Defined Terms and Documents       

Credit Card Issuers or Credit Card Providers means many large Australian and international banks and some major Australian companies (eg Coles, David Jones & QANTAS) that issue Credit Cards under either of the two Credit Card Payment Schemes to Australians over the age of 18 years of age, on occasions with insufficient credit checks, in accordance with the terms and conditions in the Credit Card Issuer's particular 'Loan Agreement'.

The Card Issuer’s primary role is to authorize the transaction (Purchases and Cash Advances) and settle (nightly) the Cardholder’s purchase (with subsequent collection from the Cardholder).  The Credit Card Issuer has a lending relationship with the Cardholder that may result in the Cardholder paying the entire balance on the payment due date (a "Transactor") or choosing to repay over time (a "Revolver").  Regardless of the tenor of the lending, a Credit Card Issuer is lending to the Credit Cardholder each time a Purchase is made.

An Interchange Fee is charged by the Card Issuer to the Merchant for putting the Merchant in funds 'same day' of a Purchase by a Credit Cardholder or a Debit Cardholder.

An Interchange Fee is -

(i)          a transaction fee that the Merchant's bank, known as the Acquirer Bank, pays whenever a Cardholder uses a credit/debit card to make a Purchase; and

(ii)         paid to the Card Issuer to cover -
             a)      funding cost up to 55 days;
             b)      electronic hardware and software handling costs;
             c)      fraud and bad debt costs; and
             d)      the risk involved in approving the payment.

"By the 2003 amendments, the acquiring and issuing of credit cards by participants in a designated credit card scheme (such as MasterCard and VISA) became prescribed activities and so fall within the definition of ‘banking business’".