Fintech terms in the glossary

3D Secure is a security protocol for online card payments where the cardholder performs an extra authentication step (SMS, biometrics, app) to prevent fraud.

AML is the framework of rules and processes preventing money laundering and terrorism financing via customer identification, transaction monitoring and reporting.

Banking-as-a-Service is infrastructure letting non-bank companies offer banking features (accounts, cards, payments) to their users via APIs.

BNPL is a payment method where consumers receive purchases immediately but pay in later instalments, without a traditional credit card.

A CBDC is a digital version of fiat money issued and backed by a central bank — legally tender, operationally digital and non-anonymous.

A chargeback is a mandatory reversal by the card issuer to the merchant, usually after a dispute or fraudulent transaction by the cardholder.

DORA is the EU regulation (in force since 17 January 2025) requiring financial institutions to maintain robust IT risk management, incident reporting and strict oversight of critical third parties such as cloud providers.

Embedded finance is integrating financial services (payments, lending, insurance) into non-financial products via APIs.

Fintech (Financial Technology) is the sector where technology delivers financial services — from payment apps to neobanks, crypto exchanges and embedded finance.

IBAN (International Bank Account Number) is the internationally standardised format for bank account numbers, mandatory within SEPA.

iDEAL is the dominant Dutch online payment method letting consumers authorise e-commerce payments directly via internet banking.

KYC is the process where financial service providers verify customer identity, legally required to prevent money laundering and terrorism financing.

MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets) is the EU regulation fully in force since 2024-2025 imposing uniform rules on crypto service providers.

A neobank is a fully digital bank without physical branches, usually built on modern cloud infrastructure with strong app-centric UX.

Open banking is the concept where banks, mandated by regulation like PSD2, open customer data and payment functions to third parties via standardised APIs.

A payment gateway is the technical layer that passes payment information between a webshop, the customer's bank and the merchant's bank.

PSD2 (Payment Services Directive 2) is the 2018 EU directive requiring banks to open their payment data via APIs to authorised third parties.

PSD3 (Payment Services Directive 3) is the EU successor to PSD2, rolled out from 2025-2026, tightening open-banking rules and extending them to crypto services.

RegTech is the fintech sub-sector specifically providing technology for regulation compliance, reporting and risk management in financial institutions.

SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) is the EU standard framework for euro transfers, where cross-border payments are treated as domestic.

SEPA Instant (SCT Inst) is the real-time payment scheme within the eurozone settling transfers up to 100,000 euro within 10 seconds, 24/7/365.

A stablecoin is a cryptocurrency whose value is pegged to a reference (usually USD or EUR) to eliminate price volatility without giving up blockchain's technological advantages.

SCA is the PSD2-mandated two-factor authentication for electronic payments in the EU, based on at least two of three factors: knowledge, possession and inherence.

SWIFT is the global messaging network banks use to send international payment instructions — not a money-moving system itself, but the infrastructure that standardises bank-to-bank communication.