Glossary

The payments glossary, in full.

Every term in the glossary, grouped by category. Each is a short page that opens with the direct answer — what the term means, why it matters, and where it fits on Infinite.

Assets Accounts Compliance Payment rails Banking Agentic payments

Assets

The instruments that move on stablecoin rails — what stablecoins are, how they are minted, redeemed, and backed, and how reserves are verified.

Stablecoin

A cryptocurrency designed to hold a stable value by pegging to another asset — usually the US dollar — and backed one-for-one by reserves.

On-ramp and off-ramp

The conversion points between fiat and digital assets — an on-ramp turns dollars into stablecoins, an off-ramp turns stablecoins back into dollars.

Mint and burn

How stablecoin supply tracks its reserves — issuers mint new tokens when dollars come in and burn tokens when dollars are redeemed.

Reserve attestation

An independent accountant’s report verifying that a stablecoin issuer’s reserves matched the tokens in circulation as of a point in time.

Cold storage

The practice of holding digital assets with private keys kept offline — out of reach of the internet, and of any automated system that could be compromised.

Accounts

Account structures for holding business funds — demand deposit accounts, virtual and FBO accounts, and how pooled and per-customer structures differ.

Demand deposit account

A bank account whose funds can be withdrawn on demand — the standard operating account for businesses in the US.

Virtual account

A sub-account reference layered on one real bank account, used to segregate and reconcile funds without opening separate accounts.

Virtual accounts vs real accounts

A virtual account is a reference over one pooled bank account; a real account is individually titled at the bank. The difference is whose money the bank sees.

FBO account

A custodial bank account titled "for the benefit of" a company’s customers — one pooled account holding funds the platform manages on their behalf.

Pooled account

A single bank account holding funds belonging to many customers, tracked in the holder’s own sub-ledger rather than at the bank.

Wallet account

An account that holds stablecoin balances alongside fiat — custody handled by the provider, so businesses move digital dollars without managing keys.

Compliance

The controls behind compliant payments — KYB and KYC, sanctions screening, transaction monitoring, and the BSA framework US institutions operate under.

Know Your Business

The verification of a business customer — legal existence, beneficial owners, and sanctions screening — before providing financial services.

Bank Secrecy Act

The primary US anti-money-laundering law, requiring financial institutions to run AML programs, keep records, and report suspicious activity.

Money transmitter

A business that accepts and transmits funds on behalf of others — a regulated activity requiring state licenses and federal registration in the US.

Travel Rule

The requirement that identifying information about the sender and recipient travel with a funds transfer — extended by FATF to virtual-asset transfers.

AML transaction monitoring

The ongoing screening of customer transactions against risk rules and behavioral patterns to detect and report suspicious activity.

Sanctions screening

Checking customers, counterparties, and payments against government sanctions lists — such as OFAC’s SDN list — before funds are allowed to move.

Virtual asset service provider

FATF’s term for a business that exchanges, transfers, or safekeeps virtual assets for customers — regulated for AML like other financial institutions.

Money services business

FinCEN’s registration category for nonbank businesses that transmit or convert money — required to register federally and run a BSA/AML program.

BSA/AML program

The anti-money-laundering program the Bank Secrecy Act requires — internal controls, a designated officer, training, independent testing, and customer due diligence.

OFAC

The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control — the agency that administers sanctions and publishes the SDN list.

Enhanced due diligence

The deeper level of customer review applied to higher-risk relationships — more documentation, source-of-funds checks, and closer ongoing monitoring.

Politically exposed person

Someone entrusted with prominent public functions — senior officials, their close family and associates — treated as higher-risk in AML programs.

Know Your Customer

The verification of an individual customer’s identity — who they are, checked against watchlists — before providing financial services.

Suspicious activity report

The confidential report a financial institution files with FinCEN when it detects potentially suspicious transactions or activity.

Beneficial owner

The individual who ultimately owns or controls a legal entity — identified and verified during KYB under FinCEN’s due-diligence rules.

Payment rails

The networks that settle business payments — SWIFT, ACH, Fedwire, RTP, and stablecoin rails — and how their speed, hours, and finality compare.

SWIFT

The global messaging network banks use to send payment instructions across borders — the message layer behind international wires.

ACH

The US batch payment network for bank-to-bank transfers — low cost, high volume, settling in same-day or next-day windows.

Fedwire

The Federal Reserve’s real-time gross settlement system — same-day, irrevocable USD transfers for high-value payments.

RTP

The Clearing House’s real-time payments network — instant, final USD credit transfers up to $10 million, available 24/7/365.

Stablecoin settlement

The completion of a payment by transferring stablecoins on-chain — final in minutes, at any hour, with no batch cycles or banking-hours dependency.

Payment orchestration

Coordinating multiple payment rails, providers, and currencies behind a single integration — routing each payment by speed, cost, and availability.

Stablecoin payment processor

A provider that handles stablecoin payments end to end for businesses — accounts, conversion, screening, and settlement behind one API.

SWIFT gpi

SWIFT’s payments service standard adding end-to-end tracking, fee transparency, and confirmation of credit to cross-border payments.

Same Day ACH

The ACH network’s faster processing option — eligible payments submitted before daily cutoffs settle in same-day windows instead of next-day.

T+0 settlement

Settlement on the trade or payment date itself — funds change hands the same day, with no waiting period.

Wire transfer

A bank-to-bank payment sent individually rather than in a batch — same-day, typically irrevocable, used for high-value transfers.

Stablecoin card

A debit or prepaid card funded by a stablecoin balance — the issuer converts stablecoins to fiat at the point of sale, so merchants receive ordinary currency.

Banking

How banks hold and move money behind the scenes — correspondent banking, routing numbers, and how deposit insurance passes through to customers.

Correspondent banking

The arrangement where one bank holds accounts and executes payments for another, enabling cross-border transfers between banks with no direct relationship.

Pass-through deposit insurance

FDIC coverage that extends through a custodial account to the underlying owners of the funds, when the FDIC’s pass-through conditions are met.

Routing number

The nine-digit code that identifies a US financial institution on payment rails — it tells ACH, Fedwire, and check systems where an account lives.

FX

Foreign exchange in business payments — how currency conversion settles and where cross-currency transfers pick up cost and risk.

FX settlement

The exchange of the two currencies that completes a foreign-exchange trade — where cross-currency payments incur cost, delay, and settlement risk.

Agentic payments

How AI agents move money — spending limits, human-in-the-loop approvals, agent compliance, and the authorization layer behind agent-initiated payments.