Rapyd Glossary of Payment Terms

Common Fintech and Payment Terms

Acquirer
A financial institution that acquires card-based transactions. The acquirer receives transaction information from the merchant and sends that data into the card scheme network (e.g. Visa or Mastercard). 

Account Issuing
An API process that allows Rapyd Customers to link a Virtual Account to a Rapyd Wallet.

Bank Redirect
A payment service that offers the following experience: At checkout, the customer selects the bank they want to pay with. Then they are redirected to the bank website payment page to complete the payment.

Bank Transfer
A payment service that enables End-Users to execute a bank transfer via their online banking website or mobile application, whether to complete a purchase online or send funds to a beneficiary.

Bill Payment
Payment service that enables End-Users to pay a utility bill through an online bill payment service, e.g., electricity bills.

Buy-Now-Pay-Later (BNPL)
Buy now, pay later (BNPL) is short-term financing that allows consumers to pay for a purchase over time, typically with no interest. Consumers can use a BNPL app to make the purchase, or they may see BNPL options on a merchant’s checkout page. If approved, consumers make a small down payment, then pay off the rest in a series of installments. BNPL companies typically don’t charge interest but they do make money by charging transaction fees to the merchants.

Card Payment
A payment service that enables an End-User to use his debit or credit card to pay for a purchase either online or offline

Card Issuer
The entity that provides the card to the customer, the issuer manages the card capabilities (limits, transaction types, etc.)
Financial institution (or its agent) which issues the financial transaction card to the cardholder. 

Card Processor
The entity that receives the authorization request and routes it through the card network to the card issuing bank.

Cardholder
Consumer or business that is a legal owner of a card (payment method) that is used.

Cash for Digital Transactions
A payment service that enables End-Users to use cash to pay for digital and online purchases. Cash payments are unique in that they require the payer to physically go to a location (e..g, convenience store) to complete the purchase. Some cash payment systems, such as Boleto, use a voucher that the customer prints and takes with them to a convenience store or other physical location to complete the transaction. 

Client Portal
The Rapyd Client Portal is a user interface that provides Rapyd’s Customers the ability to review their transactions, initiate a transaction, view their balance with Rapyd, and download different types of reports.

Client Wallet
Funds that are collected via Payments by Rapyd’s Customers are stored in Client Wallets that represent the “virtual” account that the Customer has with Rapyd. Funds from the Client Wallet are settled by Rapyd to the Customer.

End User
An individual or a business that is paying for the goods and services provided by Rapyd’s Customers. 

Escrow
A feature on the Rapyd Platform that enables the Rapyd Merchant to collect funds that will not be disbursed unless certain criteria are met.

eWallet
A digital wallet that functions similarly to a bank account because of the ability to store money and transfer funds. eWallet is a payment method that refers to a third-party brand name eWallet only (for example, AliPay). Note: eWallet (3rd party) and Rapyd Wallet are not the same. 

Payment Gateway
Payment Gateways are Network Partners. Usually, a gateway is used to describe the entity, while a connector is used to describe the implementation of the gateway functionality.

Invoice
Invoices are the Rapyd representation of the “amount owed” by a customer.

Subscription Invoices
Subscription invoices represent the amount a customer owes on a recurring basis for a Subscription. Rapyd generates an invoice for every billing cycle. That invoice represents the amount the customer owes for that period.

Mass Invoicing
Mass invoicing is a capability in Client Portal that allows a Rapyd Merchant to upload a spreadsheet with information about money that should be collected from its customers and Rapyd generates a list of payment links that can be sent to these clients to collect payments from them.

Network Partner
Third parties that Rapyd contracts with in order to offer our customers more than 900 payment methods worldwide. Network partners may offer unique payment types such as eWallets, Buy-Now-Pay-Later, Bank Transfers, etc. Network Partners can also be called Gateways or Connectors.

Payment Method
The way a consumer, an end-user or a business will pay a merchant. There are a variety of ways that Rapyd allows consumers or businesses to pay, including cards, bank transfers, cash and 3rd party eWallets.

Payout
A transaction that transfers money from the Rapyd client to a third party.

Payout Beneficiary
The consumer, End-User or business that receives the funds via Rapyd Disburse. 

Payout Method
The way a Merchant will send money to a consumer or a business. There are a variety of ways that Rapyd allows merchants to pay, including bank transfers and push funds to cards.

Payout Sender
The individual or business that disburses funds from a Rapyd Wallet using Rapyd Disburse.

Plugin
A plugin is a connection between the Rapyd platform and a 3rd party platform that exposes the payment or payout capability in Rapyd within the 3rd party platform’s own product.

Point of Sale (POS)
A location where customers & End-Users can withdraw or deposit funds, usually a physical location like an ATM, Store, etc. 

Rapyd Collect
A product that allows Rapyd Customers to receive funds from their customers (Rapyd’s end-users).

Rapyd Disburse
A product that allows Rapyd’s Customers to send funds to other consumers or businesses.

Rapyd Global Payments Network
A network of over 2000 banks, 900 payment types, and 500,000 cash collection points are available to Rapyd customers through a single integration. Accept payments in 100+ countries. Send payouts to 190+ countries. Create virtual accounts, issue cards and build fintech applications. 

Rapyd Issuing
A product that allows Rapyd’s Merchants to issue cards to their own end-users.

Rapyd Wallet
Rapyd Wallet is a ledger system and payments infrastructure that lets users hold and transfer funds between users’ wallets and sub-wallets.

SubMerchant
Someone that does NOT have a contract with Rapyd, but has a contract with a merchant (that has a direct contract with Rapyd) and is using Rapyd in order to process payments or payouts.

Virtual Account
A virtual account is an account that is linked to a Rapyd Wallet and allows a Rapyd Customer to send money through the banking system directly to its Rapyd Wallet.