What is a Card Association?
Card associations are organizations such as VISA® and MASTERCARD® that, along with the government, make the rules in regard to the acceptance of credit cards. These rules include fees that are charged for interchange. American Express® and Discover® are different cases. They are both the issuer and acceptors, and Merchants must have a separate agreement with them. This may change as soon as current litigation is resolved.
Electronic Merchant Systems Payment Processing Glossary :
Defining key payment processing and merchant services industry terms to help business owners make better decisions.