Glossary
Fintech & Crypto Payments Glossary
50+ terms across payments, crypto, compliance, and regional regulation — defined in plain language.
A
Acquirer
A bank or financial institution that processes card payments on behalf of a merchant.
Agreement-Linked Payment
A payment carrying a verifiable reference (typically a hash) to the underlying contract.
AML (Anti-Money Laundering)
The program of policies, controls, and reporting designed to prevent payment systems being used for money laundering.
B
Blockchain
A distributed, append-only ledger that records transactions across a network of computers.
C
CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency)
A digital currency issued directly by a central bank, distinct from privately-issued stablecoins.
Chargeback
A forced reversal of a card transaction, initiated by the cardholder via their issuing bank.
Corridor
A specific cross-border payment route between two countries or regions.
Correspondent Banking
The traditional model where banks settle cross-border payments through chains of intermediary banks.
Cross-Border Payment
Any transfer of value between a sender and recipient in different countries.
Custody
Holding and securing crypto assets, either by the asset owner (self-custody) or a third-party custodian.
Custodial Wallet
A crypto wallet where a third party holds the private keys on behalf of the user.
D
DMCC
Dubai Multi Commodities Centre — a free zone in Dubai hosting many crypto and commodities businesses.
Documented Settlement
A settlement approach where each payment carries verifiable references to its underlying agreement and compliance evidence.
E
Escrow
A neutral arrangement where funds are held by a third party until both sides meet agreed conditions.
F
FATF
The Financial Action Task Force — an intergovernmental body setting AML and counter-terrorism financing standards.
Fiat
Government-issued currency that is not backed by a physical commodity (e.g., USD, EUR, AED).
FX (Foreign Exchange)
The conversion of one currency to another, including the spread and timing risk.
G
Gas Fee
The transaction fee paid to the network to process and confirm a blockchain transaction.
I
Interchange
The fee paid by the merchant's acquirer to the cardholder's issuer for processing a card transaction.
Issuer
The bank that issued a customer's payment card or maintains their payment account.
K
KYB (Know Your Business)
Identification and verification of a legal entity, including beneficial ownership.
KYC (Know Your Customer)
Identification and verification of an individual customer.
KYT (Know Your Transaction)
Crypto-specific compliance using blockchain analytics to assess the source and destination of funds.
L
Layer 1 / Layer 2
Layer 1 is a base blockchain (e.g., Ethereum). Layer 2 is a network built on top to improve scalability or cost.
Liquidity Provider
An entity that provides buy/sell liquidity in a market, enabling efficient conversion.
M
MENA
Middle East and North Africa — a regional grouping covering markets from Morocco to Iran.
Multi-Sig Wallet
A crypto wallet requiring multiple signatures to authorize a transaction.
O
Off-Ramp
A service that converts crypto into fiat and settles to a bank account.
On-Ramp
A service that converts fiat into crypto.
P
Payment Gateway
A service that connects a merchant's checkout to an acquirer to process card payments.
Payment Orchestration
A layer above gateways and PSPs that routes each transaction to the best provider for the case.
Permissioned Blockchain
A blockchain where participation is restricted to approved parties.
Proof of Reserves
Evidence (often cryptographic) that a custodian or stablecoin issuer holds the assets it claims to.
PSP (Payment Service Provider)
A company that offers payment processing services to merchants.
Public Blockchain
A blockchain open for anyone to read, write, and participate in.
R
Reconciliation
Matching payment records across systems (bank statements, accounting, PSP reports) to confirm consistency.
RWA (Real-World Asset)
A tokenized representation of an off-chain asset (e.g., real estate, securities, commodities).
S
Sanctions Screening
Checking parties or wallets against lists of sanctioned persons, entities, or addresses.
Self-Custody
Holding crypto assets directly, with the asset owner controlling the private keys.
Settlement
The final, irreversible transfer of value between parties.
Settlement Layer
The underlying system that finalizes value transfer (e.g., a public blockchain, a banking system).
Smart Contract
Code deployed on a blockchain that executes automatically when conditions are met.
Smart Escrow
An escrow arrangement using on-chain settlement with programmable release conditions.
Smart Routing
Algorithmic decision-making for which payment rail or PSP to use per transaction.
Stablecoin
A digital asset designed to track the value of a reference asset, typically a fiat currency.
Stablecoin Issuer
The entity that creates and redeems a stablecoin (e.g., Circle for USDC, Tether for USDT).
SWIFT
The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication — the messaging network coordinating cross-border bank payments.
T
Tokenization
Representing an asset (or sensitive data) as a token on a blockchain.
Travel Rule
FATF requirement that virtual asset transfers above a threshold include identifying information about the originator and beneficiary.
Treasury Management
The discipline of managing a business's cash, liquidity, FX exposure, and short-term investments.
U
USDC
A US dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by Circle.
USDT
A US dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by Tether.
V
VARA
The Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority — Dubai's regulator for virtual asset service providers.
W
Wallet Screening
Checking a crypto wallet address against blockchain analytics databases to assess risk exposure.