Inglés para Fintech: Vocabulario Esencial

"payment gateway"

A technology service that authorises and processes card and digital wallet payments between merchants and their customers' banks.

"The startup integrated a payment gateway to accept Visa, Mastercard, and Apple Pay at checkout within a single API call."

"instant payment"

A payment scheme that credits the recipient's account within seconds, available around the clock every day of the year.

"The neobank's instant payment feature allowed users to split restaurant bills in real time rather than chasing transfers the next morning."

"IBAN (International Bank Account Number)"

A standardised international code that uniquely identifies a bank account and enables cross-border transfers across participating countries.

"Customers must provide their IBAN and BIC to receive euro transfers from overseas correspondents."

"SWIFT GPI"

A modernisation of the SWIFT messaging network that provides end-to-end payment tracking and a near-real-time credit guarantee for cross-border wire transfers.

"Using SWIFT GPI, the corporate treasurer could track the $2 million supplier payment to the minute as it moved through three correspondent banks."

"merchant acquiring"

The service provided by a financial institution that enables merchants to accept and process card payments from cardholders.

"The fintech challenged the incumbents by offering merchant acquiring with same-day settlement and transparent flat-rate pricing."

"chargeback ratio"

The percentage of total transactions disputed by cardholders and reversed by the issuing bank, used as a key risk metric for merchants and acquirers.

"The platform's chargeback ratio exceeded 1%, triggering a compliance review by the card scheme and a potential fine."

"tokenisation"

The process of replacing sensitive payment credentials, such as a card number, with a unique digital token that can be used for transactions without exposing the original data.

"When a customer adds a card to their digital wallet, tokenisation replaces the 16-digit PAN with a device-specific token stored on the phone."

"settlement"

The final transfer of funds between the payer's and payee's banks to complete a payment transaction, which may occur in real time or at the end of a processing cycle.

"The fintech platform offered T+0 settlement to marketplace sellers, improving their liquidity compared with the industry-standard T+2."

"PSD2 (Payment Services Directive 2)"

A European regulation requiring banks to open their payment infrastructure and customer data to licensed third-party providers via secure APIs.

"Under PSD2, the high-street bank had to provide a dedicated API so that licensed fintechs could initiate payments on behalf of consenting customers."

"AISP (Account Information Service Provider)"

A regulated third party authorised under open banking rules to access a customer's account data from multiple banks and present it in an aggregated view.

"The personal finance app was licensed as an AISP, allowing it to pull transaction data from all of a user's current accounts into a single dashboard."

"PISP (Payment Initiation Service Provider)"

A regulated entity authorised to initiate a payment from a customer's bank account directly, bypassing card networks.

"The e-commerce checkout offered a PISP option that transferred funds directly from the buyer's bank at a lower cost than a debit card payment."

"strong customer authentication (SCA)"

A security requirement under PSD2 mandating that electronic payments be authenticated using at least two independent factors from the categories of knowledge, possession, and inherence.

"The mobile banking app enforced strong customer authentication by requiring both a fingerprint scan and a one-time PIN for payments over €30."

"consent management"

The processes and technology by which a customer grants, tracks, and revokes permission for a third party to access their financial data.

"The open banking platform's consent management dashboard showed users exactly which apps had access to their account data and allowed them to revoke access in one tap."

"RESTful API"

An application programming interface that follows the Representational State Transfer architectural style, using standard HTTP methods to enable communication between software systems.

"The bank published a RESTful API that developers could use to query account balances and initiate transfers with a simple POST request."

"sandbox environment"

An isolated test infrastructure provided by a bank or platform that allows developers to build and test integrations using simulated data without affecting live customer accounts.

"The fintech spent three weeks integrating in the bank's sandbox environment before requesting production API credentials."

"screen scraping"

A technique in which a third-party application logs into a customer's online banking portal using their credentials to collect data, now largely superseded by dedicated APIs under open banking rules.

"Regulators encouraged banks to publish open APIs precisely to eliminate the security risks associated with screen scraping."

"blockchain"

A distributed, immutable ledger in which transactions are grouped into cryptographically linked blocks and replicated across a network of nodes without a central authority.

"The supply chain startup recorded each shipment milestone on a blockchain so that all parties could verify provenance without trusting a single intermediary."

"smart contract"

Self-executing code deployed on a blockchain that automatically enforces the terms of an agreement when predefined conditions are met, without requiring a trusted third party.

"The crowdfunding platform used a smart contract to release funds to the project team only when the target amount had been raised and verified on-chain."

"DeFi (decentralised finance)"

A category of financial applications built on public blockchains that replicate banking and trading services — lending, borrowing, exchanging — without centralised intermediaries.

"By depositing USDC into a DeFi lending protocol, the user earned 5% annual interest without needing a bank account or credit check."

"liquidity pool"

A smart-contract-held reserve of two or more tokens that enables decentralised exchanges to facilitate trading, with liquidity providers earning fees in return for their deposits.

"She deposited equal values of ETH and DAI into a liquidity pool on the DEX, earning a share of the 0.3% fee on every swap."

"stablecoin"

A cryptocurrency designed to maintain a stable value relative to a reference asset, typically the US dollar, through collateral backing, algorithmic mechanisms, or both.

"The remittance startup used USDC, a fiat-backed stablecoin, to move value across borders instantly before converting to local currency at the destination."

"non-fungible token (NFT)"

A unique digital asset recorded on a blockchain that certifies ownership of a specific item — such as digital art, music, or in-game assets — and cannot be replicated or exchanged on a one-to-one basis.

"The auction house sold the artist's digital collection as NFTs, with each token providing the buyer with a verifiable, on-chain certificate of ownership."

"proof of stake (PoS)"

A blockchain consensus mechanism in which validators are chosen to create new blocks in proportion to the amount of cryptocurrency they have staked as collateral, using far less energy than proof of work.

"Ethereum's switch to proof of stake in 2022 reduced its energy consumption by an estimated 99.95%, addressing a major criticism of the network."

"gas fee"

The transaction cost paid to validators on a proof-of-work or proof-of-stake blockchain to compensate for the computation required to process and record a transaction.

"During periods of high network congestion, Ethereum gas fees spiked to over $50 per transaction, making small DeFi trades uneconomical."

"credit scoring model"

An algorithm that assigns a numerical score to a borrower based on financial history and other data, predicting the likelihood that they will repay a loan.

"The fintech lender built a proprietary credit scoring model that incorporated utility payment history to assess thin-file applicants rejected by traditional banks."

"buy now, pay later (BNPL)"

A short-term credit product integrated into e-commerce checkouts that allows consumers to receive goods immediately and pay in instalments, typically interest-free if settled on time.

"BNPL adoption surged as retailers found that offering a buy now, pay later option at checkout increased average order values by 20–30%."

"peer-to-peer (P2P) lending"

A lending model in which individuals or institutional investors fund loans directly to borrowers through an online platform, bypassing traditional banks.

"The small business raised £80,000 through a P2P lending platform at a competitive rate, faster than a traditional bank application would have allowed."

"alternative data"

Non-traditional information sources — such as rental payment history, social media activity, or e-commerce sales data — used to assess creditworthiness when conventional bureau data is limited.

"The fintech used alternative data from a borrower's bank transaction history to approve a loan for a gig worker with no formal payslips."

"loan origination system (LOS)"

A software platform that automates and manages the end-to-end process of receiving, verifying, underwriting, and approving loan applications.

"After deploying a cloud-based loan origination system, the lender reduced its average application-to-approval time from five days to four hours."

"embedded finance"

The integration of financial products — such as loans, insurance, or payments — directly into the customer experience of a non-financial platform or app.

"The ride-hailing app used embedded finance to offer instant micro-loans to drivers who needed to cover vehicle repairs without visiting a bank."

"debt-to-income ratio (DTI)"

A measure of a borrower's monthly debt obligations as a percentage of their gross monthly income, used to assess repayment capacity.

"The underwriting policy set a maximum debt-to-income ratio of 40%, automatically declining applications where repayments would exceed that threshold."

"loss given default (LGD)"

The estimated percentage of a loan that a lender expects to lose if a borrower defaults, after recovering collateral or other assets.

"Secured personal loans had a lower loss given default than unsecured products because the vehicle used as collateral could be repossessed and sold."

"e-KYC (electronic Know Your Customer)"

The automated digital process of verifying a customer's identity using technology such as document scanning, biometric matching, and database checks, replacing manual paper-based verification.

"The neobank's e-KYC flow verified new customers in under three minutes by scanning their passport and running a live selfie check against the photo."

"AML transaction monitoring"

Automated software that analyses customer transactions in real time or in batches to detect patterns indicative of money laundering or financial crime, generating alerts for compliance review.

"The AML transaction monitoring system flagged a series of rapid small deposits followed by a single large withdrawal as a structuring pattern requiring investigation."

"sanctions screening"

The process of checking customers, counterparties, and transactions against official lists of sanctioned individuals, entities, and countries to prevent prohibited dealings.

"The payments platform ran sanctions screening on every new payee before processing the first transfer, using real-time feeds from OFAC and the UN."

"e-money institution (EMI)"

A type of regulated financial licence that allows a company to issue electronic money and provide payment services without holding a full banking licence.

"The UK fintech operated as an e-money institution regulated by the FCA, which allowed it to hold customer funds in safeguarded accounts and issue prepaid cards."

"MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation)"

A European Union regulatory framework that establishes licensing, transparency, and consumer protection rules for crypto-asset issuers and service providers.

"Under MiCA, the crypto exchange had to publish a detailed white paper and obtain authorisation before offering stablecoin services to EU retail customers."

"passporting"

The right of a regulated financial firm authorised in one EU or EEA member state to operate across all other member states without needing a separate licence in each country.

"The Lithuanian EMI used passporting to offer payment accounts to customers across 27 EU countries from a single regulatory base."

"PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard)"

A set of security standards that any organisation handling card payment data must comply with to protect cardholder information and prevent fraud.

"Before going live, the fintech underwent a PCI DSS Level 1 audit to demonstrate that its card data environment met the required security controls."

"regulatory sandbox"

A controlled testing environment created by a financial regulator that allows fintech companies to trial innovative products under a relaxed regulatory framework before full authorisation.

"The FCA's regulatory sandbox accepted the startup's AI-powered insurance product, allowing it to test with real customers under supervised conditions for twelve months."

"unit economics"

The direct revenues and costs associated with a single customer or transaction, used to assess whether a business model is profitable and scalable at the individual unit level.

"Before its Series B, the fintech demonstrated strong unit economics: its customer acquisition cost was recovered within three months of a customer's first transaction."

"gross merchandise value (GMV)"

The total value of transactions processed through a platform over a given period, used as a top-line growth metric especially for payment and marketplace companies.

"The payments startup reported $4 billion in gross merchandise value during Q3, up 65% year-on-year, even though its net revenue was a fraction of that figure."

"monthly active users (MAU)"

The count of unique users who engage with a product at least once in a given calendar month, used as a core engagement and growth metric.

"The neobank crossed five million monthly active users within eighteen months of launch, helping it justify its Series C valuation to potential investors."

"take rate"

The percentage of each transaction's value that a platform retains as revenue, distinguishing its own income from the gross volume it facilitates.

"At a take rate of 1.2%, the lending marketplace earned $12 for every $1,000 loan it originated, making volume growth the central lever for profitability."

"CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost)"

The total average cost of acquiring one new customer, including all marketing, sales, and onboarding expenditure divided by the number of new customers in a given period.

"The fintech's viral referral programme cut its CAC from $45 to $18 within six months, dramatically improving the payback period on marketing investment."

"LTV (Lifetime Value)"

An estimate of the total net revenue a company expects to generate from a single customer over the entire duration of the relationship.

"The investor was satisfied that the neobank's LTV-to-CAC ratio of 4:1 demonstrated a viable and capital-efficient growth model."

"runway"

The length of time a startup can continue operating at its current burn rate before exhausting its existing cash reserves.

"With $6 million in the bank and a monthly burn of $400,000, the CFO calculated the company had fifteen months of runway to reach profitability or raise a new round."

"Series A / Series B / Series C"

Sequential rounds of institutional venture capital funding that a startup raises as it grows, with each series typically representing a larger amount at a higher valuation reflecting reduced risk and proven traction.

"After proving product-market fit with seed funding, the neobank closed a $25 million Series A led by a tier-one VC to fund its European expansion."