XPayIndustry WIKIBack to home
XPAY KNOWLEDGE

Industry WIKI

Digital assets and currencies

Understand assets, networks and trading mechanics with sources you can check.

Trading basics

4690 Operating System

4690 Operating System (sometimes shortened to 4690 OS or 4690) is a specially designed point of sale (POS) operating system, originally sold by IBM. In 2012, IBM sold its retail business, including this product, to Toshiba, which assumed support. 4690 is widely used by IBM and Toshiba retail customers to run retail systems which run their own applications and others. Retailers have used

Payments & settlement

ACI Worldwide

ACI Worldwide is a digital payments software company headquartered in Elkhorn, Nebraska, that processes billions of transactions daily equating to trillions of U.S. dollars for customers in 94 countries. Banks, financial institutions, merchants, billers, acquirers, issuers, and other third-party payment service providers use its intelligent solutions to deploy secure payment rails across

Trading basics

Amazon China

Amazon China (Chinese: 亚马逊中国), formerly known as Joyo.com (Chinese: 卓越网), is an online shopping website. Joyo.com was founded in early 2000 by the Chinese entrepreneur Lei Jun in Beijing, China. The company primarily sold books and other media goods, shipping to customers nationwide. Joyo.com was renamed to “Amazon China” when sold to Amazon Inc in 2004 for US$75 Million. Amazon China cl

Payments & settlement

ATM

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.

Banking

ATM Link

ATM Link (a shortened form of Lintas Network) is an interbank network serving Indonesian State-owned Banks Association (Himbara), comprising Bank Mandiri, Bank Rakyat Indonesia, Bank Negara Indonesia, and Bank Tabungan Negara. The network provides cash withdrawal and inquiry services for customers of member banks of Himbara.

Payments & settlement

Authorize.Net

Authorize.Net is a United States–based payment gateway service provider, allowing merchants to accept credit card and electronic check payments through their website and over an Internet Protocol (IP) connection. Founded in 1996 as Authorize.Net, Inc., the company is now a subsidiary of Visa Inc. Its service permits customers to enter credit card and shipping information directly onto a

Banking

Bank run

A bank run or run on the bank occurs when many clients withdraw their money from a bank, because they believe the bank may fail in the near future. It may occur when, in a fractional-reserve banking system (where banks normally only keep a small proportion of their assets as cash), a large volume of customers seek to withdraw a greater amount of cash from deposit accounts with a financia

Banking

Bankcard-Servicenetz

The Bankcard-Servicenetz (lit. 'bank card service network') is a German ATM card interbank network group provided by the Volksbanken und Raiffeisenbanken services group. Technically it is not an interbank network but uses the pre-existing girocard network. Member banks of this cash credit group charge ATM usage fees at a low level and most customers of the co-operative banks enjoy free w

Trading basics

Banking as a service

Banking as a service (BaaS) is the provision of banking products (such as deposit accounts, loans and credit cards) to customers through non-bank or non-financial third party partnerships. The bank provides the balance sheet management, including capital, liquidity and credit risk management, while the partner company (typically a fintech) interacts directly with the customer via their p

Trading basics

Bath Clean Air Zone

Bath Clean Air Zone is an area of central Bath, England where traffic is restricted to reduce air pollution. It became the second Clean Air Zone in the UK (after London) when it was introduced in March 2021. It has been credited with helping to reduce nitrogen dioxide pollution in the city by around a quarter since 2019, and has raised over £7 million in fines. However, critics of the sc

Banking

Branch (banking)

A branch, banking center or financial center is a retail location where a bank, credit union, or other financial institution (including a brokerage firm) offers a wide array of face-to-face and automated services to its customers.

Trading basics

Broker-dealer

In financial services, a broker-dealer is a natural person, company or other organization that engages in the business of trading securities for its own account or on behalf of its customers. Broker-dealers are at the heart of the securities and derivatives trading process.

Trading basics

Business-to-government

Business-to-government (B2G), also referred to as business-to-public-administration (B2PA) or business-to-public-sector (B2PS), describes commercial transactions in which businesses supply goods or services to government entities acting as customers. Where governments contract directly with each other, the term government-to-government (G2G) is also used.

Finance

Cash conversion cycle

In management accounting, the cash conversion cycle (CCC) measures how long a firm will be deprived of cash if it increases its investment in inventory in order to expand customer sales. It is thus a measure of the liquidity risk entailed by growth. However, shortening the CCC creates its own risks: while a firm could even achieve a negative CCC by collecting from customers before paying

Banking

Cash Group

Cash Group is a cooperation of the four largest German private banks (Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank, HypoVereinsbank, and Postbank) and their subsidiaries, in which they mutually waive ATM usage fees for their customers. It is not an interbank network but uses the pre-existing girocard network. With more than 4500 ATMs, the cooperating banks' ATM networks form the third largest ATM network

Banking

CashPool

CashPool is a cooperation of a multitude of smaller or virtual German private banks, in which they mutually waive ATM usage fees for their customers. It is not an interbank network but uses the pre-existing German ATM or Maestro/Cirrus networks. With more than 2800 ATMs, the cooperating banks' ATM networks form the smallest ATM group in Germany.

Payments & settlement

CashU

CashU was an Arabic fintech company providing a digital wallet and online payment services for customers in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The company was founded as a technology startup in July 2002 in association with online service company Maktoob in Amman, Jordan. It provided payment services for Maktoob online services. The company went through a number of rounds of

Banking

Christmas club

A Christmas club is a special-purpose savings account, first offered by various banks and credit unions in the United States beginning in the early 20th century, including the Great Depression. Bank customers would deposit a set amount of money each week into a savings account, and receive the money back at the end of the year for Christmas shopping.

Banking

Core banking

Core banking is a banking service provided by a group of networked bank branches where customers may access their bank account and perform basic transactions from any of the member branch offices.

Assets

Crypto.com

Crypto.com is a Singaporean cryptocurrency exchange company that offers various financial services, including an app, exchange, and noncustodial DeFi wallet, NFT marketplace, and direct payment service in cryptocurrency. As of June 2023, the company reportedly had 100 million customers and 4,000 employees.

Assets

Cryptocurrency exchange

A cryptocurrency exchange, or a digital currency exchange (DCE), is a business that allows customers to trade cryptocurrencies or digital currencies for other assets, such as conventional fiat money or other digital currencies. Exchanges may accept credit card payments, wire transfers or other forms of payment in exchange for digital currencies or cryptocurrencies. A cryptocurrency excha

Trading basics

Customer to customer

Customer to customer (C2C or consumer to consumer) is a kind of trade where no other business is involved. Every time a deal/trade takes place in a consumer-to-consumer (C2C) business, two regular people who are referred to as customers exchange products and services. In a consumer-to-consumer (C2C) transaction, a buyer who wishes to sell a product places an advertisement of the product

Finance

Customer value maximization

Customer value maximization (CVM) is a real-time service model that, proponents say, goes beyond basic customer relationship management (CRM) capabilities, identifying and capturing maximum potential from prospective and existing customers.

Payments & settlement

Debit card cashback

Debit card cashback (known as cashback at the tills in the United Kingdom, and as cash out in Australia and New Zealand), is a service offered to retail customers whereby an amount is added to the total purchase price of a transaction paid by debit card and the customer receives that amount in cash along with the purchase. For example, a customer purchasing $18.99 worth of goods at a su

Trading basics

Disintermediation

Disintermediation is the removal of intermediaries in economics from a supply chain, or "cutting out the middlemen" in connection with a transaction or a series of transactions. Instead of going through traditional distribution channels, which had some type of intermediary (such as a distributor, wholesaler, broker, or agent), companies deal with customers directly and vice versa, for ex

Payments & settlement

Electronic billing

Electronic billing or electronic bill payment and presentment, is when a seller such as company, organization, or group sends its bills or invoices over the internet, and customers pay the bills electronically. This replaces the traditional method where invoices are sent in paper form and payments are done by manual means such as sending cheques.

Trading basics

Experiential retail

Experiential retail or experiential commerce is a type of retail marketing whereby customers coming into a physical retail space are offered experiences beyond the traditional ones (such as in a clothing store: browsing merchandise, advice from salespeople, dressing rooms and cashiers). Amenities provided may include art (often interactive art), live music performances, virtual reality,

Banking

Expressnet

Expressnet is an interbank network connecting the ATM networks of seven major banks in the Philippines. It has the second-largest number of ATMs (largely due to the vast nationwide presence of Bank of the Philippine Islands Express Teller ATMs) and the smallest number of customers and member banks. However, its strength among the interbank networks and the ubiquity of BPI ATMs have giv

Finance

First Direct

First Direct (styled first direct) is a telephone and internet based direct retail bank, which is a division of HSBC UK Bank plc based in the United Kingdom. First Direct has headquarters in Leeds, England, and in 2024, had 1.9 million customers. On its launch, it was the UK's first telephone-only bank.

Trading basics

Generational contract

Generational contract (also inter-generational contract) is a concept used in the research of the relations between generations within a society. It refers to an agreement or consensus regarding the roles and mutual responsibilities of different age groups or generations. The contract governs the relationships between overlapping generations and works to produce benefits for all age grou

Payments & settlement

Giropay

Giropay was an Internet payment system in Germany, based on online banking. Introduced in February 2006, this payment method allowed customers to buy securely on the Internet using direct online transfers from their bank account. The system was similar to the Dutch iDEAL payment system, MyBank payment system, the Interac online service in Canada, pagomiscuentas payment service in Argenti

Trading basics

Global ATM Alliance

The Global ATM Alliance is a joint venture of several major international banks that allows customers of their banks to use their automated teller machine (ATM) card or debit card at another bank within the alliance with no international ATM access fees. Other fees, such as an international transaction or foreign currency fee, may still apply for some account holders. Participating banks

Trading basics

Gresham's law

In economics, Gresham's law, also Gresham-Copernicus Law (after Nicolaus Copernicus) is a monetary principle stating that "bad money drives out good". For example, if there are two coins in circulation containing metal of different value, which are accepted by law as having similar face value, the more valuable coin based on the inherent value of its component metals will gradually disap

Finance

International financial management

International financial management, also known as international finance, is the management of finance in an international business environment; that is, trading and making money through the exchange of foreign currency. The international financial activities help the organizations to connect with international dealings with overseas business partners- customers, suppliers, lenders etc. I

Trading basics

Klöckner & Co

Klöckner & Co SE (also known as Klöckner, KlöCo, or KCO) is a producer-independent processor of steel and metal products. With a network of 110 warehousing and processing locations, Klöckner & Co supplies over 60,000 customers, mainly in Europe and North America.

Assets

Kraken (cryptocurrency exchange)

Kraken (legally named Payward, Inc.) is a US-based cryptocurrency exchange, founded in 2011. It is the first cryptocurrency company to obtain a bank charter. In 2025, Kraken began allowing the trading of tokenized equities by non-US customers.

Banking

List of bank runs

This is a list of bank runs. A bank run occurs when a large number of bank customers withdraw their deposits because they believe the bank might fail. As more people withdraw their deposits, the likelihood of default increases, and this encourages further withdrawals. This can destabilize the bank to the point where it faces bankruptcy.

Finance

Manulife Bank of Canada

Manulife Bank of Canada (operating as Manulife Bank; French: Banque Manuvie du Canada) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Manulife. As a direct bank, it offers high-interest chequing & savings accounts, credit cards, lines of credit, and mortgages, including Manulife One. Since it was established in 1993, Manulife Bank has grown to more than $29 billion in assets and serves customers across

Finance

Maple Eight

In Canada, the Maple Eight are the eight largest pension funds. The investment approach used by the Maple-8 is known globally as the 'Canadian model', in which they utilize a direct investment approach and internally manage their own assets and portfolios. Collectively, as of March 2026, the pension funds control approximately CA$2.7 trillion in assets under management (AUM), and they a

Trading basics

Market research

Market research is an organized effort to gather information about target markets and customers. It involves understanding who they are and what they need. It is an important component of business strategy and a major factor in maintaining competitiveness. Market research helps identify and analyze market needs, market size and the competition. Its techniques encompass both qualitative

Trading basics

Marketing

Marketing is the act of acquiring, satisfying and retaining customers. It is one of the primary components of business management and commerce.

Trading basics

Marketing failure

Marketing failure is when a commercial marketing effort by a business fails to accomplish anything positive, or alternately when a commercial product is either totally or mostly rejected by its potential customers.

Fiat currencies

Midpoint (company)

Midpoint (Midpoint Holdings Ltd) is a UK headquartered, Toronto and Frankfurt listed company providing international payments and peer-to-peer foreign exchange (bureau de change) services to individual and corporate customers. Midpoint is the world’s first dedicated peer-to-peer international foreign currency matching platform. The company's patented matching technology was the first app

Payments & settlement

Mobile banking

Mobile banking, also known as app-based banking is a service that allows a bank's customers to conduct financial transactions using a mobile device. Unlike the related internet banking it uses software, usually an app, provided by the bank. Mobile banking is usually available on a 24-hour basis. Many neobanks operate exclusively through mobile banking.

Fiat currencies

Monetae cudendae ratio

"Monetae cudendae ratio" (also spelled "Monetæ cudendæ ratio"; English: "On the Minting of Coin" or "On the Striking of Coin"; sometimes, "Treatise on Money") is a paper on coinage by Nicolaus Copernicus (Polish: Mikołaj Kopernik). It was written in 1526 at the request of Sigismund I the Old, King of Poland, and presented to the Prussian Diet.

Payments & settlement

Moneycorp

Moneycorp is a British payment company that provides foreign exchange and global payment services to individual and corporate customers. The company was founded in London in 1979. Its clients include individuals, corporations, and other financial institution. It has a branches in the United Kingdom, North America, Europe, Asia and a number of other countries.

Payments & settlement

National Electronic Funds Transfer

National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) is an electronic funds transfer system maintained by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Started in November 2005, the setup was established and maintained by Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology. NEFT enables bank customers in India to transfer funds between any two NEFT-enabled bank accounts on a one-to-one basis. It is don

Securities & exchanges

Net capital rule

The uniform net capital rule is a rule created by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") in 1975 to regulate directly the ability of broker-dealers to meet their financial obligations to customers and other creditors. Broker-dealers are companies that trade securities for customers (i.e., brokers) and for their own accounts (i.e., dealers).

Trading basics

Networks in marketing

Networks are crucial parts of any action taken in a marketplace. Peter Drucker even described the future economy as one of a society of networks. Companies embedded in such networks stand to gain a lot. There are a number of different network models, which have distinct relevance to customers, and marketing initiatives. A network in marketing can be formed either strategically (e.g. Bus

Banking

Open banking

In financial services, open banking allows for financial data to be shared between banks and third-party service providers through the use of application programming interfaces (APIs). Traditionally, banks have kept customer financial data within their own closed systems. Open banking allows customers to share their financial information securely and electronically with other banks or ot

Payments & settlement

Pay at the pump

Pay at the pump is a system used at many filling stations, where customers can pay for their fuel by inserting a credit card, debit card, or fuel card into a slot on the pump, bypassing the requirement to make the transaction with the station attendant or to walk away from one's vehicle. A few areas have gas stations that use electronic tolling transponders as a method of payment, such a

Payments & settlement

Payoneer

Payoneer Global Inc. is an American financial services company that provides online money transfer, digital payment services and provides customers with working capital.

Payments & settlement

PaysafeCard

PaysafeCard (until 2024 stylized paysafecard) is a prepaid e-commerce payment solution powered by vouchers. It is part of Paysafe, a global payments platform. PaysafeCard allows customers to pay online without providing personal financial information.

Trading basics

Pension

A pension (; from Latin pensiō 'payment') is a fund or pay-as-you-go scheme into which amounts are paid regularly during an individual's working career, and from which periodic payments are made to support the person's retirement from work. A pension may be either a "defined benefit plan", where defined periodic payments are made in retirement and the contributions to the pension are ad

Payments & settlement

POLi Payments

POLi Payments Pty Ltd (formerly known as Centricom) is an online payments company based in Melbourne, Australia. It is the developer and provider of POLi, an online payment system that is used by merchants and customers in Australia and New Zealand. POLi Payments was acquired by SecurePay Holdings, a fully owned subsidiary of Australia Post, in December 2014.

Banking

Prime rate

The prime rate or prime lending rate is an interest rate used by banks, typically representing the rate at which they lend to their most creditworthy customers. Some variable interest rates may be expressed as a percentage above or below prime rate.

Fiat currencies

Quantity theory of money

The quantity theory of money (QTM) is a hypothesis within monetary economics which states that the general price level of goods and services is directly proportional to the amount of money in circulation (i.e., the money supply), and that the causality runs from money to prices. This implies that the theory potentially explains inflation. It originated in the 16th century and has been pr

Banking

Rhode Island banking crisis

The Rhode Island banking crisis took place in the early 1990s, when approximately a third of the U.S. state of Rhode Island's population lost access to funds in their bank accounts. The events were triggered by the failure of a Providence bank, Heritage Loan & Investment, due to long-term embezzlement by its president. News of its problems led to a bank run in which customers tried to wi

Trading basics

Season ticket

A season ticket or season pass is a ticket valid for multiple events, typically providing access to an entire season of games or performances at a specific venue or within a particular activity, such as sports matches or public transportation services. Season tickets are commonly issued by sports organizations, theaters, and transit authorities to ensure customers have secured access for

Payments & settlement

Self-checkout

Self-checkouts (SCOs), also known as assisted checkouts (ACOs) or self-service checkouts, are machines that allow customers to complete their own transaction with a retailer without using a staffed checkout. When using SCOs, customers scan item barcodes before paying for their purchases without needing one-to-one staff assistance. Self-checkouts are used mainly in supermarkets, although

Trading basics

Shopify

Shopify Inc. is a Canadian multinational e-commerce company headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, that operates a cloud e-commerce management platform (CEMP) for retail point-of-sale systems. The company has over five million customers and processed US$292.3 billion in transactions in 2024, of which 57% was in the United States. Major customers include Tesla, LVMH, Nestlé, PepsiCo, AB InBev,

Payments & settlement

SMS banking

SMS banking is a form of mobile banking. It is a facility used by some banks or other financial institutions to send messages (also called notifications or alerts) to customers' mobile phones using SMS messaging, or a service provided by them which enables customers to perform some financial transactions using SMS.

Trading basics

Social capital

Social capital is a concept used in sociology and economics to define networks of relationships which are productive towards advancing the goals of individuals and groups.

Finance

SoFi

SoFi Technologies, Inc. (abbreviated as SoFi, short for Social Finance) is an American financial technology company. Founded in 2011 by Stanford University graduates as a student loan refinancier, it operates a direct bank serving retail customers and businesses. SoFi is the largest U.S.-based online lender, and has nearly 16 million customers as of 2026.

Finance

Spread Networks

Spread Networks is a company founded by Dan Spivey and backed by James L. Barksdale (former CEO of Netscape ) that claims to offer Internet connectivity between Chicago and New York City at ultra-low latency (i.e. speeds that are very close to the speed of light), high bandwidth, and high reliability, using dark fiber. Its customers are primarily firms engaged in high-frequency trading,

Banking

Strahan, Paul & Bates

Strahan, Paul & Bates was a London private banking house founded in the 17th century and with a reputation for respectability. The bank failed in 1855 with liabilities eventually estimated at £750,000 (equivalent to £70,000,000 in 2025). The subsequent bankruptcy proceedings revealed that customers' securities had been sold or otherwise disposed of by the partners and the proceeds had be

Trading basics

Suggestion box

The suggestion box is used for collecting slips of paper with input from customers and patrons of a particular organization. Suggestion boxes may also exist internally, within an organization, such as means for garnering employee opinion.

Trading basics

Trusted Shops

Trusted Shops is a company founded in Cologne, Germany, in 1999, which offers online shops and their customers trust-building services by means of a trustmark, a money-back guarantee process and a system of customer reviews. Online retailers are also provided with assistance in meeting legal requirements. Around 25,000 online shops display the trustmark as of July 2019.

Trading basics

Ubiquitous commerce

Ubiquitous Commerce also known as U-Commerce, u commerce or uCommerce (not 'U.Commerce'), refers to a variety of goods and/or services. Sometimes, it is used to refer to the wireless, continuous communication and exchange of data and information between and among retailers, customers, and systems (e.g., applications) regardless of location, devices used, or time of day.

Trading basics

Vertrue

Vertrue Incorporated, headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut, is an American consumer services marketing company. The company again received an "F" from the Better Business Bureau for making unauthorized charges to its customers' credit cards. In 2007 it was acquired by a trio of investment firms, including Rho Ventures. In 2010, Vertrue and two of its subsidiaries were found guilty of d

Payments & settlement

Vipps

Vipps is a Norwegian mobile payment application designed for smartphones originally developed by DNB. Vipps was released May 30, 2015 and, having reached 1 million users by November 5, 2015, Vipps became Norway's largest payment application. Although Vipps was developed by DNB, customers of any Norwegian bank can use it. Vipps is a member of the European Mobile Payment Systems Associatio

Trading basics

Volcker Rule

The Volcker Rule is section 619 of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (12 U.S.C. § 1851). The rule was originally proposed by American economist and former United States Federal Reserve chair Paul Volcker in 2010 to restrict United States banks from making certain kinds of speculative investments that do not benefit their customers. It was not implemented until

Finance

Wealth Lab

Wealth Labs (WABS) is a electronic trading platform originally developed by Dion Kurczek, Brett Corrigan, and Aristotle Varner and released in 2000. The software was acquired by Fidelity Investments in 2004 and made available as Wealth-Lab Pro for Fidelity customers (discontinued in August 2021). As a trading platform, users can develop and deploy automatic trading strategies for various

Payments & settlement

Wizzit

Wizzit is a provider of basic banking services for the unbanked and underbanked (people or enterprises that have no or only limited access to banking services) in South Africa. Its services are based on the use of mobile phones for accessing bank accounts and conducting transactions, in addition to a Maestro debit card that is issued to all customers upon registration. Wizzit is a branch