Glossary
Banking and payments, in plain English.
Every acronym you'll encounter when running global finance — defined without the jargon.
- ACH
- Automated Clearing House. The US domestic payment network for batched bank-to-bank transfers.
- AML
- Anti-Money Laundering. The set of laws and controls preventing illicit funds from entering the financial system.
- BIC
- Bank Identifier Code. Also called SWIFT code — uniquely identifies a bank globally.
- EMI
- Electronic Money Institution. A regulated entity authorised to issue e-money and operate payment accounts.
- FX
- Foreign Exchange. The conversion of one currency into another.
- FATF
- Financial Action Task Force. The global body that sets AML and counter-terrorism financing standards.
- FedWire
- The Federal Reserve's real-time gross settlement system for US dollar wire transfers.
- FPS
- Faster Payments Service. The UK's near-instant retail payment system.
- IBAN
- International Bank Account Number. A standardised format for international bank account identifiers.
- KYB
- Know Your Business. Verifying the identity, ownership and activity of a corporate customer.
- KYC
- Know Your Customer. Verifying the identity of an individual customer.
- MCC
- Merchant Category Code. A 4-digit code classifying the merchant that processed a transaction.
- PSD2
- Payment Services Directive 2. EU regulation governing payment services and open banking.
- PEP
- Politically Exposed Person. An individual holding a prominent public function, subject to enhanced due diligence.
- SEPA
- Single Euro Payments Area. A network for euro-denominated bank transfers across 36 European countries.
- SEPA Instant
- A SEPA scheme settling payments in under 10 seconds, 24/7/365.
- SWIFT
- Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication. The global messaging network for cross-border bank transfers.
- Safeguarding
- The regulatory requirement for EMIs to hold customer funds separately from operating capital.
- Sort code
- A six-digit code identifying a UK bank branch in domestic payments.
- Routing number
- A nine-digit code identifying a US bank for ACH and FedWire transfers.