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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |