ETA CPP COMPREHENSIVE STUDY
GUIDE 2026 FULL QUESTIONS AND
SOLUTIONS GRADED A+
◍ Combined Terminated Merchant File (CTMF).
Answer: A database maintained by the card companies that lists all
merchants terminated for cause.
◍ Combined Warning Bulletin.
Answer: The printed list of blocked numbers published jointly by Visa
U.S.A. and MasterCard International. This list was discontinued in April
1994.
◍ Commercial Card.
Answer: A credit or debit card issued to businesses and corporations for
travel and entertainment, fleet, business‐related expenses, and procurement.
◍ Commercial Card Enhanced Data Transport.
Answer: A service that enables issuers to provide their Visa Commercial
card customers with optional enhanced reporting of transaction information
provided by merchants and acquirers.
◍ Commercial Credit.
Answer: Short‐term credit that a seller gives to a buyer to pay for a service
or product.
◍ Commercial Relationship.
Answer: An agreement between parties to do business together for the
purpose of EBPP/EIPP. It may or may not include a contract.
◍ Commercially Reasonable Time Frame.
Answer: A period of time generally considered acceptable for a process in a
, given industry, taking into consideration the circumstances of the parties to
the transaction. (Source: Billing.org)
◍ Commission-Only Sales.
Answer: Sales personnel who are not employed by a company but receive
commissions instead of a salary when they effect a sale. These personnel are
also considered "1099" personnel because they are issued IRS Form 1099 as
proof of wages and for tax filing purposes.
◍ Communications Processor Unit (CPU).
Answer: A computer embedded in a
◍ Compliance.
Answer: A process for resolving disputes between card companies arising
from violations of the operating regulations and verification by the member
that a financial loss has occurred.
◍ Compliance Filing.
Answer: A formal case filing (on a completed regulations/rules violation
form) submitted following an unsuccessful good‐faith attempt to resolve the
dispute.
◍ Computer-Based Training (CBT).
Answer: Lessons or classes designed for self-study from computer
programs.
◍ Concentrator.
Answer: 1. In data transmission, a functional unit that permits a common
path to handle more data sources than there are channels currently available
within the path. A concentrator usually provides communication capability
between many low‐speed, usually asynchronous channels and one or more
high‐speed, usually synchronous channels. Usually different speeds, codes,
and protocols can be accommodated on the low‐speed side. 2. A device that
connects a number of circuits, which are not all used at once, to a smaller
group of circuits for economy. (Source: Federal Communications
Commission)
,◍ Concentrator.
Answer: A financial institution or third‐party service provider that a biller
retains to handle payment and/or remittance data.
◍ Confidentiality.
Answer: The guarantee that a message will be legible to no one other than
the intended recipient.
◍ Confirmation.
Answer: The acquirer's electronic acknowledgment of the retrieval request.
◍ Confirmation Number.
Answer: A number provided by a hotel, motel or auto rental to verify a
cardholderʹs guaranteed reservation or advance resort deposit.
◍ Confirmed Fraud Transaction.
Answer: A transaction, reported by an issuer to the card companies,
involving a card that was lost, stolen, never received, issued on a fraudulent
application, counterfeit, or used fraudulently.
◍ Congestion.
Answer: Density of traffic when the load exceeds the capacity of a data
communication path. (Source: Federal Communications Commission)
◍ Connection Endpoint (CE).
Answer: A terminating device at one end of a layer connection within a
service access point. Within VisaNet (Visa's network), Visa Access Point
(VAP) serves as the connection endpoints. Within BankNet (MasterCard's
network), MasterCard Interface Processor (MIP) serves as the connection
endpoints.
◍ Consolidator.
Answer: A bill service provider that consolidates bills from multiple billers
or other bill service providers (BSPs) and delivers them for presentment to
the customer service provider (CSP). (Source: Billing.org).
◍ Consumer.
, Answer: A person not engaged in commercial transactions.
◍ Consumer Cards.
Answer: The term used to identify all personal credit and debit cards.
◍ Consumer Credit Protection Act.
Answer: See Regulation Z.
◍ Consumer Fraud.
Answer: The commission of fraudulent acts by a consumer against a
merchant. Some examples include writing bad checks, closing an account or
having no account for checks, or intentional chargebacks.
◍ Consumer-Operated Terminal (COT).
Answer: A self‐service, usually a freestanding device such as an ATM or
kiosk where the consumer initiates and consummates a transaction without
the aid of a clerk. See also Cardholder‐ Activated Terminal.
◍ Contact Smart Card.
Answer: A smart card that connects to the reading device through direct
physical contact between the smart card chip and the smart card reader. See
ISO/IEC 7816. (Source: Smart Card Alliance)
◍ Contactless Payments.
Answer: See Proximity Payments.
◍ Contactless Smart Card.
Answer: A smart card whose chip communicates with the reader using RF
(Radio Frequency) and does not require physical contact with the card
reader. (Source: Smart Card Alliance)
◍ Contactless Chip with dCVV/CVC3.
Answer: The dCVV (Visa) and CVC3 (MasterCard) technology is a unique
transaction identifier that is generated based upon public key/private key
technology in combination with use of a contactless chip (discussed in the
Contactless Chip Payments section). This transaction code is transmitted to
the issuer for decryption and comparison to authenticate that the transaction
GUIDE 2026 FULL QUESTIONS AND
SOLUTIONS GRADED A+
◍ Combined Terminated Merchant File (CTMF).
Answer: A database maintained by the card companies that lists all
merchants terminated for cause.
◍ Combined Warning Bulletin.
Answer: The printed list of blocked numbers published jointly by Visa
U.S.A. and MasterCard International. This list was discontinued in April
1994.
◍ Commercial Card.
Answer: A credit or debit card issued to businesses and corporations for
travel and entertainment, fleet, business‐related expenses, and procurement.
◍ Commercial Card Enhanced Data Transport.
Answer: A service that enables issuers to provide their Visa Commercial
card customers with optional enhanced reporting of transaction information
provided by merchants and acquirers.
◍ Commercial Credit.
Answer: Short‐term credit that a seller gives to a buyer to pay for a service
or product.
◍ Commercial Relationship.
Answer: An agreement between parties to do business together for the
purpose of EBPP/EIPP. It may or may not include a contract.
◍ Commercially Reasonable Time Frame.
Answer: A period of time generally considered acceptable for a process in a
, given industry, taking into consideration the circumstances of the parties to
the transaction. (Source: Billing.org)
◍ Commission-Only Sales.
Answer: Sales personnel who are not employed by a company but receive
commissions instead of a salary when they effect a sale. These personnel are
also considered "1099" personnel because they are issued IRS Form 1099 as
proof of wages and for tax filing purposes.
◍ Communications Processor Unit (CPU).
Answer: A computer embedded in a
◍ Compliance.
Answer: A process for resolving disputes between card companies arising
from violations of the operating regulations and verification by the member
that a financial loss has occurred.
◍ Compliance Filing.
Answer: A formal case filing (on a completed regulations/rules violation
form) submitted following an unsuccessful good‐faith attempt to resolve the
dispute.
◍ Computer-Based Training (CBT).
Answer: Lessons or classes designed for self-study from computer
programs.
◍ Concentrator.
Answer: 1. In data transmission, a functional unit that permits a common
path to handle more data sources than there are channels currently available
within the path. A concentrator usually provides communication capability
between many low‐speed, usually asynchronous channels and one or more
high‐speed, usually synchronous channels. Usually different speeds, codes,
and protocols can be accommodated on the low‐speed side. 2. A device that
connects a number of circuits, which are not all used at once, to a smaller
group of circuits for economy. (Source: Federal Communications
Commission)
,◍ Concentrator.
Answer: A financial institution or third‐party service provider that a biller
retains to handle payment and/or remittance data.
◍ Confidentiality.
Answer: The guarantee that a message will be legible to no one other than
the intended recipient.
◍ Confirmation.
Answer: The acquirer's electronic acknowledgment of the retrieval request.
◍ Confirmation Number.
Answer: A number provided by a hotel, motel or auto rental to verify a
cardholderʹs guaranteed reservation or advance resort deposit.
◍ Confirmed Fraud Transaction.
Answer: A transaction, reported by an issuer to the card companies,
involving a card that was lost, stolen, never received, issued on a fraudulent
application, counterfeit, or used fraudulently.
◍ Congestion.
Answer: Density of traffic when the load exceeds the capacity of a data
communication path. (Source: Federal Communications Commission)
◍ Connection Endpoint (CE).
Answer: A terminating device at one end of a layer connection within a
service access point. Within VisaNet (Visa's network), Visa Access Point
(VAP) serves as the connection endpoints. Within BankNet (MasterCard's
network), MasterCard Interface Processor (MIP) serves as the connection
endpoints.
◍ Consolidator.
Answer: A bill service provider that consolidates bills from multiple billers
or other bill service providers (BSPs) and delivers them for presentment to
the customer service provider (CSP). (Source: Billing.org).
◍ Consumer.
, Answer: A person not engaged in commercial transactions.
◍ Consumer Cards.
Answer: The term used to identify all personal credit and debit cards.
◍ Consumer Credit Protection Act.
Answer: See Regulation Z.
◍ Consumer Fraud.
Answer: The commission of fraudulent acts by a consumer against a
merchant. Some examples include writing bad checks, closing an account or
having no account for checks, or intentional chargebacks.
◍ Consumer-Operated Terminal (COT).
Answer: A self‐service, usually a freestanding device such as an ATM or
kiosk where the consumer initiates and consummates a transaction without
the aid of a clerk. See also Cardholder‐ Activated Terminal.
◍ Contact Smart Card.
Answer: A smart card that connects to the reading device through direct
physical contact between the smart card chip and the smart card reader. See
ISO/IEC 7816. (Source: Smart Card Alliance)
◍ Contactless Payments.
Answer: See Proximity Payments.
◍ Contactless Smart Card.
Answer: A smart card whose chip communicates with the reader using RF
(Radio Frequency) and does not require physical contact with the card
reader. (Source: Smart Card Alliance)
◍ Contactless Chip with dCVV/CVC3.
Answer: The dCVV (Visa) and CVC3 (MasterCard) technology is a unique
transaction identifier that is generated based upon public key/private key
technology in combination with use of a contactless chip (discussed in the
Contactless Chip Payments section). This transaction code is transmitted to
the issuer for decryption and comparison to authenticate that the transaction
