Educational

There’s much to know about payments. We are committed to engaging stakeholders through education and awareness. Here you will find educational resources to help advance all levels of knowledge and expertise.

Reference Documents

Payment Types Explained (Off-site, PDF)
High-level overview of current payment types – check, wire, credit and debit cards, and ACH.

Payments Fraud Liability Matrix (PDF)
A matrix outlining consumer protection, legal authority and liability as it relates to payments fraud per payment type. The document is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Any embedded links are being provided as a convenience and for informational purposes only.

Tools

Faster Payments Effectiveness Criteria
A description of stakeholder needs that can be used to assess faster payments solutions and as a guide for innovation in the payments industry, created by the Faster Payments Task Force.

Payment Lifecycles and Security Profiles
The Secure Payments Task Force developed the Payment Lifecycles and Security Profiles as an educational resource and to provide perspectives related to:

• The lifecycles of the most common payment types, covering enrollment, transaction flow and reconciliation
• Security methods, identity management controls and sensitive data occurring at each step in the payment lifecycles
• Relevant laws and regulations, and other references, as well as challenges and improvement opportunities related to each payment type

Glossary of Terms

The Faster and Secure Payments Task Forces published the Glossary of Terms as a reference document for the use in connection with their work and activities. The glossary was meant to provide a foundation for a common lexicon to bridge some of the background gaps between stakeholders of different industries.

Term	Definition
Accessibility	Accessibility (N): The ability to enable any Entity to send and receive payments or payment related information to/from any other Entity. Also used as Accessible (Adj).
Acceptance	The receipt of a payment by the Payee or the Payee's Provider with the intention that the payment will not be rejected.
Account	A balance (deposit or credit) of funds recorded on an independent ledger that can be used by its owner to send or receive funds.
Approval	The point following the Initiation of a payment when the Payer's Depository Institution or Regulated Non-Bank Account Provider verifies that the Payer's Account has Good Funds necessary to complete the transaction.
Authentication	Authentication (N): The process that verifies the identity or veracity of a Participant, device, payment or message connected to a Payment System. Also used as Authenticate (V).
Authorization	Authorization (N): The explicit instructions, including: timing, amount, Payee, source of funds and other conditions, given by the Payer to the Payee to transfer funds on a one-time or recurring basis. Also used as Authorize (V).
Authorized Participant	A Participant that has legal access to a payment Solution, payment network or payment service.
Cancellation of a Payment	The act of causing a payment to no longer be processed as valid in the Payment System (e.g., payment is stopped or reversed).
Clearing	The process by which the Payer's and Payee's Depository Institutions or Regulated Non-Bank Account Providers exchange payment information to confirm transactions prior to Settlement, potentially including the netting of transactions and the establishment of final positions for Settlement.1
Component	See "Solution."
Confidentiality	The set of rules and processes that appropriately limit access to and restrict the sharing of payment and/or other sensitive information (e.g. Personally Identifiable Information).
Consumer	A natural person that makes or receives a payment through the Payment System which payment is for personal, family, or household purposes.
Credential	A verifiable set of Data presented by a Participant to the Payment System as evidence of identity.
Credit Push	See "Push Payment."
Criteria	The principles or standards by which something must (or will) be compared, judged or evaluated.
Data	Facts, statistics, or elements of information that are created and/or recorded prior, during or after the use of a payment Solution related to enrolling in a Solution or participating in a payment transaction.
Debit Pull	See "Pull Payment."
Depository Institution	See "Provider."
End User	End User (N): An Entity that uses a payment Solution, payment network, or payment service for the purpose of sending or receiving payments, such as a business or a Consumer. Also used as End-User (Adj).
Entity	A person, business, government agency, financial institution or other service provider.
Error Resolution	Process of an investigation to determine whether or not an erroneous, unauthorized or Fraudulent transaction has occurred and if so, the corrective measures to be taken by the End User and/or Provider.
FI	A financial institution, including Depository Institutions, credit unions, thrifts, savings and loans, etc.
Finality	See "Irrevocability."
Framework	The rules, policies, and procedures that create the structure needed for payment operations to take place, and that define roles, responsibilities, and warranties of various Participants.
Fraud	Fraud (N): An action taken with dishonest intent to take something valuable2 from a payment system Participant. Fraudulent payments fall into four general categories: First-party fraud: Fraud committed by an accountholder against another Entity. For example, a legitimate customer may dishonestly request a chargeback on a purchase after receiving the merchandise as agreed, or an individual may set up an Account (either using his or her own identity or a synthetic identity) to purchase items on credit without intending to pay the bill in full. Second-party fraud: A transaction made or attempted by a trusted Entity that has access to the accountholder's payment Credentials. For example, a child may use a parent's credit card to make a purchase without the parent's consent. Third-party fraud: A transaction made or attempted by an unknown Entity that is not Authorized by the accountholder to use a payment instrument to make a purchase, initiate funds transfers, or withdraw cash from his or her Account.3 Fraud in the inducement: Deceiving a Participant about the true terms of a transaction in order to mislead the Participant into making a purchase, transfer, or withdrawal that is to his or her disadvantage.4 Also used as Fraudulent (Adj).
Good Funds	Funds in an Account that are unconditionally available and usable immediately by the owner of the Account.
Interoperability	Interoperability (N): Ability to process Payment Instructions across Payment Systems or platforms. Requires the use of common standards and technical compatibility between systems.9 Also used as Interoperable (Adj) and Interoperate (V).
Initial Implementation	A baseline of core features that are available for general use by a minimum quantity of End Users and Providers.
Initiation	Initiation (N): The Initiation of a payment begins when either the Payer or Payee in a payment transaction, or a third party, sends an instruction to another Entity that triggers a process ultimately leading to a payment. Initiation ends at the point when the Payer Authorizes a Payment Order, or in the case of pre-authorization, when the Provider confirms that pre-authorization exists for a given payment. Also used as Initiate (V).
Irrevocability	The legal inability of the Payer's financial institution or agent to revoke a transfer of funds that is Authorized by the Payer.
Legal Framework	All legal sources applicable to a Payment System, including all public sector laws, regulations, other regulatory interpretations or rulings, court decisions and the Payment System Rules applicable to the Payment System.
Multi-currency	The ability for the Payer or Payee to send or receive a payment denominated in a choice of more than one currency.
Multi-Factor Authentication	The use and validation of two or more factors for Authentication. Authentication examples: Something the Participant knows (e.g., a personal identification number) Something the Participant has (e.g., a card or mobile device) Something that is an attribute of the Participant (e.g., a fingerprint) Note: examples above are not intended to exhaustive.
Near Real-Time	Occurs close in time to the act of Initiating a Payment Order or Authorizing a payment but not necessarily immediately thereafter.
Participant	An Entity that interacts with the Payment System, such as a Consumer, a business, or a financial institution.
Parties	See "Solution."
Payee	The intended recipient of a payment.
Payment Order or Payment Instruction	The verifiable, signed collection of information created by the Payer and sent to the Provider Authorizing the transfer of funds from the Payer to Payee.
Payment System	The set of technologies, rules, practices and standards necessary for the functioning of the payment system and its services. 2
Payment System Rules	The rules, standards/protocols and procedures specific to and adopted by or for a Payment System. "Payment System Rules" also include any multi-lateral agreements executed by Entities. "Payment System Rules" do not include (but may reference aspects of) laws, regulations, other regulatory interpretations or rulings, or court decisions (see definition of "Legal Framework").
Payer	The sender of funds in a payment transaction; particularly the Entity that, prior to Settlement, owns the funds to be sent to the Payee.
Personally Identifiable Information (PII)	Information which can be used to distinguish or trace an individual's identity such as the individual's name, email address, phone number, social security number, biometric information, and any other information defined to be PII by the Solution proposer.5
Proposal	The written document that provides a detailed description of a faster payments Solution, and demonstrates how it meets the Effectiveness Criteria for a faster payments Solution.
Proposal Work Group	A group formed to develop and revise a Proposal. It will be the responsibility of the workgroup to guide the Proposal through the Effectiveness Criteria review process.
Provider	Defined to include three categories of institutions/organizations: Depository Institutions (any institution eligible for a Federal Reserve Account) Regulated non-Bank Account Providers that are classified as money services businesses or money transmitters, or broker-dealers, and are subject to federal or state regulation Third-party service providers (e.g., non-account holding providers of technology, software, network services, processing services, mobile wallets, equipment, security services, program managers, etc.)
PSP	Payment Service Provider (See Provider).
Public Policy Objectives	Objectives incorporated into a Payment System's design that promote safe, efficient, and Accessible payments with appropriate protections for End Users.6
Pull Payment	A payment made after prior Authorization by the Payer; the Payee sends the Payment Instruction to the Payee's Account to draw on funds from the Payer.
Push Payment	A payment made when the Payer sends the Payment Instruction to the Payer's Account to transfer the Payer's funds to the Payee.
Real-Time	Immediate/without delay.
Reconciliation	A procedure to verify that two sets of records issued by two different Entities or two different systems involved in a transaction match.7 The Reconciliation process may include appropriate reversals and post-transaction analysis.
Regulated Non-Bank Account Provider	See "Provider."
Regulated Non-Bank Provider	A non-bank Participant, such as a money services business, money transmitter, or broker-dealer, that sends and receives payments on behalf of Payers and Payees and is subject to federal and/or state regulation.
Resiliency	The ability to prepare for and adapt to changing conditions and withstand and recover rapidly from disruptions. Resiliency includes the ability to withstand and recover from deliberate attacks, accidents, or naturally occurring threats or incidents.8
Settlement	An act that discharges obligations in respect of funds between two or more Entities. 10
Solution	The collection of Components and supporting Parties that enable the end-to-end payment process. A faster payments Solution might include new Components, the adaptation of existing Components, and/or a combination of the two. Components include any of the following: Rules, standards/protocols, and procedures Physical or technical infrastructure, networks, systems and other resources needed by all Parties to use or enable the rules, standards/protocols and procedures Centralized or shared services, if any Legal Framework and enforcement mechanisms Parties include any of the following: Governing bodies, operators, Depository Institutions, Regulated Non-Bank Account Providers and third-party service providers
Task Force Work Group	A group formed to undertake specific topics or assignments that are deemed to be of importance by the task force. Task Force Work Groups will generally be accountable for specific outputs or deliverable(s) to advance task force objectives.
Tokenization	The process of replacing sensitive Data (e.g., Account information) with unique identifiers (i.e., tokens) that either replace or mask attributes associated with the original Data set.
Ubiquitous	Ubiquitous (Adj): A Payment System that can reach all Accounts to ensure that a Payer has the ability to pay any Entity. Also used as Ubiquity (N).