RTGS Reference: Complete Acronyms and Abbreviations Guide

1. 1 Payment Systems & Financial Institutions
2. 2 Standards Organizations & Messaging
3. 3 ISO 20022 Message Elements
4. 4 Data Formats & Technologies
5. 5 Security & Cryptography
6. 6 Network Security
7. 7 High Availability & Performance
8. 8 Infrastructure & Operations
9. 9 Regulations & Compliance
10. 10 General IT & Architecture

This reference guide consolidates all acronyms and abbreviations used throughout the RTGS (Real-Time Gross Settlement) series. Use this as a quick lookup when reading the other articles.

1 Payment Systems & Financial Institutions

Acronym	Full Name	Description
RTGS	Real-Time Gross Settlement	System for immediate settlement of individual transactions
ACH	Automated Clearing House	US electronic network for processing financial transactions
DNS	Deferred Net Settlement	System that settles transactions in batches at intervals
FX	Foreign Exchange	Trading of currencies between nations
CLS	Continuous Linked Settlement	Multi-currency cash settlement system for FX transactions
DTC	Depository Trust Company	US securities depository and clearinghouse
ECB	European Central Bank	Central bank for the Eurozone
PBOC	People’s Bank of China	Central bank of the People’s Republic of China
CHAPS	Clearing House Automated Payment System	UK same-day sterling payment system
Fedwire	Federal Reserve Wire Network	US real-time gross settlement funds transfer system
TARGET2	Trans-European Automated Real-time Gross settlement Express Transfer system	Eurozone RTGS system
BOJ-NET	Bank of Japan Financial Network Network	Japanese RTGS system
CNAPS	China National Advanced Payment System	Chinese payment system including HVPS (RTGS)
RITS	Reserve Bank Information and Transfer System	Australian RTGS system
LVTS	Large Value Transfer System	Canadian RTGS system (now replaced by Lynx)
SIC	Swiss Interbank Clearing	Swiss RTGS system
SEPA	Single Euro Payments Area	EU payment integration initiative
FPS	Faster Payments Service	UK instant payment system

2 Standards Organizations & Messaging

Acronym	Full Name	Description
ISO	International Organization for Standardization	Develops international standards including ISO 20022
SWIFT	Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication	Global messaging network for financial institutions
BIC	Bank Identifier Code	Standard format for identifying banks (also called SWIFT code)
IBAN	International Bank Account Number	International standard for identifying bank accounts
ISO 20022	ISO Standard 20022	International standard for financial services messaging
pacs	Payments Clearing and Settlement	ISO 20022 message category for payments
FIToFI	Financial Institution to Financial Institution	Messages between banks
CstmrCdtTrf	Customer Credit Transfer	Customer payment message type
MT	Message Type	SWIFT’s legacy message format (e.g., MT103, MT202)
UML	Unified Modeling Language	Standard modeling language used in ISO 20022
XSD	XML Schema Definition	Schema language for validating XML messages

3 ISO 20022 Message Elements

Acronym/Code	Full Name	Description
pacs.008	Payment Clearing and Settlement - Customer Credit Transfer	Message for customer payments
pacs.009	Payment Clearing and Settlement - Financial Institution Transfer	Message for bank-to-bank transfers
pacs.002	Payment Clearing and Settlement - Payment Status Report	Message for payment status
pacs.004	Payment Clearing and Settlement - Return/Payment Cancellation	Message for returns and cancellations
PmtId	Payment Identification	Unique identifier for payments
UltmtDbtr	Ultimate Debtor	Original payer in a transaction
UltmtCdtr	Ultimate Creditor	Final recipient of funds
RmtInf	Remittance Information	Payment reference/details
IntrBkSttlmAmt	Interbank Settlement Amount	Settlement amount in interbank transactions
IntrBkSttlmDt	Interbank Settlement Date	Date of interbank settlement
DbtrAgt	Debtor Agent	Bank representing the payer
CdtrAgt	Creditor Agent	Bank representing the payee
ACSC	Accepted Settlement Completed	Payment status code for successful settlement
ACCP	Accepted Customer Profile	Payment status code for customer validated
ACSP	Accepted Settlement in Process	Payment status code for being processed
RJCT	Rejected	Payment status code for rejected payments
PDNG	Pending	Payment status code for awaiting processing
ACTC	Accepted Technical Validation	Payment status code for technically valid

4 Data Formats & Technologies

Acronym	Full Name	Description
XML	Extensible Markup Language	Markup language for encoding documents (used in ISO 20022)
JSON	JavaScript Object Notation	Lightweight data interchange format
API	Application Programming Interface	Interface for software components to communicate
SQL	Structured Query Language	Database query language
RDBMS	Relational Database Management System	Traditional relational database
CDC	Change Data Capture	Process of identifying and capturing data changes
IoT	Internet of Things	Network of physical devices with embedded connectivity

5 Security & Cryptography

Acronym	Full Name	Description
HSM	Hardware Security Module	Physical device for managing digital keys and cryptographic operations
PKI	Public Key Infrastructure	Framework for managing digital certificates and encryption
TLS	Transport Layer Security	Cryptographic protocol for secure communications
mTLS	Mutual TLS	TLS where both parties authenticate each other
IPSec	Internet Protocol Security	Suite of protocols for securing IP communications
VPN	Virtual Private Network	Secure tunnel over public networks
AES	Advanced Encryption Standard	Symmetric encryption algorithm
RSA	Rivest-Shamir-Adleman	Asymmetric encryption algorithm
ECC	Elliptic Curve Cryptography	Public-key cryptography approach
ECDSA	Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm	Digital signature algorithm
ECDH	Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman	Key agreement protocol
SHA	Secure Hash Algorithm	Cryptographic hash functions
FIPS	Federal Information Processing Standards	US government security standards
MFA	Multi-Factor Authentication	Authentication requiring multiple proofs

6 Network Security

Acronym	Full Name	Description
DDoS	Distributed Denial of Service	Attack that overwhelms systems with traffic
IDS	Intrusion Detection System	Monitors for malicious activity
IPS	Intrusion Prevention System	Blocks detected threats in real-time
VLAN	Virtual Local Area Network	Logically segmented network
SIEM	Security Information and Event Management	Real-time security monitoring
RBAC	Role-Based Access Control	Access control based on user roles
LDAP	Lightweight Directory Access Protocol	Protocol for accessing directory services

7 High Availability & Performance

Acronym	Full Name	Description
HA	High Availability	System design for minimal downtime
RTO	Recovery Time Objective	Maximum acceptable downtime after a failure
RPO	Recovery Point Objective	Maximum acceptable data loss measured in time
WRT	Work Recovery Time	Time to resume operations
MTD	Maximum Tolerable Downtime	Business impact threshold
MTBF	Mean Time Between Failures	Average time between system failures
MTTR	Mean Time To Repair	Average time to fix a failed system
MTTF	Mean Time To Failure	Average time until a system fails
SLA	Service Level Agreement	Contractual service commitment
SLO	Service Level Objective	Internal service target
TPS	Transactions Per Second	Measure of system throughput
P50	50th Percentile	Median response time (50% of requests faster)
P99	99th Percentile	99% of requests complete within this time
L1/L2/L3	Level 1/2/3 Cache	Cache hierarchy levels
Redis	Remote Dictionary Server	In-memory data structure store
Memcached	Memory Cached	Distributed memory caching system
DNS	Domain Name System	Translates domain names to IP addresses
VIP	Virtual IP Address	Shared IP for load balancing

8 Infrastructure & Operations

Acronym	Full Name	Description
DR	Disaster Recovery	Strategies and procedures for recovering from disasters
DC	Data Center	Facility housing computer systems and network infrastructure
ACID	Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability	Properties guaranteeing reliable database transactions

9 Regulations & Compliance

Acronym	Full Name	Description
GDPR	General Data Protection Regulation	EU data protection regulation
PSD2	Payment Services Directive 2	EU payment services regulation
SOX	Sarbanes-Oxley Act	US financial reporting regulation
PCI DSS	Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard	Card data security standard
ISO 27001	ISO Standard 27001	Information security management standard

10 General IT & Architecture

Acronym	Full Name	Description
CIA	Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability	Three pillars of information security
DR	Disaster Recovery	Strategies for recovering from disasters
DC	Data Center	Facility housing computer systems and network infrastructure