Industry WIKI
Digital assets and currencies
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Altyn Asyr (payment system)
Altyn Asyr (lit. 'Golden age') is a Turkmenistani domestic card scheme founded in 2001 by the Central Bank of Turkmenistan. The Altyn Asyr system is an integral part of Turkmenistan's payment infrastructure. Altyn Asyr offers financial services, including credit card, debit card, and prepaid card issuing and network processing.
Payments & settlementATM
An automated teller machine (ATM) is an electronic telecommunications device that enables customers of financial institutions to perform financial transactions, such as cash withdrawals, deposits, funds transfers, balance or account information inquiries, at any time and without the need for direct interaction with bank staff.
Securities & exchangesCanadian Securities Administrators
The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA; French: Autorités canadiennes en valeurs mobilières, ACVM) is an umbrella organization of Canada's provincial and territorial securities regulators whose objective is to improve, coordinate, and harmonize regulation of the Canadian capital markets.
BankingCentral bank independence
Central bank independence refers to the degree of autonomy and freedom a central bank has in conducting its monetary policy and managing the financial system and inflation targeting. The purpose of central bank independence is to maintain price stability, enhance the effectiveness of monetary policy, and ensure the stability of the financial system. Independent central banks have more cr
Payments & settlementCharge card
A charge card is a type of credit card that enables the cardholder to make purchases which are paid for by the card issuer, to whom the cardholder becomes indebted. The cardholder is obliged to repay the debt to the card issuer in full by the due date, usually on a monthly basis, or be subject to late fees and restrictions on further card use. Charge cards are distinct from traditional c
Payments & settlementContactless payment
Contactless payment systems are credit cards and debit cards, key fobs, smart cards, or other devices, including smartphones and other mobile devices, that use radio-frequency identification (RFID) or near-field communication (NFC) for making secure payments. The embedded integrated circuit chip and antenna enable consumers to wave their card, fob, or handheld device over a reader at the
Payments & settlementCredit card
A credit card (or charge card) is a payment card, usually issued by a bank, allowing the card's users to purchase goods and services, or withdraw cash on credit. Card use thereby accrues debt that must be repaid later.
Payments & settlementDepository Trust & Clearing Corporation
The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) is an American financial market infrastructure company that provides clearing, settlement and trade reporting services to financial market participants. It performs the exchange of securities on behalf of buyers and sellers and functions as a central securities depository by providing central custody of securities.
BankingDiscount policy
Discount policy is a policy tool used by central banks to control the money in circulation by raising or lowering interest rates.
Payments & settlementElectronic Payment Services
Electronic Payment Services (Chinese: 易辦事), commonly known as EPS, is an electronic payment system based in Hong Kong, Macau, and with limited acceptance in Shenzhen since it began operations in 1985. The service is provided by EPS Company (Hong Kong) Limited which currently has over 30,000 acceptance locations.
Payments & settlementEuropean Network for Payments
The European Network for Payments (abbreviated as ENP) is a joint venture aiming at developing a unified European payment solution and facilitating the interoperability of mobile payment solutions provided by several firms. The European Payments Alliance was created in December 2023 by Italian interbank network Bancomat, Spanish mobile payment firm Bizum and Portuguese firm SIBS (which
Fiat currenciesExchange rate regime
An exchange rate regime is a way a monetary authority of a country or currency union manages the currency about other currencies and the foreign exchange market. It is closely related to monetary policy and the two are generally dependent on many of the same factors, such as economic scale and openness, inflation rate, the elasticity of the labor market, financial market development, and
Fiat currenciesForeign exchange reserves
Foreign exchange reserves (also called forex reserves or FX reserves) are cash and other reserve assets such as gold and silver held by a central bank or other monetary authority that are primarily available to balance payments of the country, influence the foreign exchange rate of its currency, and to maintain confidence in financial markets. Reserves are held in one or more reserve cur
FinanceInsurance
Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to protect against the risk of a contingent or uncertain loss.
Payments & settlementInterac
Interac is a Canadian interbank network that links financial institutions and other enterprises for the purpose of exchanging electronic financial transactions. Interac serves as the Canadian debit card system and the predominant funds transfer network via its e-Transfer service. There are over 59,000 automated teller machines that can be accessed through the Interac network in Canada, a
Fiat currenciesInternational monetary system
An international monetary system is a set of internationally agreed rules, conventions and supporting institutions that facilitate international trade, cross border investment and generally the reallocation of capital between states that have different currencies. It should provide means of payment acceptable to buyers and sellers of different nationalities, including deferred payment. T
Securities & exchangesInternational Swaps and Derivatives Association
The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA ) is a trade organization of participants in the market for over-the-counter derivatives. It is headquartered in New York City.
Fiat currenciesList of countries by foreign exchange reserves
Foreign exchange reserves, also called Forex reserves, in a strict sense, are foreign-currency deposits held by nationals and monetary authorities. However, in popular usage and in the list below, it also includes gold reserves, special drawing rights (SDRs), and IMF reserve positions because this total figure (more accurately called "official reserves", "international reserves", or "off
FinanceMischler Financial Group
Mischler Financial Group is the American boutique investment bank and brokerage that became the financial industry's first firm owned and operated by Service-Disabled Veterans.
Payments & settlementMondex
Mondex was a smart card electronic cash system, implemented as a stored-value card and owned by Mastercard.
Fiat currenciesMonetary base
In economics, the monetary base (also base money, money base, high-powered money, reserve money, outside money, central bank money or, in the UK, narrow money) in a country is the total amount of money created by the central bank. This includes:
BankingMonetary system
A monetary system is a system where a government manages money in a country's economy. Modern monetary systems usually consist of a national treasury, a mint, central banks and commercial banks.
Payments & settlementPayment terminal
A payment terminal, also known as a point of sale (POS) terminal, card machine, credit card machine, card reader, PIN pad, EFTPOS terminal (or by the older term as PDQ terminal which stands for "Process Data Quickly"), is a device which interfaces with payment cards to make electronic funds transfers. The terminal typically consists of a secure keypad (called a PINpad) for entering PIN,
FinanceQuantitative tightening
Quantitative tightening (QT) is a contractionary monetary policy tool applied by central banks to decrease the amount of liquidity or money supply in the economy. A central bank implements quantitative tightening by reducing the financial assets it holds on its balance sheet by selling them into the financial markets, which decreases asset prices and raises interest rates. QT is the re
BankingReserve requirement
Reserve requirements are central bank regulations that set the minimum amount that a commercial bank must hold in liquid assets. This minimum amount, commonly referred to as the commercial bank's reserve, is generally determined by the central bank on the basis of a specified proportion of deposit liabilities of the bank. This rate is commonly referred to as the cash reserve ratio or sh
Payments & settlementSurcharge (payment systems)
A payment surcharge, also known as checkout fee, is an extra fee charged by a merchant when receiving a payment by cheque, credit card, charge card, debit card or an e-money account, but not cash, which at least covers the cost to the merchant of accepting that means of payment, such as the merchant service fee imposed by a credit card company. Retailers generally incur higher costs when
Fiat currenciesTaylor rule
The Taylor rule is a monetary policy targeting rule. The rule was proposed in 1992 by American economist John B. Taylor for central banks to use to stabilize economic activity by appropriately setting short-term interest rates. The rule considers the federal funds rate, the price level and changes in real income. The Taylor rule computes the optimal federal funds rate based on the gap be
Payments & settlementVocalink
Vocalink is a payment systems company headquartered in the United Kingdom, created in 2007 from the merger between Voca and LINK. It designs, builds and operates the UK payments infrastructure, which underpins the provision of the Bacs payment system and the UK ATM LINK switching platform covering 65,000 ATMs and the UK Faster Payments systems.
Fiat currenciesWorld currency
A world currency, supranational currency, or global currency is a currency that is widely used in international finance or in international trade to price goods or other transactions. It is generally a currency which is stable in terms of inflation and has a high demand on the foreign exchange market. Greek and Roman coins were the first world currency, followed by Dutch guilders in the