Banking

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1/10 Net 30 Payment Terms

1/10 net 30 terms offer a 1% discount for eligible payment by day 10; otherwise the full invoice is due by day 30.

3-6-3 Rule

The 3-6-3 rule is a historical banking joke about paying 3% on deposits, lending at 6%, and leaving work for golf at 3 p.m.

Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AePS)

AePS is an NPCI-operated, bank-led system for supported banking transactions at business-correspondent and micro-ATM touchpoints using Aadhaar authentication.

Aadhaar Payment Bridge System (APBS)

APBS is India's NACH component for routing eligible bulk benefit credits using Aadhaar-to-bank mapping, with bank posting, returns, and reconciliation.

Accepting House

An accepting house was a specialist merchant-banking institution that accepted trade bills, adding its name and payment obligation to support discount-market financing.

Accommodation Bill

An accommodation bill is signed by a party that lends its credit to another party without directly receiving the value given for the bill.

Identifiers & Routing

Bank account numbers, IBAN, BBAN, SWIFT code/BIC, routing numbers, sort codes, BIN, and PAN identifiers.

Account Types

Bank account ownership, available balances, frozen accounts, holds, mandates, offshore accounts, and unclaimed funds.

Accounts and Controls

Bank account identifiers, statements, reconciliation records, account restrictions, fees, branch cash, and custody-control terms.

ACH

Learn how U.S. ACH payments move through originators, banks, and ACH operators, including credits, debits, timing, returns, authorization, and risks.

Acquiring Bank

An acquiring bank contracts for merchant card acceptance and settlement while managing processing, funding, and chargeback exposure.

Actual/360

Day-count convention that divides the actual elapsed days in an interest period by a 360-day denominator.

Adjustment Period

An adjustment period is the contractual interval between recalculations of a variable interest rate under a loan, deposit, or security.

Advance Payment

An advance payment is all or part of a price paid before the seller delivers the goods, services, or other promised performance.

Advance Payment Bond

An advance payment bond protects a buyer or project owner against defined loss of an advance paid before a supplier or contractor earns it.

Advising Bank

An advising bank checks a letter of credit's apparent authenticity and accurately transmits it to the beneficiary without automatically promising payment.

American Bankers Association (ABA)

The American Bankers Association is a private U.S. banking trade association that provides advocacy, education, research, publications, and member services.

Annual Equivalent Rate (AER)

UK savings comparison rate showing the annual equivalent of interest after compounding, subject to the account's stated rate and conditions.

Annual Interest Rate

Interest rate stated for a one-year period whose meaning depends on whether it is nominal, effective, simple, compounded, fixed, or variable.

Annual Percentage Yield (APY)

U.S. deposit yield that annualizes interest and compounding so savings accounts and certificates of deposit can be compared on a common basis.

Annuity Rate

Ambiguous term that can mean an annuity valuation rate, contract crediting rate, or payout-to-premium conversion rate.

API

API is a financial technology term used in payments, banking access, data services, automation, or market infrastructure.

Applicant

In a letter of credit, the applicant is the party whose request causes the issuing bank to issue the credit, usually the buyer or importer.

ARM Index

An ARM index is the market benchmark used with a contractual margin to calculate an adjustable mortgage's fully indexed interest rate.

ARM Margin

An ARM margin is the fixed percentage-point amount generally added to a market index when calculating an adjustable mortgage's interest rate.

At Sight

At sight means payment is due when a draft or other payment demand is presented, rather than on a specified future maturity date.

ATM Card

An ATM card is an account-linked access card used primarily for cash withdrawals and other supported ATM transactions.

Authorization Hold

An authorization hold temporarily reduces available funds or credit while a card transaction awaits capture, adjustment, or release.

Auto-Pay

Auto-pay is an advance instruction that schedules recurring bill, loan, card, or subscription payments through a bank, biller, or payment network.

Automated Teller Machine

An automated teller machine is a self-service banking terminal for cash withdrawals and other authorized account transactions.

Availability Schedule

An availability schedule states when different deposit types are expected to become usable under a bank's policy and applicable funds-availability rules.

Available Balance

Available balance is the amount a bank currently permits an account holder to withdraw or spend after recognized holds and pending transactions.

Back-to-Back Letters of Credit

Back-to-back letters of credit use an original credit to support a second, separate credit issued for a supplier in an intermediary trade.

Bacs

UK batch payment system for Direct Debit collections and Bacs Direct Credit payments such as payroll, benefits, dividends, and supplier payments.

Bad Bank

A bad bank isolates distressed assets for workout or sale, but the transfer price, funding, and loss allocation determine whether risk is reduced or merely moved.

Balloon Loan

A balloon loan uses scheduled payments that do not fully amortize the principal, leaving a substantial balance due at contractual maturity.

Balloon Payment

A balloon payment is the substantial unpaid principal and other contractual amounts due when a partially amortizing loan reaches maturity.

Bancassurance

Bancassurance is the distribution of insurance through bank channels, partnerships, joint ventures, or bank-insurance groups.

Bank Account

Contractual account relationship through which a bank records deposits, withdrawals, payments, credit, fees, ownership, and authorized access.

Bank Account Number

Identifier assigned to a deposit, loan, or other account within a financial institution and used with routing details to direct payments.

Bank Branch

A bank branch is an authorized physical location where a bank provides services such as deposits, withdrawals, account support, and lending.

Bank Capital

Bank capital is the accounting equity and qualifying regulatory capital available to absorb losses, support lending, and meet prudential requirements.

Bank Certificate

Bank-issued document certifying specified account, balance, deposit, interest, or relationship facts for a stated date or period.

Bank Confirmation Letter

A bank confirmation letter verifies specified account, cash, debt, or banking-relationship information as of a stated date.

Bank Draft

A bank draft is a bank-issued payment instrument drawn on the financial institution's account, although its exact structure and name vary by jurisdiction.

Efficiency Ratio

A bank efficiency ratio compares noninterest expense with net operating revenue, showing the overhead required to generate each dollar of revenue.

Bank Fees

Bank fees are charges triggered by account maintenance, transactions, special services, payment failures, or credit use.

Bank Float

Bank float is the timing difference among recording, posting, clearing, settlement, and availability while a payment moves through bank systems.

Bank Giro Credit

UK paper credit voucher used with cash or a cheque to identify the bank account that should receive a bill payment or deposit.

Groups & Nonbanks

Banking structures that separate parent companies, regulated banks, nonbank affiliates, and market-based credit activities.

Bank Holding Company

A bank holding company controls one or more banks and is supervised by the Federal Reserve across the consolidated organization.

Bank Holiday

A bank holiday is a scheduled or emergency day when bank offices or banking operations close, affecting cutoffs, settlement, and access according to the service involved.

Bank Identification Number (BIN)

Leading payment-card number sequence, formally the Issuer Identification Number, used to identify the card issuer and support transaction routing.

Bank Interest

Interest a bank pays on eligible balances or charges for credit, calculated under the account or loan terms.

Bank Mandate

Account authority record specifying who may instruct a bank, which actions they may take, and whether one or multiple approvals are required.

Bank Rate

Bank Rate is the Bank of England's main policy rate and a benchmark influencing sterling money-market, lending, and savings rates.

Bank Reconciliation

Control that compares bank records with an organization's cash ledger, explains differences, and records missing book entries.

Bank Reserves

Bank reserves are commercial banks' balances at the central bank, plus vault cash where the applicable definition includes it, used for settlement and liquidity.

Bank Run

A bank run is a rapid withdrawal of deposits or other short-term funding that can exhaust a bank's available liquidity.

Bank Statement

A bank statement records posted account activity, balances, interest, and fees for a defined statement period.

Bank Teller

A bank teller is an employee who processes authorized deposits, withdrawals, cheque transactions, payments, and other customer account services.

Bank Transfer

Learn how bank transfers work across internal, ACH, wire, instant, and cross-border routes, including timing, fees, status, tracing, and fraud risks.

Bank Trust Department

A bank trust department administers trusts, estates, custody, investment-management, and corporate agency appointments in specified legal capacities.

Bank-Owned Life Insurance (BOLI)

Bank-owned life insurance is a bank-held insurance asset used for permissible employee-benefit, key-person, and related business purposes.

Banker's Acceptance

A banker's acceptance is a time draft accepted by a bank and used in trade finance and short-term money markets.

Banker's Year

Traditional 360-day annual basis used in some interest calculations, with the day numerator defined separately by the applicable convention.

Banking

Banking connects deposits, lending, payments, liquidity, and capital through a regulated balance sheet that must absorb losses and meet withdrawals.

Banking Channels

Banking channels are the branch, ATM, phone, web, mobile, and API paths used to access accounts. Learn how transactions, controls, outages, and evidence differ.

Institutions and Operations

Banking terms for bank types, bank-service models, interbank networks, bank capital, credit unions, and banking-system history.

Banking System

A banking system connects deposit-taking institutions, borrowers, payment rails, central-bank money, supervisors, deposit insurance, and financial markets.

Banknote

A banknote is an official physical bearer instrument issued to circulate as money at a stated face value.

Basis Point

One hundredth of one percentage point, used to state precise changes in rates, yields, spreads, and percentage-based fees.

BBAN

Country-specific Basic Bank Account Number that forms the domestic portion of an IBAN and contains national bank, branch, account, or check elements.

Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS)

BBPS is India's interoperable bill-payment system, connecting customers, billers, operating units, payment methods, clearing, settlement, and complaints.

BHIM Aadhaar Pay

BHIM Aadhaar Pay lets eligible customers pay enabled merchants from Aadhaar-linked bank accounts using biometric authentication and participating banks.

Bill of Exchange

A bill of exchange is a signed written order directing a drawee to pay a specified sum to a payee on demand or at a determinable future time.

Bill Rate

A bill rate is a quoted annualized rate for a short-term bill, often calculated on a discount basis using face value and a market day-count convention.

Biller-Direct Payments

Biller-direct payments are initiated through a biller's own website, app, or portal and funded through a supported payment method.

Billing Date

A billing date identifies when a bill or periodic statement is issued or when its billing cycle closes, depending on the issuer's terminology.

Blended Rate

Weighted-average interest rate across loans, balances, tranches, or funding sources, calculated using comparable amounts and rate conventions.

Branch & Cash

Bank branches, tellers, cash, banknotes, tills, and operational branch records.

Brokered CD

A brokered CD is a bank certificate of deposit purchased through a brokerage or deposit intermediary rather than directly from the issuing bank.

Bullet Loan

A bullet loan defers most or all principal until maturity, reducing near-term payments while concentrating repayment and refinancing risk.

Bullet Repayment

Bullet repayment requires most or all principal to be paid at maturity, concentrating funding needs at a single terminal date.

Business Banking

Business banking provides deposit accounts, payments, credit, cash management, and related services for small and midsize operating companies.

Call Money

Call money is short-term wholesale funding repayable on demand or at very short notice, often overnight.

Canceled Check

A canceled check is a check that the paying bank has paid and charged to the drawer's account, creating a record of the processed payment.

Capital Purchase Program (CPP)

The Capital Purchase Program was a U.S. Treasury TARP initiative that exchanged public funds for preferred shares, debt securities, and warrants in qualifying financial institutions.

Authorization

Card authorization is the issuer's approval or decline response before a merchant captures and submits a transaction for settlement.

Cash

Cash is physical money in the form of banknotes and coins held directly for payments, withdrawals, deposits, or contingency use.

Cash Back

Cash back can mean a spending reward, a merchant rebate, or cash added to a debit-card purchase at the point of sale.

Cash Item

In bank collection, a cash item is generally a check or other demand item accepted for collection at par rather than for special noncash handling.

Cash Management

Treasury banking concepts for collecting receipts, processing remittances, concentrating cash, funding accounts, and automating balance transfers.

Cashier's Check

A cashier's check is a check drawn by a bank on itself and issued as the bank's direct payment obligation rather than the purchaser's personal check.

CDARS

CDARS places certificates of deposit across participating banks, potentially expanding aggregate FDIC coverage when ownership and recordkeeping rules are satisfied.

Central Bank

A central bank is a public monetary institution that implements monetary policy and commonly manages bank reserves, currency, official reserves, payment systems, and financial-stability …

Central Bank Independence

Central bank independence is legal and practical autonomy to use policy tools without short-term political direction while remaining publicly accountable.

Certificate of Deposit

Certificate of deposit meaning, CD rates and maturity, early withdrawal, renewal, brokered CDs, insurance, and risks.

CD vs. Commercial Paper

CDs and commercial paper provide short-term cash placement through different claims, protection, liquidity, maturity, and yield conventions.

CD Laddering

CD laddering divides deposits among staggered maturities to schedule cash access and spread reinvestment decisions across multiple dates.

CDs vs. Series EE Bonds

CDs and Series EE bonds differ in issuer protection, cash access, holding horizon, return mechanics, purchase limits, and tax treatment.

Certified Check

A certified check is a customer's check that the drawee bank formally certifies it will pay, commonly after verifying the signature and setting aside funds.

CHAPS

Bank of England-operated same-day sterling payment system for high-value wholesale and time-critical customer transfers settled through RTGS.

Chargeback

A chargeback is a card-network dispute reversal that moves transaction value back through the issuer, acquirer, and merchant process.

Check 21 Act

The Check 21 Act enables legally equivalent substitute checks, allowing banks to truncate paper checks and exchange images without mandating electronic receipt.

Check Clearing

Check clearing is the collection process through which banks exchange check information, determine payment, and settle the item.

Check Deposit

A check deposit places a paper check or check image into an account for collection, usually with provisional credit before final payment is known.

Check Kiting

Check kiting is fraud that circulates unfunded checks between accounts to create temporary balances and withdraw uncollected funds.

Checking Account

Checking account meaning, payment features, balance mechanics, fees, overdrafts, fraud controls, and comparison criteria.

Cheque

A cheque is a signed order directing a bank to pay a stated amount from the drawer's account to a named payee or bearer.

Cheque Truncation

Cheque truncation replaces paper movement with electronic images and data. See how India's CTS clears items, records returns, and manages risk.

Chip and PIN

Chip and PIN combines EMV chip processing with a personal identification number to authenticate a card-present payment and its cardholder.

CHIPS

CHIPS is a private U.S. dollar clearing and settlement system. Learn how payment release, netting, prefunding, finality, and bank posting differ.

Cleared Funds

Cleared funds are account funds that have passed the institution's relevant processing checks and are available under its rules.

Clearing Bank

A clearing bank participates in a clearing arrangement and handles payment or securities obligations for itself or other institutions.

Client Account

Account used to hold or record client cash and securities separately from a financial or professional firm's own assets.

Collecting Bank

A collecting bank handles a cheque or other payment item for collection and seeks payment from the drawee or paying bank.

Collection Account

A collection account is a bank account designated to receive, identify, reconcile, and concentrate customer payments or other incoming receipts.

Commercial Bank

A commercial bank accepts deposits, extends credit, processes payments, and provides other banking services to households, businesses, and institutions.

Commercial Banking

Commercial banking provides deposits, payments, loans, treasury services, and trade finance to businesses and other operating organizations.

CPMI

CPMI is a global central-bank standard-setting committee for payment, clearing, settlement, and financial-market infrastructures.

Community Bank

A community bank uses local deposit gathering, relationship lending, and a comparatively limited market footprint to serve households and businesses.

Compensating Balance

Deposit balance a borrower or business maintains under a credit or banking-service arrangement, affecting usable liquidity and effective cost.

Conditional Payment

A conditional payment becomes due or is released only when specified events, documents, approvals, or performance requirements are satisfied.

Confirmed Letter of Credit

A confirmed letter of credit carries a second bank's undertaking to honor or negotiate a complying presentation in addition to the issuing bank's undertaking.

Confirming Bank

A confirming bank adds its own undertaking to honor or negotiate a complying presentation under an authorized or requested letter of credit.

Contactless Payment

Contactless payment lets a card, phone, or wearable exchange payment data with a compatible terminal over a short-range interface such as NFC.

Contract Interest Rate

A contract interest rate is the operative rate stated directly or determined by a formula in a loan, bond, deposit, or other agreement.

Cooperative Bank

A cooperative bank is governed through a cooperative ownership structure, with member rights, capital, services, and regulation determined by its jurisdiction.

Corporate Banking

Corporate banking provides larger and more complex companies with credit facilities, treasury services, trade finance, risk management, and relationship coverage.

Correspondent Banking

Correspondent banking is an ongoing relationship in which one bank provides accounts, payments, clearing, settlement, or other services to another bank.

Cost of Funds

Cost of funds measures what a bank pays for deposits, borrowings, and other funding under a clearly stated balance and time-period denominator.

Credit Card Processing

Credit card processing is the transaction lifecycle that connects merchant acceptance, issuer authorization, capture, clearing, settlement, refunds, and disputes.

Credit Transfer

A credit transfer is a payer-initiated push payment whose timing, settlement, availability, fees, and recovery options depend on the payment rail.

Credit Union

A credit union is a member-owned financial cooperative that accepts savings, makes loans, and provides payment services to eligible members.

Credit Union System

Credit union comparison and system pages covering credit union regulation, insurance, supervision, and bank-versus-credit-union distinctions.

Cross-Border Payment

A cross-border payment involves a payer and recipient whose payment providers are located in different jurisdictions.

Cryptocurrency Cards

A cryptocurrency card connects a card payment to crypto conversion or rewards. Compare debit, prepaid, and credit structures, fees, refunds, taxes, and risks.

Currency Transaction Report (CTR)

A Currency Transaction Report is filed for covered U.S. currency transactions over USD 10,000, including aggregated cash activity known to involve the same person.

Custodial Account

Account in which a custodian holds or administers assets for a beneficiary, including minor-beneficiary and institutional custody arrangements.

Custodian Fee

Charge for holding, settling, servicing, and reporting assets, calculated through asset-based, minimum, transaction, or special-service pricing.

Custody Accounts

Custody, client-asset segregation, nominee ownership records, safekeeping controls, physical storage, and custody-fee concepts.

Daily Interest

Interest accrued for each day using a stated daily rate, eligible balance, day-count basis, and treatment of prior interest.

Debit Card

A debit card initiates purchases or cash withdrawals against a linked bank or credit-union account.

Debit vs. Credit Card

Debit cards draw from a deposit account, while credit cards use a borrowing line that the cardholder must repay.

Debt Burden

Debt burden is the pressure required debt payments place on household income, business cash flow, or government revenue and financing capacity.

Debt Cancellation & Suspension

Optional creditor contracts that cancel or temporarily suspend specified debt obligations after covered events, distinct from credit insurance.

Debt Deflation

Debt deflation is a feedback loop in which falling prices increase real debt burdens, weaken collateral, force spending cuts, and deepen economic contraction.

Deferred Payment

A deferred payment is an amount owed for goods, services, or financing that is scheduled for a later date instead of immediate settlement.

Delivery Versus Payment (DVP)

Delivery versus payment links securities delivery with the corresponding funds transfer so one occurs only if the other occurs.

Demand Deposit

A demand deposit is payable without a stated maturity and supports withdrawals and payments, while remaining subject to holds, fees, and account rules.

Deposit

Deposit meaning in banking and contracts, including posting, availability, collection, ownership, protection, and return conditions.

Deposit Account

Deposit account meaning, account types, balance records, ownership, access, fees, and deposit-insurance considerations.

Deposit in Transit

A deposit in transit is cash recorded in an entity's books before the same deposit appears in the bank record, creating a temporary reconciliation difference.

Deposit Processing

Branch and after-hours deposit controls covering instructions, restricted credentials, custody, bank intake, posting, and reconciliation.

Deposit Slip

A deposit slip identifies the account, depositor, amount, and composition of cash or checks submitted to a bank for credit.

Deposit-Only Card

A deposit-only card is a restricted bank credential that lets an authorized user make deposits without granting ordinary withdrawal or purchase access.

Depository Bank

Depository bank is a context-dependent label for a bank receiving deposits or deposited items; check law commonly uses the spelling depositary bank.

Depository Institutions

A depository institution is authorized to accept deposits and use them within a regulated banking or credit-union business, making funding, liquidity, and depositor protection central to its …

Depository Transfer Check

A depository transfer check is a legacy cash-concentration instrument used to move collected balances from local deposit accounts to a central account.

Deposits

Bank deposit products, certificates, branch processing, check clearing, and funds-availability terms used to evaluate access, interest, fees, and timing.

Digital Banking

Digital banking delivers account access, payments, lending, and service through online systems. Learn the operating flow, protections, and risks.

Digital Payments

Digital payments are electronically initiated transfers of monetary value through cards, bank networks, wallets, platforms, or other payment systems.

Digital Wallet

A digital wallet is an application or service that stores payment credentials, maintains value, or provides access to card, bank, or platform payments.

Direct Debit

Learn how direct debits work, including authorization, recurring and variable payments, ACH processing, cancellations, returns, disputes, and common risks.

Direct Deposit

Direct deposit sends payroll, benefits, refunds, and other credits electronically, with timing, posting, returns, and fraud controls affecting the result.

Discount Market

A discount market is a short-term money market where bills and other instruments trade below face value and mature at par.

Documentary Collection

A documentary collection routes trade documents through banks for release against payment, acceptance, or another stated condition without a bank payment guarantee.

Drawdown

A loan drawdown is the funding of an advance under an existing credit facility, increasing debt outstanding and reducing remaining availability.

Drawee

A drawee is the person or bank directed by a cheque, draft, or bill of exchange to pay the stated amount.

Drawer

A drawer is the person or organization that signs a cheque, draft, or bill of exchange and orders the drawee to pay.

Dual Banking System

The U.S. dual banking system permits banks to operate under national or state charters, with federal supervision determined by charter and Federal Reserve membership.

Early Withdrawal Penalty

An early withdrawal penalty is a contractual charge or forfeiture applied when a depositor takes money from a time deposit before maturity.

Earnings Credit Rate

The earnings credit rate converts eligible commercial deposit balances into credits that offset specified bank service charges.

EBA Stress Test

The EBA EU-wide stress test compares selected European banks under common adverse scenarios to support supervision and market transparency.

Edge Act Corporation

An Edge Act corporation is a federally chartered U.S. company authorized for international banking and financing under Federal Reserve Regulation K.

Effective Annual Rate

One-year rate that incorporates within-year compounding so rates quoted with different periodic conventions can be compared consistently.

Electronic Fund Transfer

Learn what an electronic fund transfer is, which payments count as EFTs, how processing works, and how ACH, cards, wires, and instant payments differ.

Electronic Payments Network (EPN)

EPN is The Clearing House's private ACH operator. Learn how it clears ACH files, exchanges entries with FedACH, supports settlement, and differs from RTP and wires.

Electronic Settlement

Electronic settlement completes payment or securities obligations through account records. Learn clearing, gross and net settlement, finality, DVP, risks, and controls.

Eligible Liabilities

Eligible liabilities are qualifying bank obligations that can count with own funds toward MREL and absorb losses or support recapitalization in resolution.

Emergency Banking Act of 1933

The Emergency Banking Act of 1933 ratified emergency banking restrictions and gave U.S. authorities tools to examine, support, conserve, and reopen banks during the Great Depression.

EMV Technology

EMV technology is the chip-payment framework that authenticates payment devices and transaction data for contact and contactless card-present payments.

Eurobanking

Eurobanking is deposit-taking and lending in currencies outside their home banking systems; the guide explains Eurobanks, booking location, pricing, and risk.

Eurocurrency

Eurocurrency is a bank deposit or liability denominated in a currency different from the currency of the country where the booking office is located.

Eurodollar CD

Negotiable U.S.-dollar time deposit issued by a bank office outside the United States, with offshore issuer, liquidity, and protection risks.

European Banking Authority (EBA)

The European Banking Authority develops EU banking standards, promotes supervisory convergence, assesses sector risks, and supports the Single Rulebook.

Exact Interest

Traditional simple-interest method using actual elapsed days and a 365-day or stated actual-year basis.

Excess Reserves

Excess reserves are qualifying bank reserves above the applicable required amount; they are not necessarily idle or economically surplus.

Expedited Funds Availability Act (EFAA)

The EFAA is the U.S. statute establishing funds-availability schedules, disclosures, exceptions, interest rules, and check-return authority for covered deposits.

Export Credit

Export credit lets a foreign buyer defer payment for exported goods or services, with financing provided by the seller, a lender, or an official export program.

Export Credit Insurance

Export credit insurance covers specified losses when a foreign buyer does not pay an eligible receivable because of defined commercial or political risks.

FedACH Services

FedACH Services process U.S. ACH credit and debit files through the Federal Reserve Banks. Learn the operator flow, settlement, Same Day ACH, returns, and controls.

Federal Discount Rate

The federal discount rate is the interest rate charged on Federal Reserve Discount Window credit, with distinct rates for primary, secondary, and seasonal programs.

Fed Funds Rate

The federal funds rate prices overnight unsecured reserve-balance borrowing and anchors the Federal Reserve's short-term policy-rate framework.

Federal Home Loan Bank System

The Federal Home Loan Bank System is a network of 11 member-owned regional banks that provides secured advances and supports housing and community development.

Federal Reserve Member Bank

A Federal Reserve member bank is a national bank or approved state-chartered bank that belongs to the Federal Reserve System and holds Reserve Bank stock.

FedNow Service

FedNow Service settles U.S. instant credit transfers through Federal Reserve accounts. Learn the payment flow, finality, availability, returns, and risks.

Fedwire Funds Service

Fedwire Funds Service is the Federal Reserve's real-time gross settlement system. Learn how messages, master-account settlement, finality, and bank posting differ.

Fees & Overdrafts

Account charges, overdraft outcomes, linked protection, and balance requirements that affect banking cost and liquidity.

Account Aggregator

A financial account aggregator collects authorized account data from multiple providers. Learn how aggregation works, its uses, and its risks.

Financial Automation

Financial automation uses software to perform finance tasks under defined rules. Learn how workflows, approvals, reconciliation, controls, and exceptions work.

Financial Conglomerates

A financial conglomerate is a group under common control with material activities across banking, insurance, securities, or other financial sectors.

Fintech

Fintech uses software, data, networks, and automation to deliver financial services while changing distribution, operations, controls, and risk allocation.

Fixed Interest Rate

A fixed interest rate stays unchanged for an agreed period, providing rate certainty while fees, balances, or total payments may still vary.

Floating Interest Rate

A floating interest rate resets from a reference benchmark plus or minus a contractual spread, subject to timing rules, caps, and floors.

Floor Limit

A floor limit is a card-acceptance threshold used to decide whether a transaction requires online issuer authorization.

Foreign Bank

A foreign bank is organized under another country's law and may serve a host market through branches, agencies, subsidiaries, or cross-border services.

Foreign Branch

A foreign branch is an office of a bank outside its home jurisdiction and is generally part of the same legal bank rather than a separate subsidiary.

Frozen Account

A frozen account is a bank account whose withdrawals, transfers, or other activity are restricted by legal, compliance, security, or account controls.

Funds Transfer Pricing

Funds transfer pricing allocates funding and contingent-liquidity costs and benefits across a bank's products and business lines.

Garn-St Germain Act (1982)

The 1982 Garn-St Germain Act expanded thrift powers, mandated money market deposit accounts, created capital assistance, and changed mortgage rules.

Garn-St. Germain Due-on-Sale Rule

Section 341 of the Garn-St. Germain Act generally permits due-on-sale enforcement while protecting specified residential property transfers.

Gift Card

A gift card stores prepaid value for purchases from a specified merchant or through a supported payment network.

Glass-Steagall Act

Glass-Steagall refers to four Banking Act of 1933 provisions that restricted bank securities activities, affiliations, deposit-taking, and personnel interlocks.

Gross Interest

Interest amount measured before specified deductions such as withholding tax, account charges, or related costs.

Canadian GIC

Canadian term-deposit product that promises principal repayment at maturity under stated rate, access, renewal, and deposit-protection terms.

High Street Bank

A high street bank is a widely accessible UK retail bank serving households and businesses through current accounts, deposits, credit, payments, and service channels.

High-Yield Savings Account

High-yield savings account meaning, APY comparison, variable-rate and fee risks, access terms, and deposit-insurance checks.

Hold

A hold temporarily restricts deposited funds, card authorizations, transactions, or account activity while a specified process is completed.

Hold Period

A hold period is the time during which a bank restricts access to deposited funds while processing, collection, fraud, or legal checks continue.

IBAN

ISO-standard International Bank Account Number combining country code, check digits, and a country-specific BBAN to identify an account for payments.

Implied Rate

An implied rate is inferred from market prices or a pricing relationship rather than observed as a directly quoted cash interest rate.

Index Rate

An index rate is the specified reference used to set or reset a variable interest rate under a financial contract.

Industrial Banks

An industrial bank or industrial loan company is an FDIC-insured, state-chartered bank with a distinctive U.S. ownership and supervisory structure.

Interbank Deposit

An interbank deposit is a demand or time deposit that one bank places with another for payments, liquidity, correspondent services, or investment.

Interbank Lending

Interbank lending is bank-to-bank funding used to manage liquidity, reserve balances, payment flows, and short-term financing needs.

Interbank Network

An interbank network connects financial institutions for payment messaging, clearing, settlement, or shared transaction services.

Interest Calculation

Process of determining interest from the applicable balance, rate, time, day count, compounding, cash flows, and contract terms.

Interest Payment

An interest payment is cash or another permitted form of value transferred or credited to satisfy interest owed on a loan, bond, deposit, or other obligation.

Interest Rate

Percentage price of borrowing or return for lending and saving, whose dollar effect depends on balance, time, and calculation terms.

Interest Rate Cap

An interest rate cap limits specified increases in a variable rate through a contract term, embedded loan feature, or derivative payoff.

Interest Rate Collar

An interest rate collar combines a cap and floor to keep a floating-rate exposure within an economic range under defined terms.

Interest Rate Floor

An interest rate floor sets a minimum floating rate in a loan or provides derivative payments when a reference rate falls below a strike.

Interest Rate Spread

An interest rate spread is the signed difference between two identified rates or yields, usually stated in percentage points or basis points.

Interest-Only Loan

An interest-only loan defers scheduled principal repayment for a defined period, lowering initial payments but increasing later payment and maturity risk.

Internal Funding Rate

An internal funding rate is the rate a bank assigns to a transaction or business activity for internal funding and liquidity allocation.

International Banking

International banking covers cross-border and foreign-currency deposits, credit, payments, trade finance, markets, and institutional services.

International Banking Facility

An International Banking Facility is a segregated account set used by an eligible U.S. banking office for specified international deposits and credit.

ISP98

ISP98 is the ICC rule set designed for standby letters of credit, covering issuance, presentation, examination, dishonor, transfer, cancellation, and reimbursement.

Irrevocable Letter of Credit

An irrevocable letter of credit cannot be amended or canceled unilaterally and remains payable only against a complying presentation.

Islamic Banking

Islamic banking provides financial services through Sharia-compliant sale, lease, partnership, agency, and safekeeping structures rather than conventional interest-bearing loans.

ISO 20022

ISO 20022 is a standard for financial business data and messages. Learn its structure, payment workflow, implementation risks, and relationship to SWIFT and STP.

Issuing Bank

In a letter of credit, the issuing bank creates the documentary payment undertaking at an applicant's request or on its own behalf.

Istisna

Istisna is an Islamic sale contract for an asset to be manufactured or constructed to agreed specifications for future delivery at a predetermined price.

Joint Account

Bank account owned by two or more people, with withdrawal, survivorship, insurance, and creditor treatment determined by its terms and applicable law.

Joint-Stock Bank

A joint-stock bank is owned through shares, distinguishing its ownership structure from mutual, partnership, cooperative, or state-owned banking forms.

Jumbo Certificate of Deposit

A jumbo CD is an informal label for a high-balance certificate of deposit whose size can create concentration and deposit-insurance exposure.

Key Rate

A key rate is a central-bank policy rate or group of official rates whose exact meaning depends on the monetary authority and operating framework.

Know Your Customer (KYC)

Know Your Customer is the risk-based process financial institutions use to identify customers, understand relationships, and support ongoing financial-crime controls.

Knuckle-Buster

A knuckle-buster is a manual card imprinter formerly used to capture embossed card details when electronic authorization was unavailable.

Latin American Debt Crisis

The Latin American debt crisis began in 1982 when foreign-currency bank debt, rising global interest rates, weaker exports, and lost refinancing access created widespread payment stress.

Legal Lending Limit

A legal lending limit caps a bank's loans and credit exposures to one borrower or combined borrowers, generally as a percentage of defined capital and surplus.

Lender of Last Resort

A lender of last resort supplies secured emergency liquidity when private funding fails, while leaving insolvency and recapitalization to other tools.

Letter of Credit

A letter of credit is a bank undertaking to honor a complying documentary presentation under the credit's stated terms.

Liquidity vs. Capital

Liquidity and capital address different bank risks: cash availability for near-term outflows and loss absorption for solvency.

Loan Servicing

Loan servicing is the administration of payments, balances, records, communications, and account events after a loan is funded.

Loan-to-Deposit Ratio

The loan-to-deposit ratio divides net loans and leases by deposits to show the scale of lending relative to a bank's deposit funding base.

Lockbox Banking

Lockbox banking is a bank-managed receivables service that collects customer payments, captures remittance data, and deposits the proceeds.

Lombard Rate

The Lombard rate is the rate on short-term credit secured by eligible assets, a historically important but jurisdiction-specific central-bank and banking term.

Long-Term Interest Rate

A long-term interest rate is the yield or borrowing rate for a longer maturity, reflecting expected short rates, inflation, term risk, and instrument-specific spreads.

M-Pesa

M-Pesa is a mobile-money service that records electronic value, supports transfers and payments, and connects cash users through agents. Learn how its accounts, trust structure, and risks …

Magnetic Stripe Card

A magnetic stripe card stores static encoded data on a magnetic band that a compatible terminal reads when the card is swiped.

Market Interest Rate

A market interest rate is the prevailing yield or borrowing rate for transactions with comparable maturity, credit, liquidity, and contract terms.

Medallion Signature Guarantee

A medallion signature guarantee is a securities-transfer warranty provided by an eligible institution in a recognized guarantee program.

Medallion Stamp Program

Medallion stamp programs support eligible institutions that guarantee signatures on securities-transfer documents.

Merchant Account

A merchant account is the commercial acquiring arrangement through which a business accepts card payments and receives settlement.

Merchant Bank

A merchant bank is a context-dependent corporate-finance firm or business line associated with principal investment, advisory, underwriting, or trade finance.

Merchant Discount Rate

The merchant discount rate measures specified card-acceptance charges as a percentage of a merchant's processed transaction value.

MICR

MICR is the standardized magnetic-ink line that helps banks capture routing, account, cheque, and other processing data from paper payment documents.

Micro-Investing Platform

A micro-investing platform helps people invest small amounts through recurring deposits, roundups, or fractional shares. Learn how fees, custody, and execution work.

Minimum Balance Requirement

Account balance threshold used to determine fees, interest eligibility, account opening, benefits, or relationship pricing.

Mobile Banking

Mobile banking provides account access through an app, browser, SMS, or USSD. Understand its transaction flow, security controls, risks, and limits.

Mobile Payments

Mobile payments are transactions initiated through phones, tablets, or wearables using wallets, apps, QR codes, contactless credentials, or account transfers.

mPOS

Mobile point of sale uses a phone, tablet, portable reader, or mobile terminal to record sales and accept payments away from a fixed checkout.

Mobile Wallet

A mobile wallet is a digital wallet on a phone or wearable that stores payment credentials, balances, tickets, or access to financial accounts.

Money at Call and Short Notice

Money at call and short notice is very short-term wholesale lending repayable on demand or within a short notice period.

Money Center Bank

A money center bank is an informal label for a large bank active in wholesale funding, major payments, corporate finance, markets, and interbank business.

Money Market Account

Money market account meaning, MMDA rates and access, deposit insurance, fees, and differences from money market funds.

Money Market Instruments

Money market instruments are short-term funding and cash-placement instruments used by governments, banks, companies, funds, and treasury desks.

Money Market Yield

Simple annualized yield for a short-term instrument based on purchase price, holding-period income, and an Actual/360 convention.

Mudaraba

Mudaraba is an Islamic-finance partnership in which one party supplies capital and another manages the venture, with profit shared by agreement and loss allocated by contract rules.

Multifunctional Card

A multifunctional card supports more than one payment, account-access, identity, loyalty, transit, stored-value, or access-control function.

Mutual Savings Bank

A mutual savings bank is a savings bank without ordinary capital stock, governed for eligible depositor-members under its charter and bylaws.

Nacha

Nacha administers the private operating rules for the U.S. ACH Network. Learn its role, ACH participants, authorizations, returns, Same Day ACH, and controls.

NACH

NACH is India's centralized batch clearing system for high-volume interbank credits and mandate-backed debits such as payroll, benefits, loan payments, and bills.

National Bank

A U.S. national bank is chartered and supervised by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency under federal banking law, rather than by a state chartering authority.

National Banking Acts

The National Currency Act of 1863 and National Bank Act of 1864 created federally chartered national banks, the OCC, and a bond-secured national banknote system.

National Development Banks

A national development bank is a public-policy financial institution that uses loans, guarantees, equity, or other tools to address financing gaps within a country.

National Financial Switch (NFS)

India's National Financial Switch routes interoperable ATM transactions among acquirers and issuers and supports clearing, settlement, reversals, and disputes.

NPCI

NPCI is an RBI-authorized payment-system operator that runs major Indian retail payment infrastructure, including UPI, IMPS, NACH, RuPay, and other systems.

Negotiable Certificate of Deposit

A negotiable certificate of deposit is a transferable bank time deposit that can trade before maturity at a market-determined price.

Net Interest Income

Net interest income is the interest a bank earns on assets minus the interest it pays on deposits, borrowings, and other funding.

Net Interest Margin

Net interest margin is annualized net interest income divided by average earning assets, showing bank spread earnings relative to the assets producing them.

Net Interest Rate Spread

Net interest rate spread is a bank's average yield on earning assets minus its average rate paid on interest-bearing funding.

Net Stable Funding Ratio (NSFR)

The net stable funding ratio compares available stable funding with required stable funding to assess a bank's longer-term liquidity resilience.

Netting

Netting offsets eligible payment, trade, or contract obligations so parties calculate or settle a smaller net amount.

NFC

NFC is a short-range communication technology used by compatible cards, phones, wearables, tags, and terminals for contactless data exchange.

Night Depository

A night depository is a secure unstaffed bank receptacle for cash and check deposits delivered outside normal branch processing hours.

Nominal vs. Effective Rate

Nominal rates state an annual quote before within-year compounding, while effective rates measure the resulting growth or cost over the period.

Nominee Account

Account in which an intermediary or nominee appears as registered holder while records identify the underlying beneficial owner.

Non-Interest Income

Non-interest income is bank revenue from services, fees, trading, fiduciary activities, servicing, insurance, and certain asset sales rather than interest spread.

Non-Member Banks

A non-member bank is not a member of the Federal Reserve System; in common U.S. usage, the term usually means a state-chartered bank whose primary federal supervisor is the FDIC.

Nonbank Financial Institution (NBFI)

A nonbank financial institution provides lending, investment, insurance, pension, securities, or other financial services without operating as a deposit-taking bank.

Nonrefundable Fee or Deposit

A nonrefundable fee or deposit is an upfront amount the agreement says may be retained, subject to performance, cancellation rights, and applicable law.

NSF Fee

Nonsufficient funds (NSF) means an account lacks available funds for a payment; an NSF fee is a possible charge when the item is returned unpaid.

Nostro/Vostro/Loro

Nostro, vostro, and loro describe correspondent-bank accounts from the viewpoints of the account owner, account provider, or a third bank.

Offset Mortgage

An offset mortgage links eligible savings to a mortgage so interest is calculated on a lower net balance while the savings remain in a separate account.

Offshore Accounts

Bank accounts maintained outside the holder's home jurisdiction, with cross-border reporting, currency, access, and deposit-protection considerations.

Offshore Banking

Offshore banking uses accounts or banking services outside a customer's home jurisdiction; the guide covers structures, reporting, protection, and risk.

On-Us Item

An on-us item is drawn on and deposited or processed at the same bank, so the institution can handle it internally rather than through interbank clearing.

Open Banking

Open banking lets customers authorize regulated or approved providers to access account data or initiate payments through standardized interfaces.

Ordinary Interest

Traditional simple-interest method that uses a 360-day year, with the day numerator determined separately.

ODFI

An ODFI is the bank or credit union that accepts ACH entries from an originator or third-party sender and submits them to an ACH operator.

Outstanding Check

An outstanding check has been issued and recorded by the drawer but has not yet been paid and charged to the bank account.

Overdraft

An overdraft occurs when a bank pays a transaction despite insufficient available funds, creating a negative balance or short-term credit.

Overdraft Protection

Overdraft protection uses linked funds, credit, or account coverage to address transactions that exceed available deposit funds.

Overnight Money

Overnight money is very short-term institutional funding borrowed and repaid by the next business day.

Paga

Paga is a Nigerian mobile-money service for stored-value wallets, transfers, payments, and agent-assisted cash transactions. Learn how its records and risks differ from a bank account.

Payee

A payee is the person or organization named to receive payment on a cheque, note, transfer, invoice, or other payment record.

Payment Gateway

A payment gateway protects, formats, and transmits payment requests and responses between merchant checkout systems and payment-processing services.

Payment Oversight

Institutional and standards-setting terms for payment-system oversight and cross-bank payment infrastructure.

Payment Processor

A payment processor handles or routes payment transaction messages for merchants, acquirers, issuers, and other payment-system participants.

Payment Terms

Payment terms specify when and how a buyer must pay, including due-date rules, discounts, currencies, fees, and dispute procedures.

Payments

Payment-system terms for electronic transfers, card processing, cheques, trade finance, settlement, and cash movement between accounts.

PayPal

PayPal is a digital payments platform that connects users, merchants, balances, and external funding sources for online transactions.

PCI DSS

PCI DSS is the payment-card industry's security standard for environments that store, process, transmit, or can affect account data.

P2P Finance

Peer-to-peer finance connects users through technology for payments, lending, or transfers while platforms and financial institutions handle key controls.

Periodic Interest Rate

Interest rate applied during one defined accrual, billing, payment, or compounding period such as a day, month, or quarter.

Personal Identification Number

A personal identification number is a secret numeric credential used to verify a customer or cardholder for ATM, debit-card, banking, and other transactions.

Point of Sale

Point of sale is the checkout point where a merchant records a sale, calculates the amount due, accepts payment, and creates transaction evidence.

POS Terminal

A POS terminal is a payment endpoint that captures card or wallet transaction data, applies cardholder-verification steps, and sends authorization requests.

Postal Account

Postal account meaning, provider models, savings and payment services, account ownership, deposit protection, access, and agent risks.

Prepaid Card

A prepaid card uses funds loaded before spending rather than drawing directly from a deposit account or credit line.

Primary Account Number (PAN)

Payment-card account number containing an issuer identifier, issuer-assigned account identifier, and check digit for authorization and routing.

Prime Rate

The prime rate is a bank-set base rate used to price some variable-rate business and consumer credit.

Private Banking

Private banking coordinates banking, credit, and wealth-related services for eligible affluent clients through a dedicated relationship team.

PEFCO

PEFCO is a privately owned U.S. export-finance institution that lends and purchases eligible government-guaranteed export loans to supplement private funding.

Pro Forma Invoice

A pro forma invoice is a preliminary invoice-format document describing a proposed sale before the final commercial invoice is issued.

Project Finance

Project-finance terms for infrastructure funding, limited-recourse debt, special purpose vehicles, risk allocation, and project cash flows.

Proof of Funds (POF)

Documents used to support that a person or entity controls sufficient funds for a specified transaction under stated conditions.

Raised Check

A raised check is a check altered without authorization, traditionally by increasing its amount after the drawer signs it.

Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS)

Real-time gross settlement processes interbank payments individually and continuously without first netting them against other payments.

RDFI

An RDFI is the bank or credit union that receives ACH entries from an operator and posts or returns them for receiver accounts.

Recurring Billing

Recurring billing is a merchant or biller process for submitting repeat charges under a customer's standing authorization.

Recurring Deposit (RD)

Scheduled-contribution deposit account that builds toward a maturity amount, commonly offered by banks and post-office savings systems in India.

Rediscount Rate

The rediscount rate is the rate applied when a central bank or other institution discounts eligible paper previously acquired by a bank.

Rediscounting

Rediscounting converts previously discounted short-term paper into liquidity through a second discount transaction with another bank or central bank.

Regional Bank

A regional bank serves a broad but defined geographic market through retail, business, commercial real estate, payment, and wealth services.

Regulation B

Regulation B implements the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and governs discrimination, application evaluation, notices, and other parts of U.S. credit transactions.

Regulation CC

Regulation CC is the U.S. rule governing funds availability, check collection and returns, and substitute-check rights under the EFAA and Check 21.

Regulation DD

Regulation DD implements the Truth in Savings Act through standardized U.S. consumer deposit disclosures for rates, APY, fees, terms, and advertising.

Regulation E

Regulation E implements the Electronic Fund Transfer Act for covered U.S. consumer transfers, disclosures, errors, unauthorized transactions, and remittances.

Regulation O

Regulation O restricts credit from member banks to executive officers, directors, principal shareholders, and their related interests.

Regulation Q

Regulation Q now means the Federal Reserve capital rule in 12 CFR Part 217; an earlier Regulation Q restricted deposit interest until its 2011 repeal.

Regulation U

Regulation U limits credit from banks and other covered lenders when it is used to buy or carry margin stock and secured by margin stock.

Regulation W

Regulation W implements Federal Reserve Act sections 23A and 23B for covered transactions and other dealings between member banks and affiliates.

Relationship Banking

Relationship banking uses knowledge accumulated across an ongoing bank-customer relationship to support service, monitoring, and credit decisions.

Remittance

A remittance is money sent to another person or place, often through a cross-border money-transfer provider, bank, or digital payment service.

Remitting Bank

In a documentary collection, the remitting bank is the bank entrusted by the seller or other principal to send documents and collection instructions to a collecting bank.

Remote Deposit Capture (RDC)

Remote deposit capture lets a customer transmit check images and payment data to a bank from a mobile device or business scanner.

Reserve Asset Cost

Reserve asset cost is the net carry or opportunity cost of holding central-bank balances and liquidity buffers rather than alternative bank assets.

Retail Banking

Retail banking provides deposit accounts, payments, cards, and consumer credit to individuals and households through branches and digital channels.

Returned Check

A returned check is a check the paying bank does not honor, whether because of insufficient funds, a closed account, a stop-payment order, or another defect.

Returned Item Fee

A returned item fee is a charge associated with an unpaid payment item or a deposited item that is later reversed.

Robo-Adviser

A robo-adviser uses software to recommend and manage investment portfolios. Learn how it works, total costs, risks, and what to verify.

Routing Number

Nine-digit ABA routing transit number identifying a U.S. financial institution or processing point for checks and specified electronic payments.

RTP Network

The RTP network is The Clearing House's instant U.S. credit-transfer system. Learn how payment release, prefunding, finality, availability, and returns work.

RuPay

RuPay is NPCI's Indian card payment network for routing and processing eligible debit, credit, prepaid, ATM, point-of-sale, and online card transactions.

Safe Deposit Box

A safe deposit box is a secured container rented from a bank or other provider for storing documents and valuables; its contents are not a deposit account.

Safekeeping

Custody function for protecting, controlling, reconciling, and reporting securities, cash, documents, or other client assets.

Savings Account

Savings account meaning, interest and APY mechanics, withdrawal access, fees, insurance, comparisons, and liquidity risks.

Savings and Loan Association

A savings and loan association is a U.S. savings institution historically funded by household deposits and focused on residential mortgage lending.

Savings and Loan Crisis

The savings and loan crisis was a U.S. thrift collapse driven by interest-rate mismatch, insolvency, risky expansion, weak supervision, and delayed loss recognition.

Savings Bank

A savings bank is a state-law or savings-association institution historically focused on household deposits and savings-oriented lending.

Selective Credit Controls

Selective credit controls target the amount, terms, or availability of credit for a specific borrower, asset, sector, or use rather than the economy as a whole.

Settlement Risk

Settlement risk is the risk that an expected transfer of cash, securities, or another asset does not complete as required.

Shadow Banking

Shadow banking is an older term for credit intermediation outside traditional banks, especially activities with liquidity, maturity, leverage, or risk-transfer vulnerabilities.

Signature Guarantee

A signature guarantee is a financial institution's assurance that a securities-transfer signature is genuine and properly authorized.

Simple Interest

Interest calculated on principal without adding prior accrued interest to the interest-bearing balance.

Smart Card

A smart card contains an integrated circuit that can store, process, and communicate payment, identity, access, or stored-value information.

Sort Code

Six-digit U.K. identifier allocated to payment service providers and used with an account number to route domestic payments.

Standby LC

A standby letter of credit is an independent bank undertaking to honor a complying demand when a supported payment or performance obligation is not met.

Standing Order

A standing order is a payer-controlled instruction to send a fixed amount to the same account on recurring dates, commonly for rent or regular savings.

State-Chartered Bank

A state-chartered bank is organized under state banking law and supervised by its state regulator plus either the Federal Reserve or FDIC at the federal level.

Statements & Reconciliation

Bank records used to review account activity, reconcile cash, and confirm balances or banking relationships.

Store Credit

Store credit is merchant-issued value that a customer can apply to a future purchase under the retailer's terms.

Stored-Value Cards

Stored-value cards provide access to prepaid funds. Learn the main card types, balance mechanics, fees, protections, and insurance limits.

Straight-Through Processing (STP)

Straight-through processing moves financial transactions through connected systems without routine manual re-entry. Learn the workflow, STP rate, exceptions, and risks.

Substitute Check

A substitute check is a standards-compliant paper reproduction that can become the legal equivalent of an original U.S. check under Check 21.

Sweep Account

A sweep account automatically transfers cash under preset balance, timing, and destination rules for concentration, funding, debt reduction, or investment.

SWIFT Code

A SWIFT code, formally a Business Identifier Code, is an 8- or 11-character identifier for an organization or unit in financial messages.

SWIFT

SWIFT is a financial messaging network, not a bank or settlement system. Learn how SWIFT payments, BICs, correspondents, tracking, fees, and controls work.

Tax and Loan Account

A Treasury Tax and Loan account was a record used in the U.S. Treasury's TT&L program for secured balances placed with participating financial institutions.

Tax Anticipation Bill (TAB)

A Tax Anticipation Bill (TAB) is a short-term obligation issued by the U.S. Treasury, offering a secure investment option for corporations to manage their tax payments efficiently.

Teaser Rate

A teaser rate is a temporary introductory interest rate that later expires or resets under the account or loan agreement.

Telephone Banking

Telephone banking lets customers access account information, transfers, payments, and service requests through an automated or staffed phone channel.

TFSA Withdrawals

Canadian TFSA withdrawals are generally tax-free, but the amount withdrawn normally returns as contribution room only in the next calendar year.

Thrift Institution

A thrift institution is a U.S. savings association historically focused on household deposits and housing finance, with current treatment determined by its charter.

Till

A bank till is an accountable teller cash position and the drawer, transaction journal, and balancing records used to control it.

Time Deposit

Time deposit meaning, maturity and notice terms, interest, early access, renewal, insurance, and liquidity risks.

Trade Finance

Trade finance combines payment methods, working-capital funding, documents, guarantees, and insurance to support the movement of goods and services.

Trade Settlement

Trade settlement completes a securities transaction by transferring the required cash and securities after execution and clearing.

Transferable Letter of Credit

A transferable letter of credit allows a first beneficiary to make the credit available to one or more second beneficiaries under the credit and transfer rules.

Trust Company

Trust Company is a property-title concept used to evaluate ownership claims, liens, and real-estate collateral risk.

Trust Services

Trust Services is a property-title concept used to evaluate ownership claims, liens, and real-estate collateral risk.

Unclaimed Funds

Unclaimed funds are unpaid balances that a holder may report and transfer to a government custodian after applicable dormancy and notice requirements.

Uncollected Funds

Uncollected funds are deposited amounts credited to an account before the receiving bank has obtained final payment for the underlying item.

UPI

UPI is India's interoperable instant-payment interface for sending, receiving, and requesting account-to-account payments through participating apps and institutions.

UCP 600

UCP 600 is the ICC rule set for documentary credits that expressly incorporate it, standardizing bank undertakings, document examination, honor, and discrepancy notices.

Universal Bank

A universal bank combines commercial banking with securities, investment banking, asset management, insurance, or other financial services within one institution or group.

Value Date

A value date is the date assigned to a payment or financial obligation for settlement, funds use, or interest treatment under the applicable rules.

Variable Interest Rate

A variable interest rate can change under contractual rules tied to an index, an administered rate, or another stated adjustment mechanism.

Vault Cash

Vault cash is the physical banknotes and coins a depository institution owns and holds for withdrawals, tills, ATMs, and other cash operations.

Vocalink

Mastercard-owned payment technology company that supplies central infrastructure for UK interbank systems operated by Pay.UK.

Void Cheque

Cheque marked VOID and supplied as a source of bank-routing and account details for direct deposit or authorized electronic payments.

Void Transaction

A void transaction cancels a card sale before completed settlement and normally triggers a reversal of any unused authorization.

Wholesale Banking

Wholesale banking provides large-value credit, payments, treasury, trade, markets, and institutional services to companies, financial institutions, and governments.

Wildcat Banking

Wildcat banking describes unreliable or opportunistic banknote issuance associated with parts of the U.S. free-banking era, not every free bank or state bank.

Wire Transfer

Bank-to-bank electronic payment used for time-sensitive transfers where speed, settlement certainty, and instruction accuracy matter.

Withdrawal

A bank withdrawal removes or transfers funds from a deposit account, subject to available balance, authorization, posting, product, and legal restrictions.

Yankee CD

U.S.-dollar certificate of deposit issued in the United States by a branch or agency of a foreign bank.

Yield on Earning Assets

Yield on earning assets is annualized interest-related income divided by average earning assets, measuring a bank's gross asset-side yield before funding costs.

Zero Percent Interest

Zero percent interest means no interest accrues on a qualifying balance during a stated period, but fees and post-promotion pricing can still create cost.

Zero-Balance Account (ZBA)

A zero-balance account uses automatic transfers to and from a master account so a subsidiary account reaches a zero target after each processing cycle.

Zero-Coupon CD

CD structure that makes no periodic interest payments and instead builds its return toward a stated maturity amount.