Merchant services is the name given in the United States to a broad category of financial services

Financial services

Financial services refer to services provided by the finance industry. The finance industry encompasses a broad range of organizations that deal with the management of money. Among these organizations are credit unions, banks, credit card companies, insurance companies, consumer finance companies,...

 intended for use by businesses. In its most specific use, it usually refers to the service that enables a business to accept a transaction payment by use of the customer's credit or debit card. More generally, the term includes the following in its use:

• Credit
  Credit card
  A credit card is a small plastic card issued to users as a system of payment. It allows its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods and services...
  
   and debit card
  Debit card
  A debit card is a plastic card that provides the cardholder electronic access to his or her bank account/s at a financial institution...
  
  s payment processing
• Check guarantee and check conversion services
• Automated Clearing House
  Automated Clearing House
  Automated Clearing House is an electronic network for financial transactions in the United States. ACH processes large volumes of credit and debit transactions in batches. ACH credit transfers include direct deposit payroll and vendor payments. ACH direct debit transfers include consumer payments...
  
   check drafting services
• Gift
  Gift card
  A gift card is a restricted monetary equivalent or scrip that is issued byretailers or banks to be used as an alternative to a non-monetary gift....
  
   and loyalty card programs
• Payment gateway
  Payment gateway
  A payment gateway is an e-commerce application service provider service that authorizes payments for e-businesses, online retailers, bricks and clicks, or traditional brick and mortar. It is the equivalent of a physical point of sale terminal located in most retail outlets...
  
  
• Email Marketing
• Direct Mail Marketing
• Merchant Cash Advance
  Merchant cash advance
  A Merchant Cash Advance is a lump sum payment to a business in exchange for an agreed upon percentage of future credit card and/or debit card sales. Merchant Cash Advance companies provide funds to businesses in exchange for a percentage of the businesses daily credit card income, directly from...
  
  s
• Online Ordering Systems
  Online transaction processing
  Online transaction processing, or OLTP, refers to a class of systems that facilitate and manage transaction-oriented applications, typically for data entry and retrieval transaction processing...
  
  
• Point of Sale
  Point of sale
  Point of sale or checkout is the location where a transaction occurs...
  
  s Systems

Other services include age verification (used by age-restricted businesses), employee payroll

Payroll

In a company, payroll is the sum of all financial records of salaries for an employee, wages, bonuses and deductions. In accounting, payroll refers to the amount paid to employees for services they provided during a certain period of time. Payroll plays a major role in a company for several reasons...

 tracking functions, electronic benefits transfer programs such as food stamps.