20 Banking & Technology Acronyms Explained
The financial industry has a lot of terminology to keep track of. At Alogent, we’ve published dozens of banking definitions, including many important acronyms. This blog article offers a quick summary for twenty banking and technology acronyms.
API
“Application Programming Interface” is technology that allows for a two-way exchange of information and is used to connect software together. For example, digital banking applications often rely on APIs to streamline customer or member access to data.
BSA
“Bank Secrecy Act”, officially known as The Currency and Foreign Transaction Act of 1970, places requirements on financial institutions to prevent and detect money laundering. Financial institutions commonly employ BSA Compliance Officers who are tasked with ensuring adherence.
BSA Compliance Officer overview
BNPL
“Buy Now Pay Later” allows people to buy items while deferring payments into the future. Payments are typically made in installments and are seen as an alternative to layaway plans and credit card usage.
CAR
“Courtesy Amount Recognition” is a process used by financial institutions, such as banks and credit unions, to facilitate the automated processing of checks by recognizing the numerical value of the check's amount.
Courtesy amount recognition overview
ECM
“Enterprise Content Management (ECM)” refers to the strategies, technologies, and tools used by financial institutions to capture, manage, store, preserve, and deliver content and documents throughout their lifecycle.
Enterprise Content Management overview
FDIC
“Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation” is an agency established in 1933 to help ensure public confidence and stability in the United States’ financial system. In addition to insuring depositors’ accounts, the FDIC offers a number of helpful resources. The FDIC BankFind Suite, for example, provides easy access to information about FDIC-insured institutions.
FFIEC
“Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council” was established in 1979 and creates guidelines to standardize federal audits of financial institutions.
ILM
“Information Lifecycle Management” describes the strategic management of information throughout its creation and acquisition, classification and categorization, usage and access, storage and archival, retention and disposal. Ensuring ongoing compliance and managing risk are key principles of ILM.
LAR [in relation to lending]
“Loan/Application Register” is a data file that financial institutions submit to their supervisory agencies as required by the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act. The FFIEC offers a free spreadsheet (the LAR Formatting Tool) to streamline data collection.
LAR [in relation to deposits]
“Legal Amount Recognition” refers to the process by which financial institutions, such as banks and credit unions, validate and process the legally recognized amount on a check.
Legal amount recognition overview
LOS
“Loan Origination System” is technology used by banks and credit unions to manage loan applications and generate necessary documentation.
MFA
“Multi-factor Authentication” is a security protocol used by software application developers to verify users’ identities. MFA has become increasingly important for avoiding account takeovers and fraud.
OFAC
“Office of Foreign Assets Control” is part of the U.S. Department of the Treasury and is focused on preventing bad actors from establishing accounts at American financial institutions. Banks and credit unions play an important role in ensuring account holders are not on an OFAC sanction list.
P2P
“Peer-to-Peer” payments involve the electronic transfer of funds between two or more entities, typically via digital platforms or mobile applications.
SSO
“Single Sign-On” is technology that connects applications together without the need to continually reauthenticate. SSO is commonly used to connect digital banking applications to third-party services, such as check ordering and bill pay providers.
SDK
“Software Development Kit” includes tools, libraries, sample code, and documentation to help software developers build applications. SDKs exist for specific mobile device operating systems, cloud service providers, and programming languages.
UCC
“Universal Commercial Code” filings enable a financial institution to indicate that a borrower’s assets are being utilized as collateral. UCC filings are typically generated when collateral without a title or deed (like inventory or crops) is used.
UI
“User Interface” refers to a software application’s functionality and visual appearance. Providing users with an intuitive UI is key to delivering a positive experience.
UX
“User Experience” describes someone’s overall experience with something, such as a software application or mobile application.
X9
“X9” generally refers to a standards committee whose focus is on check standards. X9 files have become important for banks and credit unions during Day 1 and Day 2 processing workflows.
Browse Additional Banking Terminology
Visit our definitions section for links to other important terminology or download our bankers' glossaries through the below links.
Download: Bankers' Glossary: Payments & Deposits Edition
Download: Bankers' Glossary: Digital Banking Edition
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