ACH – Automated Clearing House; a payment system that processes electronic transactions in batches.  Provide same day, next day and two business day settlement options

ACH Operators – two entities, the Federal Reserve and The Clearing House’s Electronic Payments Network, that oversee system operation and route payments between sending and receiving institutions. The Federal Reserve provides settlement for all ACH transactions

ATM – automated teller machine; a terminal that allows a person to withdraw cash from their checking or savings account using an access card and code.

B2B – abbreviation for “business-to-business”

B2C – abbreviation for “business-to-consumer”

Blockchain – list of records, otherwise known as a block, linked using cryptography. Blockchain was created ca. 2008 by Satoshi Nakamoto to support transaction records for the cryptocurrency called bitcoin.

CHIPS – Clearing House Interbank Payments System; a private sector clearing house for large-value transactions.

Cryptocurrency – digital asset that uses cryptography to secure transactions and mint new units. Cryptocurrencies are decentralized and lack the control provided by a central bank in traditional monetary and payment systems.

FedNow – a real-time gross settlement system currently under development by the Federal Reserve that will be available by 2023 or 2024.

Fintech – shorthand term for “financial technology” that is commonly used to describe new companies that specialize in developing applications, software, and/or hardware to improve financial services for consumers, businesses, financial institutions, and governments.

ISO – International Organization for Standardization, a standards-setting body with representatives from multiple national standards organizations. ISO is not an acronym; instead, it refers to the Greek word isos, which means “equal”.

MSB/MSPs – Money Service Business or Money Service Provider; term to describe any person doing business as a currency dealer or exchanger, check casher, issuer of traveler’s checks/money orders/stored value, seller or redeemer of traveler’s checks/money orders/stored value, or money transmitter. The U.S. Postal Service is also classified by FinCEN as an MSB.

Outsourced Payments Providers – companies that specialize in certain aspects of payment processing, such as software design or hardware management, that can contribute to greater efficiencies and innovation across financial services.

PayPal, Venmo, Zelle – companies that specialize in developing payment products for consumers and businesses. These companies create products that utilize existing payment rails, such as the ACH, RTP or card networks, to effect transfer of funds.

Payment Associations – eleven regional, member-based organizations, affiliated with Nacha that provide education, audits, and related services and may also provide compliance services (audits, risk assessments and consulting and related services to financial institutions and other industry participants throughout the United States to financial institutions throughout the United States.

SEC codes for check conversion - ARC (Accounts Receivable Entry), BOC (Back Office Conversion), POP (Point-of Purchase) RCK (Represented Check Entry

SWIFT – Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication; organization that provides network and technology for financial instructions across the world to send and receive information about financial transactions. SWIFT does not clear and settle transactions; payment orders are settled with correspondent accounts.

Third Party – term to describe any person or group aside from two or more primary parties; often used to refer to technology or other companies that support payment processing