# 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](api:listAccounts). 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](api:getCurrentUser)). |
| **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](https://uat.multigate.app) (sandbox) and [multigate.app](https://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](../02-concepts/04-pagination.md). |
| **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. |