Reference

Glossary

Payment and API terms used in these docs, in plain words, in alphabetical order. Field names in code are the names the API uses.

Payment terms

Term	Meaning
Approver (checker)	A person in your business who must approve an action someone else started, such as a payout. See maker-checker.
Auto-sweep, pool account	An arrangement Multigate can set up for you: money received into a virtual account is credited to one central pool account instead of the wallet it was paid to. Always used for dynamic accounts.
Available balance	The money in an account you can spend now. Amounts reserved for payouts in progress are already taken off.
Beneficiary	The person or business receiving a payout. You can save beneficiaries and reuse them by ID.
BIC (SWIFT code)	Bank Identifier Code: an 8- or 11-character code that identifies a bank internationally, for example `GTBINGLA`.
Bulk payout	Many payouts sent from one uploaded file. Each row becomes its own transfer.
BVN	Bank Verification Number: an 11-digit ID that Nigerian banks give each customer. Used for remittance senders in Nigeria.
Charge type (`OUR`, `SHA`, `BEN`)	Who pays bank charges on an international (SWIFT) payout. `OUR`: you pay all charges. `SHA`: charges are shared, and banks along the way may deduct theirs from the amount. `BEN`: the beneficiary pays, so they may receive less.
Client	Your business, as registered with Multigate. In these docs, you are the client.
Collection	Receiving money from payers, usually into virtual accounts.
Collection fee	A fee Multigate can take from money you receive, if agreed for your business.
Compliance screening	Checks Multigate runs on payments and businesses against its compliance and risk rules before money moves.
Conversion (FX trade)	Exchanging money between two of your accounts in different currencies at a locked rate.
Customer (sub-client)	A business you serve and act for with `onBehalfOf`. The API calls these sub-clients.
Dynamic account	An NGN virtual account that accepts one payment of an exact amount, then closes.
Fee account	A separate account some businesses use to pay Multigate's fees, so the fee isn't taken from the paying account.
FPS (Faster Payments)	The UK's instant bank transfer system for GBP.
FX	Foreign exchange: converting one currency into another.
IBAN	International Bank Account Number: the account number format used in Europe and elsewhere, for example `DE89370400440532013000`.
IMTO	International money transfer operator: a licensed remittance company.
Inflow	Money received into one of your accounts.
Intermediary bank	A bank that passes an international payment between your bank and the beneficiary's bank. Some beneficiary banks require you to name one.
KYB / KYC	Know your business / know your customer: verifying a company's (or person's) identity, owners and documents. Multigate runs KYB when you onboard a customer.
Ledger	Multigate's record of every account balance and every movement of money.
Linked account	A bank account you already hold at another bank, connected to Multigate so you can see its balance and pay from it. The money stays at your bank.
Linking request	Your request to connect a bank account as a linked account. Another user in your business (an approver) must approve it before the linked account is created.
Liquidity provider	The partner that carries out the currency exchange behind a conversion.
Lock (a rate)	Accepting an FX quote so the conversion goes ahead at that rate.
Major units, minor units	Major units are whole currency units (naira, dollars). Minor units are their hundredths (kobo, pesewas, cents). The API uses major units: `1500.50` NGN means ₦1,500.50.
Maker-checker	A control where one person (the maker) starts an action and another (the checker, or approver) approves it.
Mandate	A signed instruction from you to your bank about how your account may be used. Some banks ask for one before an account can be linked.
MT940	A standard SWIFT format for bank statements.
Multi-Bank Connector	Multigate's product for working with the bank accounts you already hold: their balances, statements and payments through one API. In the API these are linked accounts.
Name enquiry	Asking the beneficiary's bank for the name on an account before paying it.
Narration	The short description that appears on a payment in bank statements. Your transfer `reference` becomes the narration.
NIP	NIBSS Instant Payment: Nigeria's instant interbank transfer system.
NUBAN	Nigeria Uniform Bank Account Number: Nigeria's 10-digit bank account number format.
Payment method (rail)	The payment network a payout travels on, for example NIP, RTGS, SWIFT or SEPA. Multigate picks one unless you set `paymentMethod`.
Payout (transfer)	Money sent from your account to a beneficiary.
Post-funded / pre-funded	Whether your account must hold the money before a conversion (pre-funded) or can pay for it afterwards (post-funded, by agreement).
Purpose code	A short code that states why a payment is made, for example `SAL` for a salary payment. Used in bulk payout files.
Quote	An exchange rate offered for a conversion. It is valid for a short time, until its `endTime`.
Receivable	Money a customer owes you on an invoice. Multigate can open a dedicated account per invoice to collect it.
Reconciliation	Matching your records against Multigate's statements so every amount is accounted for.
Refund	Sending money back to someone who paid you.
Remittance	Money a person sends to someone in another country, usually through an IMTO.
Reversal	Putting money back into your account after a payout or fee that was debited has failed. It shows on statements as a credit.
RMA	Relationship Management Application: a SWIFT setting that lets two banks exchange messages. Needed before a SWIFT account can be linked.
RTGS	Real-time gross settlement: a high-value bank transfer system.
SEPA	Single Euro Payments Area: the network for euro bank transfers in Europe.
Settlement	The point where money actually moves between accounts or banks, for example the debit that pays for a conversion.
Split transfer	A large NGN payout that Multigate sends as several smaller payments because it is above the per-payment limit. Each part has its own IDs and webhook.
SWIFT	The international network banks use to send payments abroad.
UEMOA	The West African Economic and Monetary Union. Its member countries use the CFA franc (XOF).
Virtual account (`viban`)	A real bank account number at a partner bank that credits your wallet. Payers send money to it. You can't pay out from it.
Wallet	An account that holds a balance in one currency on the Multigate ledger, for you or a customer.

API and integration terms

Term	Meaning
Account ID (`accountId`)	The ID of a wallet or linked account, from List accounts. Different from its account number.
API key	The secret your software sends on every request in the `mp-api-key` header (`mgk_live_…` in production, `mgk_sandbox_…` in the sandbox). It acts as one API user, doesn't expire, and is generated and revoked in the dashboard. Your business can have 2 active keys.
API user	An account for your software, separate from the people who use the dashboard. It has its own permissions. Your API keys act as it.
Base URL	The address every API path is added to: `https://api-gateway-uat.mmacs.io/platform` in the sandbox. The docs write it as `MG_BASE_URL`.
Client ID	Your business's ID on Multigate (`currentAuthenticatedClientId` from Get the current user).
Client key / client secret	Shown in the dashboard as the public key and secret key. The secret signs your webhooks.
Dashboard	Multigate's web app for your team: uat.multigate.app (sandbox) and multigate.app (production).
Final status	A status that never changes again, such as `completed` or `failed` for a transfer.
HMAC-SHA256	A way to sign a message with a shared secret, so the receiver can check it wasn't changed. Multigate signs webhooks this way with your client secret.
Idempotency	Making a request safe to repeat: sending it twice has the same effect as sending it once.
`Idempotency-Key` header	A header on every webhook delivery. It stays the same on retries of that delivery, so you can ignore duplicates.
Idempotency key (`uniqueRequestId`)	A unique ID you send with a money-moving request, so a retry is recognised and never executed twice.
Idempotency-Key (webhook header)	The ID of one webhook delivery. It's the same on every retry, so you can ignore duplicates. Not the same thing as `uniqueRequestId`.
IP allow-list	The list of server addresses allowed to use your business's API credentials. Requests with your API key from other addresses are refused on every service: `403` from the user service, `401` from the others. The dashboard calls it IP Whitelist.
ISO 4217, ISO 3166, ISO 8601	Standard formats: three-letter currency codes (`NGN`, `USD`), three-letter country codes (`NGA`, `GBR`), and dates and times (`2026-10-10T09:30:00Z`).
`onBehalfOf`	The field that holds a customer's ID when you act for that customer. Leave it out to act for your own business.
Pagination	Getting a long list in pages. See Pagination.
Permission	A right given to a user through its roles, such as `can_initiate_payment`. Requests without it are refused.
Polling	Asking the API for an object's status at intervals, as a backup when a webhook doesn't arrive.
Reference ID	An ID in some error responses. Give it to Multigate support so they can find the error.
Sandbox	The test environment. Same API as production, with simulated banks. No real money moves.
Transaction ID (`transactionId`)	Multigate's own ID for a transfer (`PMT-…`). Store it with your `uniqueRequestId`.
Tunnel	A tool that gives a program on your laptop a public HTTPS address, so Multigate's webhooks can reach it while you test.
Webhook	An HTTPS request Multigate sends to your server when something happens, such as a transfer completing.

Trade finance terms

Term	Meaning
Advise	Accept an export LC or inward guarantee into your records after checking it. The bank has already issued it, so nothing is sent to the bank.
Advising bank	The bank that passes an LC or guarantee on to the beneficiary and checks it's genuine.
Ageing	For a guarantee: the number of days left until it expires, counting the latest extension.
Amendment	A change to an LC's or guarantee's terms, agreed through the banks over SWIFT (MT707 for LCs, MT767 for guarantees).
Applicant	The party that asks its bank to issue an LC or guarantee: the buyer of an import LC, or your business for an outward guarantee.
Claim (invocation)	The beneficiary's demand for payment under a guarantee.
Discharge	Release of all or part of a guarantee, reducing its value.
Export letter of credit	An LC issued in your favour (you're the seller). It arrives from your bank and you advise it.
Extension	A later expiry date agreed for a guarantee.
Guarantee	A bank's promise to pay a beneficiary if the applicant doesn't perform (also bank guarantee or demand guarantee).
Import letter of credit	An LC you apply for (you're the buyer). Multigate sends your application to your bank once it's approved.
Instrument	Multigate's working record of one LC or guarantee: the bank's terms plus the fields your team adds.
Instrument update	A change to Multigate's record of an issued import LC or outward guarantee that isn't sent to the bank. Approved by a second person.
Internal instrument reference	Your own reference for an instrument. Must be unique.
Inward guarantee	A guarantee issued in your favour (you're the beneficiary). It arrives from your bank and you advise it.
Issuing bank	The bank that issues an LC or guarantee and makes the promise to pay.
Letter of credit (LC)	A bank's promise to pay a seller once the seller presents the documents the LC asks for.
Maker-checker (trade finance)	A maker (manage permission) prepares a record or change; a checker (approve permission) approves or declines it.
MT700, MT707, MT760, MT767	SWIFT messages banks use to issue an LC (MT700), amend it (MT707), issue a guarantee (MT760) and amend it (MT767).
Outward guarantee	A guarantee you apply for (you're the applicant). Multigate sends your application to your bank once it's approved.
Stage	A grouping of trade finance statuses: `open` (still live), `closed` (settled, expired, claimed, discharged) or `cancelled` (rejected).
Undertaking number	The bank's reference for a guarantee.
Update request	A change to the fields your team owns on an advised export LC or inward guarantee, approved by a second person. Never sent to the bank.