General payments terminology
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| Payment | A payment is a generic term for the business event of transferring funds from one party to another. It is a widely used term when talking about payments and payments business in general. It isn't and shouldn't be used in systems handling specific payment systems or types. |
| Account-to-Account Payment | An Account-to-Account (A2A) payment moves money directly from one account to another without using intermediaries like credit card networks or payment gateways. Both accounts can be held at the same financial institution, or at two different ones. Examples: credit transfer, direct debit. |
| Card Payment | A card payment is a payment made with a payment card, such as a debit card, a credit card or a prepaid card, to pay for goods or services, online or in a point-of-sale. |
| Transaction | A transaction corresponds to any attempt to pay something or someone or to withdraw money. A transaction can fail or succeed, but only successfully executed transactions result in an account being debited or credited and in a corresponding debit or credit account movement. Examples: card transaction, SEPA credit transfer (SCT) transaction, SEPA direct debit (SDD) transaction |
| Payment Initiation | A payment initiation refers to the act of starting a payment. A successful payment initiation results in a transaction. |
| Operation | An operation is a general term referring to any executed, planned or pending transaction, covering:
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| Movement | An (account) movement corresponds to one credit or debit entry on an account. Each account movement booked on a payment account updates the booked balance of that payment account. |