Glossary
Plain definitions of the payment, anti-money laundering and regulatory terms that come up when a business opens and runs an account. Each entry starts with a short definition, then explains what the term means in practice.
A
A
- Adverse media screening: checking news and public sources for negative information about a client, its owners and directors.
- AIFMD II: the 2024 revision of the EU directive on alternative investment fund managers, applying from April 2026.
- Alternative investment fund (AIF): any EU collective investment fund that isn't a UCITS, regulated through its manager under the AIFMD.
- AMLA: the EU's Anti-Money Laundering Authority, which coordinates national AML supervisors.
B
B
- Bank statement: a dated record of every transaction and balance on an account, often requested for audits and source of funds checks.
- Banking as a Service: offering accounts and payments to your own users by building on a licensed provider's infrastructure.
- BIC code (SWIFT code): the 8 or 11 character code that identifies a financial institution in international payments.
C
C
- Compliance as a Service: using a regulated provider's compliance team and tools instead of building your own.
- Correspondent bank: a bank that holds accounts for another institution and settles payments it can't reach directly.
- Cross-border payment: a payment between accounts in different countries, sent over SEPA or SWIFT depending on currency and destination.
- Currency pairs: the two currencies quoted in an exchange rate, grouped into majors, minors and exotics.
- Customer due diligence (CDD): the checks a provider must run to identify a client, understand its business and monitor the relationship.
D
D
- Debanking (de-risking): when a provider closes or refuses accounts, often for whole categories of customers.
- Dedicated IBAN: an IBAN issued in your own company's name rather than a shared or pooled one.
E
E
- E-money institution (EMI): a firm licensed to issue electronic money and provide payment services in the EEA.
- Electronic money (e-money): a digital store of value issued in exchange for funds received and redeemable at face value.
- Embedded finance: payments, accounts or cards built into a non-financial product, powered by a licensed provider.
- Enhanced due diligence (EDD): the extra checks required when a client, country or transaction carries higher money laundering risk.
F
F
- Family office: a private company that manages the investments and affairs of one or more wealthy families.
- FIN-FSA: Finland's financial supervisor, which licenses and supervises banks, insurers and e-money institutions.
G
G
- Global payments innovation (SWIFT GPI): the Swift service that tracks cross-border payments end to end and confirms when they're credited.
H
H
- High-risk third country: a non-EU country the European Commission lists for AML weaknesses, which triggers enhanced due diligence.
J
J
- Jurisdiction risk (country risk): the financial crime risk that a country adds to a client or payment.
K
K
- Know your business (KYB): the checks a regulated provider runs on a company before and during an account relationship.
L
L
- Legal Entity Identifier (LEI): a 20-character code that identifies a legal entity in financial transactions worldwide.
M
M
- MiCA: the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, which licenses crypto-asset service providers.
- MT103: the SWIFT message for a single customer credit transfer, often asked for as proof of payment.
- Multi-user access: separate logins and permissions on one business account for directors, accountants and staff.
N
N
- Nostro and vostro accounts: accounts banks hold with each other in foreign currencies to settle cross-border payments.
P
P
- Payment processing system: the chain of providers that authorises, clears and settles payments for a merchant.
- Payment service provider (PSP): any firm authorised to provide payment services, from banks to e-money institutions.
- Payments API: an interface that lets software open accounts, send payments and pull transaction data without a manual login.
- Politically exposed person (PEP): someone who holds or has held a prominent public function, plus their family and close associates.
Q
Q
- Qualifying holding: a stake of 10% or more in a regulated financial firm, which needs the regulator's approval in advance.
R
R
- Risk-based approach (RBA): the principle that AML checks scale with the risk a client, product or payment carries.
S
S
- Safeguarding: how e-money and payment institutions keep client funds separate from their own money.
- Sanctions screening: checking clients and payments against official sanctions lists, such as the EU's consolidated list.
- SEPA Instant: euro credit transfers that arrive within seconds, around the clock.
- SEPA return codes: the reason codes, such as AC04 or RR04, that explain why a SEPA payment was returned or rejected.
- Sole trader: a self-employed person who runs a business in their own name, without a separate legal entity.
- Source of funds vs source of wealth: where the money in a payment comes from, and how its owner built up their assets.
- SWIFT payment: an international transfer sent between institutions over the SWIFT network.
T
T
- Tax Identification Number (TIN): the number a tax authority uses to identify a person or company, usually asked for at onboarding.
- Transaction monitoring: the ongoing review of payments that spots unusual activity and can put a payment on hold.
U
U
- UETR: the unique reference that follows a SWIFT payment end to end, used to track it.
- Ultimate beneficial owner (UBO): the natural person who ultimately owns or controls a company.
V
V
- Verification of Payee (VoP): the check that compares the payee's name with the account behind the IBAN before a euro transfer.
- Virtual asset service provider (VASP): a business that exchanges, transfers or holds crypto-assets for others; MiCA calls it a crypto-asset service provider (CASP).
W
W
- White-label banking: financial products a company offers under its own brand, run on a licensed provider's infrastructure.
Last reviewed October 23, 2026Disclaimer
This publication is provided for general information purposes and does not constitute legal, tax, or other professional advice from Narvi Payments Oy Ab or its affiliates, and it is not intended as a substitute for obtaining advice from a financial advisor or any other professional.
This publication is provided for general information purposes and does not constitute legal, tax, or other professional advice from Narvi Payments Oy Ab or its affiliates, and it is not intended as a substitute for obtaining advice from a financial advisor or any other professional.
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