Banking Terms Glossary
A
ACH
Automated Clearinghouse, which is the process that handles electronic debit and credit transactions. NACHA, the National Automated Clearinghouse Association, is the parent organization that defines the ACH rules and regulations.
ACH Credit
The process of electronically depositing funds through the Automated Clearing House (ACH) process of electronic transactions. Payments to electronic payees are typically made using this method.
ACH Debit
The process of electronically obtaining funds through the Automated Clearinghouse process of electronic transactions.
Account Number
An alphanumeric number used to identify an entity or individual.
Account Number Format
The format of a biller's customer account number.
Amount
The amount to be paid for each bill in U.S. dollars.
Authentication
The process that substantiates the identity of the party on the Internet connection.
Available Financial Institution Account Balance
The available balance as of the date posted by your financial institution. This balance reflects the total amount of funds that is available for immediate withdrawal according to your financial institution's funding availability policy. This amount may not be the same as your current balance if there are holds or pending credits that have not been posted to your account.
B
Bill
An electronic or paper document sent to a customer specifying a payment due for goods or services rendered.
Bill Detail
Specific billing event information (e.g., credit card charges, telephone calls, kilowatts used, etc.) on a bill providing invoice line level information.
Bill Summary
The basic billing information the customer must understand in order to plan and execute payment. Typical information includes amount owed, due date, biller name, remittance address, and the customer's account number.
Biller
An entity that requests payment through the invoicing process.
Billing Cycle
The frequency with which a bill is received from a payee.
Business Day
Any day on which a Federal Reserve Board participating financial institution is open to the public.
C
Check Number
The check number if a check was issued for this payment or the electronic payment number if the transaction was an electronic payment.
Cleared
The date the transaction was posted to your financial institution account.
Confirmation Number
A number that is generated at the point of payment initiation to track and reference the specific payment.
Consumer
An individual or entity that receives goods or services which are the subject of bills or statements. Consumers are also referred to as customers, users, or end users. Bill payment processing firms refer to consumers as "subscribers."
Consumer Service Provider
The firm enabling bill payment services to the customer or end user-typically the Web hosting firm, such as Digital Insight.
Credit Card Bin
The first eight digits of a credit card number. VISAŽ or MasterCardŽ credit card bins may be used to search for payees in the Bill Payment user interface.
Customer Account Information
A record containing remittance information for a specific customer. This usually contains the account number assigned to that customer by the biller, the customer's primary address as well as any other information the biller uses to identify the customer.
D
Default Date Range
This is the date range that is automatically set for the initial viewing of payments. For Pending Payments the date range is 30 calendar days in the future. For Payment History, it is 30 days in the past.
Deliver By
The date by which you would like the payee to receive your payment. You should have adequate funds in your account at least 2 business days in advance of the deliver-by date for electronic payments and at least 4 business days in advance for check payments.
Due Date
The date that each bill is due at the payee's location. You should schedule payment three to five business days before the due date in this list. If a bill arrives as Due Upon Receipt, the date that the payment arrived is listed as the due date.
E
E-Bill
Short for electronic bill. A payee can make a purely electronic version of your customer bill available for delivery and presentation to you online. Not all payees offer electronic payment.
Short for electronic mail, the transmission of messages over communications networks. The messages may be notes entered from the keyboard or electronic files stored on disk. Most mainframes, minicomputers and computer networks have an e-mail system.
E-Mail Address
An address belonging to an individual or entity for the use of receiving and sending electronic documents and files. Most e-mail addresses follow the format: uniqueusername@domainname.com.
Electronic Payment
Any non-paper based form of payment. The processes in place for electronic payments are typically pre-arranged.
Electronic Registration
The process of enrolling in Bill Payment.
Enrollment
The process of establishing a bill payment relationship between the customer, Bill Payment Processor, and your financial institution.
F
Filed Bill
A bill that you do not want to pay using this website, but want to save for your records. For example, a bill with a zero balance or a bill that no longer needs to be paid. Once you file a bill, it is permanently removed from your Bill Inbox and cannot be paid.
Final Payment Date
The date beyond which a repeating payment is no longer processed.
Financial Institution
A bank or credit union. Bill payment processing firms refer to financial institutions as "sponsors."
Funding Account Description
A description you assign to the funding account to identify it.
Funds
A store of value, usually referring to a value on deposit at a financial institution.
Funds Availability
The time at which funds associated with paperless entries have been made available.
I
Incoming Bills
A list of the bills that you must approve before we will send a payment and any notices from your payees.
M
Multiple Payments
The option to add payments for multiple payees using a single screen.
N
Nickname
A familiar alternative name that an end user may designate to identify a particular payee.
Non-Processing Day
Days on which the Bill Payment Processor does not process payments. These are always based on holidays the Federal Reserve Board recognizes.
Non-Sufficient Funds
Also known as NSF, which is the condition when there are not sufficient funds in a customer's financial institution account to cover a payment.
O
One-Time Payment
See Single payment.
P
Paid from
The payment account that will be used for this payment.
Password
A unique code generated by and known only to the user or end user of a software user interface. Typically used with a User ID to gain access to a secure system.
Pay Anyone Capability
The Bill Payment Processor is generally capable of issuing payment to anyone.
Payee
Entity to which a customer makes a payment. The payee may be a company, an organization, or an individual.
Payee Database
The Bill Payment Processor database of payees. This database is used for the payee search process. If an exact match is found and selected by the user, the payee set up is always as an electronic payee, which is used as a remittance indicator for that payee record. All payees are categorized as personal, regional or national within the database.
Payee ID
A numeric identifier used by customers to distinguish payees.
Payee Nickname
A description you assign to identify a payee.
Payment
A transactional process that affects the transfer of value between two entities. Typically, payments involve the transfer of funds from one financial institution depository to another.
Payment Category
The group that you assign to a payee to during setup.
Payment In History
Any payment that the Bill Payment Processor has initiated for processing.
Payment Instructions
Payment parameters specified by the payer, typically a customer. Payment parameters include the payment process date, which account the funds are to be drawn on, payer, and biller identity information such as the "customer account."
Payment Instrument
The vehicle selected to make a payment. These include paper checks, ACH debit, etc.
Payment Posted Date
The date that a payment is posted to a customer's account.
Payment System
A system or network used to process payments. For example, Automated Clearinghouse (ACH), etc.
Payment Type
The method used to pay the bill, which is either electronic or check. If the payee is selected from the electronic payee database, it is an electronic payment. Otherwise, the payment is paid via check.
Pending Payment
A payment that has been scheduled, but not processed.
R
Received From
The payee for each item. If you specified a nickname for the payee, that name is used in this list.
Recurring Payments
Bill payments you want to repeat at regular intervals.
Registration
The process of establishing a relationship between the customer, Bill Payment Processor, and your financial institution. Registration is used interchangeably with enrollment.
Remittance Information
Information required by the biller in order to post the customer's bill payments effectively.
Remittance Method
The method used to deliver funds and remittance information.
Repeating Payment
Number of instances determines the total number of payments that will be made.
S
Scanned Bill
A bill that is presented to the end user as an electronic scanned version of an actual physical paper bill from a payee. The system creates a scanned electronic version of a paper bill for delivery to the end user in the Bill Payment and Presentment application.
Scraped Bill
A bill that is captured directly from the payee web site, converted into an electronic image, and presented to the end user. The system creates an electronic version of the bill as captured or scraped from the payee's web site, and then prepares it for delivery to the end user in the Bill Payment and Presentment application.
Send To
The nickname for each payee.
Sent
The date the payment was sent to the payee.
Single Payment
A payment that occurs once. A single payment does not repeat.
Statement/Notice
An electronic or paper document that does not have a payment due associated with it.
Status
The current state of the payment process (e.g., pending, processed, etc.).
Stop Payment
A process that halts the payment process. The Bill Payment Processor, your financial institution, or the customer may initiate stop payments on paper checks only.
T
Total Bill Management
The bill presentment offering that incorporates Pay Anyone with eBills along with scanned bills.
Total Due
The total amount due for each bill.
U
Unpaid Bills
Bills that appear in your Bill Inbox on which you have not taken any action.
User
An individual that uses the Internet banking product. User is used interchangeably with end user. Bill payment processing firms refer to end users as "subscribers."
User ID
A name that is assigned to an individual for the purpose of identification and authorization, typically used with a password.
