Glossary · 25 terms
The words on your payment, explained in two sentences each.
Everything that appears in a quote, a status, an MT103 or a compliance request. Where a term has a practical consequence for you, it says so.
- MT103
- The SWIFT message with which a bank sends a customer transfer. It proves the payment was sent, with amount, date, sender, beneficiary and reference; it does not prove the credit, which the beneficiary's bank confirms separately.
- UETRunique end-to-end transaction reference
- A 36-character identifier attached to every SWIFT payment. With it, the payment can be traced through correspondent banks in the gpi tracker, which is how we answer “where is it now”.
- SHA · OUR · BEN
- Who pays the bank charges on a SWIFT transfer. SHA: the sender pays its bank, the beneficiary pays correspondent deductions; OUR: the sender pays everything and the beneficiary receives the full amount; BEN: all charges are deducted from the amount. We quote SHA by default and OUR for +$30.
- SWIFT BICbank identifier code
- The 8- or 11-character code of a bank, such as COBADEFF. It routes the payment to the right bank; a wrong BIC is a common reason for delays and returns.
- IBAN
- The international account number used in Europe, the Middle East and parts of Asia, with a checksum that lets us validate it before you pay. Countries without IBAN use a plain account number plus the BIC.
- SEPA
- The euro payment scheme covering 36 countries. Transfers arrive the same business day, cost €3 at cost in our quotes, and carry an end-to-end reference instead of an MT103.
- Correspondent bank
- An intermediary bank that passes a SWIFT payment between the sender's and the beneficiary's banks when they have no direct relationship. Each correspondent may deduct a fee under SHA and may hold a payment for a compliance question.
- Cut-off
- The time after which a bank processes a payment on the next business day. Our quotes show the cut-off for the chosen rail; payments confirmed before it are sent the same day.
- BI-FAST
- Indonesia's instant transfer scheme for rupiah. Payments arrive within minutes to hours; the beneficiary name must match the account exactly.
- PromptPay
- Thailand's instant payment scheme for baht, addressed by account, national ID or phone number. Used for rent, clinics and local suppliers.
- UAEFTS
- The UAE funds transfer system for dirham payments between local banks. A purpose-of-payment code is mandatory; we set it from the invoice.
- Faster PaymentsFPS
- The UK instant scheme for sterling (and the name of Hong Kong's scheme for HKD). Payments arrive within minutes, around the clock.
- Payment on behalf ofPOBO
- A transfer where the sender of record (PT Global Payment Gateway) pays an invoice for a client. The reference names the client and the invoice, and a letter confirms it for the beneficiary's accountant.
- Agent agreement
- The contract under which you instruct us to pay or collect on your behalf. Signed once; each payment adds a payment order with the amount, rate, fees, delivery terms and refund rule.
- KYCknow your customer
- Verification of an individual: identity document, liveness check, address, and for higher limits the source of funds. Done once, usually in three minutes.
- KYBknow your business
- Verification of a company: registry extract, directors, beneficial owners above 25%, the person acting for the company and the nature of the business. One to three business days.
- MLROmoney laundering reporting officer
- The person responsible for the anti-money-laundering programme: screening rules, reviews, reports to the authority and the refusal list. Named on the compliance page once appointed publicly.
- Travel rule
- The requirement to pass originator and beneficiary information along with a crypto transfer between service providers. It is why we accept USDT only from addresses whose owner we can identify.
- Origin-of-funds screening
- A risk score of the crypto you send, based on where it has been: trading platforms, mixers, sanctioned addresses. High-risk exposure is declined before the payment starts.
- Enhanced due diligence
- Extra checks for higher-risk countries, counterparties or amounts: the contract, the beneficiary's registration, sometimes proof of delivery. Shown as “Enhanced checks” on the countries page.
- Rate lock
- The 15 minutes after you confirm a quote during which the rate and fees are fixed. If the USDT arrives later, we re-quote and ask you to confirm again.
- Mid-market rate
- The midpoint between the best bid and ask on our liquidity partner's order book at the time of the quote. Our conversion is this rate plus 0.35%, shown as a separate line.
- Return and recall
- A return is the beneficiary's bank sending the payment back (closed account, name mismatch, compliance). A recall is the sender asking for a sent payment back, which the beneficiary's bank may refuse.
- StablecoinUSDT · USDC
- A crypto token designed to track a currency, usually the US dollar. We accept USDT and USDC because they settle in minutes and carry no price risk between your transfer and the bank payment.
- TRC-20 · ERC-20 · TON
- The networks on which USDT exists: Tron (TRC-20, cheapest), Ethereum (ERC-20) and TON. Send only on the network shown in your order; tokens sent on another network cannot be recovered.