Abaca
Manila hemp (musa textilis), banana-like plant native to the Philippines and having broad leaves with long stalks. Also, the fibers obtained from the stalks of this plant, used to make cordage, fabric, and paper.


Acceptance point
Also known as merchants. Acceptance points take payment by credit card.


Acceptance rate
Maximum quantity in percent of banknotes not rejected by a banknote scanning system. Crucial to the acceptance rate are the machine-readable features for determining value and authenticity of the banknotes.


Acquirer
An institution that maintains the merchant relationship and receives all transactions from acceptance points (e.g. retailers, hotels, restaurants, rental car firms, airlines). To perform their activities, acquirers require a license from the appropriate bank or credit card company.


Algorithm
A procedure or formula for solving a (mathematical) problem by dividing the problem into a clearly defined, finite number of steps. Computer programs consist of algorithms since they use a formalized programming language to tell the computer how to perform tasks and solve problems.


AM
Application manager, a sophisticated object-oriented framework on which application components are created.

analog
Derived from the Greek: “analogos,” meaning proportionate. A continuously variable representation of values. In contrast to digital signals, analog signals can assume any intermediate value.


ANFOR
The Association Française de Normalisation, a French organization for standardization, based in Paris.


ANSI
The American National Standards Institute, the US organization based in New York that administers and coordinated the voluntary standardization and conformity assessment system.


Anti-collision
A general property used in contactless card systems to prevent overlapping of different signals competing for attention.


APDU
An application protocol data unit is a software command sequence sent by the smart card or returned by the application.


API
Application programming interface is a specific, detailed software layer through which third parties can use an application to access the resources of an operating system in a standardized manner, without needing to know how it works.


Applet
A small sized application written in a high-level language, e.g. Java, and run in the virtual machine of a computer. For reasons of security, an applet’s functionality is limited to the self-contained environment of the virtual machine. With smart card applications, an applet is sometimes referred to as a “cardlet” and generally corresponds to a smart card application.


Application
Data, commands, processes, states, mechanisms, algorithms, and program code inside a chip card, used to operate it within the framework of a specific system. An application and its corresponding data are generally located in their own dedicated files (DF) directly beneath the master files (MF).


Application operator
An entity that manages the applications supplied on a smart card. As a general rule, the application provider is the same as the application provider.

Art. 6 compart-ment
Special deposit terminal stacker, in which banknotes suspected of being counterfeit can be stored separately.

ASIC
Application specific integrated circuit, a chip designated for a specific function.


ASN-1
Abstract Sytax Notation One: A standardized means of describing a message (a unit of application data) being sent across dissimilar systems, regardless of the implementation. It ensures the data received is the same as the data transmitted by providing a common syntax for specifying application layer protocols. The ASN.1 standard has been defined by ISO/IEC 8824 and ISO/IEC 8825.


Asymmetric cryptography
Also known as public key cryptography, an encryption method used to encode and electronically sign data. The method is based on a pair of keys (private and public). Anything encrypted using one of the two keys can only be decoded by using the other key of the pair. One of the two keys must be kept secret. The other may be widely distributed. (See also encryption and digital signature.)


ATM
ATM (asynchronous transfer mode) is a dedicated-connection switching technology for transmitting data over fiber optic cable. Its capacity surpasses that of conventional ISDN lines several times over. While data transmission speeds using ISDN are only 64 kbit/s, ATM can transport data at a rate of up to 2.4 gigabits per second, but it generally operates at 155 Mbit/s. The data to be transmitted is organized at the sender’s end into units known as “cells” and fed into the network in random order. Once the data units are received on the other end, the information is then reassembled in its original order

ATM (automated teller machine)
The automated teller machine, more commonly known as an ATM, is a computer terminal which uses a debit or credit card and personal identification number (PIN) to provide bank customers access to their accounts 24 hours a day. Many transactions that are part of a bank’s routine business can be carried out via an ATM. Such transactions include withdrawing money from an account, making a deposit to an account, checking the balance of an account, and making payments via transfer of funds. Some ATMs can even perform additional functions, such as selling postage stamps or pre-paid cards for mobile phones. ATMs are normally operated by financial institutions (mostly banks) and offer a flexible and convenient means of taking care of banking transactions outside of the bank’s business hours. Nowadays, ATMs can be found at many different (well visited) locations such as banks (inside/outside the lobby), shopping malls, gas stations, etc.


ATM card
A plastic card (credit or debit) that can be used exclusively at automated teller machines (ATM).


ATR
Answer to reset is a string of bytes returned from the smart card in response to a reset signal sent by the hardware. The information contained in the ATR includes various parameters for the chip card's transfer protocol.


Authentication
The process by which a card, a terminal, or a person proves its identity. Authentication is an elementary component of many cryptographic systems.
External authentication: the process by which the surrounding world (e.g. a terminal) confirms its identity to the card.
Internal authentication: the process by which a card is proved to be genuine with the aid of an algorithm, a randomly generated number, and a private key.


Authentication
Authentication is the process of proving that an entity (e.g. a smart card) is genuine by means of cryptographic processes. In simple terms, authentication is a predefined process used to determine whether someone is indeed who he or she claims to be.

Authentication test
Process in the end device used to check whether a chip card is genuine or only simulated (see authentication feature).


Authenticity
The condition of an entity or message being genuine and unaltered.


Authorization
Examining a transaction on the basis of various criteria to ensure it is permitted. Such criteria may include the card's validity, the correctness of the card number, checking a list of cards that have been frozen, correctness of PIN, adherence to monthly/weekly withdrawal/credit limit, compliance with maximum limit per transaction.


Authorization center
Computerized center responsible for approving payments made by card.


Auto-eject reader
A terminal that can automatically eject an inserted card.