by a merchant to recover funds charged back by a card issuer.

Request:
A message where the sender informs the receiver that a transaction is in progress and a response is required to complete the activity.

Reserve Account (or Holdback):
A portion of the revenue from a merchant's credit card transactions, held in reserve by the merchant account provider to cover possible disputed charges, chargeback fees, and other expenses. After a predetermined time, holdbacks are turned over to the merchant. Note: Merchant account providers almost never pay interest on holdbacks.

Retreival Request:
A request to a merchant for documentation concerning a transaction, usually a cardholder dispute or suspicious sale/return. A Retrieval Request can lead to a CHARGEBACK.

Reversal:
A transaction from the acquirer to the card issuer informing the card issuer that the previously initiated transaction cannot be processed as instructed, i.e., is undeliverable, unprocessed or cancelled by the receiver.

Reverse PIP:
The terminal is set up to dial direct to AMEX for authorization and settlement.

Robot:
A software application that automatically finds and retrieves information from the Web. Also called a "spider" or "crawler."