Definition of e-commerce (electronic commerce)

e-commerce (electronic commerce)

any business activity that uses the Internet and World Wide Web to engage in financial transactions

Electronic data interchange (EDI)

The exchange of information electronically, directly from one firm's
computer to another firm's computer, in a structured format.

Electronic depository transfers

The transfer of funds between bank accounts through the Automated
Clearing House (ACH) system.

Preauthorized electronic debits (PADs)

Debits to its bank account in advance by the payer. The payer's
bank sends payment to the payee's bank through the _ACH)Automated Clearing House (ACH) system.

electronic data interchange (EDI)

the computer-to-computer transfer of information in virtual real time using standardized formats developed by the American National Standards Institute

Electronic Federal Tax Payment Systems (EFTPS)

An electronic funds transfer system used by businesses to remit taxes to the government.

EFT (electronic funds transfer)

Funds which are electronically credited to your account (e.g. direct deposit), or electronically debited from your account on an ongoing basis (e.g. a pre-authorized monthly bill payment, or a monthly loan or mortgage payment). A wire transfer is a form of EFT.

Best-interests-of-creditors test

The requirement that a claim holder voting against a plan of reorganization
must receive at least as much as he would have if the debtor were liquidated.

Comparative credit analysis

A method of analysis in which a firm is compared to others that have a desired
target debt rating in order to infer an appropriate financial ratio target.

Consumer credit

Credit granted by a firm to consumers for the purchase of goods or services. Also called
retail credit.

Credible signal

A signal that provides accurate information; a signal that can be distinguish among senders.

Credit

Money loaned.

Credit analysis

The process of analyzing information on companies and bond issues in order to estimate the
ability of the issuer to live up to its future contractual obligations. Related: default risk

Credit enhancement

Purchase of the financial guarantee of a large insurance company to raise funds.

Credit period

The length of time for which the customer is granted credit.

Credit risk

The risk that an issuer of debt securities or a borrower may default on his obligations, or that the
payment may not be made on a negotiable instrument. Related: Default risk

Credit scoring

A statistical technique wherein several financial characteristics are combined to form a single
score to represent a customer's creditworthiness.

Credit spread

Related:Quality spread

Crediting rate

The interest rate offered on an investment type insurance policy.

Creditor

Lender of money.

Dedicated capital

Total par value (number of shares issued, multiplied by the par value of each share). Also
called dedicated value.

Dedication strategy

Refers to multi-period cash flow matching.

Dedicating a portfolio

Related: cash flow matching.

Demand line of credit

A bank line of credit that enables a customer to borrow on a daily or on-demand basis.

Depository transfer check (DTC)

Check made out directly by a local bank to a particular firm or person.

Depository Trust Company (DTC)

DTC is a user-owned securities depository which accepts deposits of
eligible securities for custody, executes book-entry deliveries and records book-entry pledges of securities in
its custody, and provides for withdrawals of securities from its custody.

Disintermediation

Withdrawal of funds from a financial institution in order to invest them directly.

Eurocredits

Intermediate-term loans of Eurocurrencies made by banking syndicates to corporate and
government borrowers.

Euro-medium term note (Euro-MTN)

A non-underwritten Euronote issued directly to the market. Euro-
MTNs are offered continuously rather than all at once as a bond issue is. Most Euro-MTN maturities are
under five years.

Evergreen credit

Revolving credit without maturity.

Federal credit agencies

Agencies of the federal government set up to supply credit to various classes of
institutions and individuals, e.g. S&Ls, small business firms, students, farmers, and exporters.

Financial intermediaries

Institutions that provide the market function of matching borrowers and lenders or
traders.

Five Cs of credit

Five characteristics that are used to form a judgement about a customer's creditworthiness:
character, capacity, capital, collateral, and conditions.

Foreign tax credit

Home country credit against domestic income tax for foreign taxes paid on foreign
derived earnings.

Full faith-and-credit obligations

The security pledges for larger municipal bond issuers, such as states and
large cities which have diverse funding sources.

Immediate settlement

Delivery and settlement of securities within five business days.

Intermediate-term

Typically 1-10 years.

Intermediation

Investment through a financial institution. Related: disintermediation.

International Depository Receipt (IDR)

A receipt issued by a bank as evidence of ownership of one or more
shares of the underlying stock of a foreign corporation that the bank holds in trust. The advantage of the IDR
structure is that the corporation does not have to comply with all the regulatory issuing requirements of the
foreign country where the stock is to be traded. The U.S. version of the IDR is the American depository
Receipt (ADR).

Investment tax credit

Proportion of new capital investment that can be used to reduce a company's tax bill
(abolished in 1986).

Letter of credit (L/C)

A form of guarantee of payment issued by a bank used to guarantee the payment of
interest and repayment of principal on bond issues.

Line of credit

An informal arrangement between a bank and a customer establishing a maximum loan
balance that the bank will permit the borrower to maintain.

Line of credit

An informal arrangement between a bank and a customer establishing a maximum loan
balance that the bank will permit the borrower to maintain.

MBS Depository

A book-entry depository for GNMA securities. The depository was initially operated by
MBSCC and is currently in the process of becoming a separately incorporated, participant-owned, limitedpurpose
trust company organized under the State of New York Banking Law.

Medium-term note

A corporate debt instrument that is continuously offered to investors over a period of
time by an agent of the issuer. Investors can select from the following maturity bands: 9 months to 1 year,
more than 1 year to 18 months, more than 18 months to 2 years, etc., up to 30 years.

Official unrequited transfers

Include a variety of subsidies, military aid, voluntary cancellation of debt,
contributions to international organizations, indemnities imposed under peace treaties, technical assistance,
taxes, fines, etc.

Private unrequited transfers

Refers to resident immigrant workers' remittances to their country of origin as
well as gifts, dowries, inheritances, prizes, charitable contributions, etc.

Retail credit

Credit granted by a firm to consumers for the purchase of goods or services.
See: consumer credit.

Revolving credit agreement

A legal commitment wherein a bank promises to lend a customer up to a
specified maximum amount during a specified period.

Revolving line of credit

A bank line of credit on which the customer pays a commitment fee and can take
down and repay funds according to his needs. Normally the line involves a firm commitment from the bank
for a period of several years.

Synchronous data

data available at the same time. In testing option-pricing models, the price of the option
and of the underlying should be synchronous, representing the same moment in the market.

Trade credit

Credit granted by a firm to another firm for the purchase of goods or services.

Unbiased predictor

A theory that spot prices at some future date will be equal to today's forward rates.

Unilateral transfers

Items in the current account of the balance of payments of a country's accounting books
that corresponds to gifts from foreigners or pension payments to foreign residents who once worked in the
country whose balance of payments is being considered.

Credit

Buying or selling goods or services now with the intention of payment following at some time in
the future (as opposed to buying or selling goods or services for cash).

Creditors

Purchases of goods or services from suppliers on credit to whom the debt is not yet paid. Or a
term used in the Balance Sheet to denote current liabilities.

Credit

One side of a journal entry, usually depicted as the right side.

data

bits of knowledge or facts that have not been summarized
or categorized in a manner useful to a decision maker

data mining

a form of analysis in which statistical techniques
are used to uncover answers to important questions about
business operations

predictor

an activity measure that, when changed, is accompanied
by consistent, observable changes in another item

credit analysis

Procedure to determine the likelihood a customer will pay its bills.

credit policy

Standards set to determine the amount and nature of credit to extend to customers.

financial intermediary

Firm that raises money from many small investors and provides financing to businesses or other
organizations by investing in their securities.

line of credit

Agreement by a bank that a company may borrow at any time up to an established limit.

Credit Crunch

A decline in the ability or willingness of banks to lend.

Credit Rationing

Restriction of loans by lenders so that not all borrowers willing to pay the current interest rate are able to obtain loans.

Financial Intermediary

Any institution, such as a bank, that takes deposits from savers and loans them to borrowers.

Financial Intermediation

The process whereby financial intermediaries channel funds from lender/savers to borrower/spenders.

Intermediate Good

A good used in producing another good.

Investment Tax Credit

A reduction in taxes offered to firms to induce them to increase investment spending.

Medium of Exchange

Any item that can be commonly exchanged for goods and services.

Consumer Credit Protection Act

A federal Act specifying the proportion of
total pay that may be garnished.

Family and Medical Leave Act

A federal Act containing the rules for offering
health insurance to employees who are on leave.

Expedite

To artificially accelerate an order ahead of its regularly scheduled
counterparts.

Creditor Proof Protection

The creditor proof status of such things as life insurance, non-registered life insurance investments, life insurance RRSPs and life insurance RRIFs make these attractive products for high net worth individuals, professionals and business owners who may have creditor concerns. Under most circumstances the creditor proof rules of the different provincial insurance acts take priority over the federal bankruptcy rules.
The provincial insurance acts protect life insurance products which have a family class beneficiary. Family class beneficiaries include the spouse, parent, child or grandchild of the life insured, except in Quebec, where creditor protection rules apply to spouse, ascendants and descendants of the insured. Investments sold by other financial institutions do not offer the same security should the holder go bankrupt. There are also circumstances under which the creditor proof protections do not hold for life insurance products. Federal bankruptcy law disallows the protection for any transfers made within one year of bankruptcy. In addition, should it be found that a person shifted money to an insurance company fund in bad faith for the specific purpose of avoiding creditors, these funds will not be creditor proof.

Medical Information Bureau

This organization was established in 1902. The Medical Information Bureau (M.I.B.) is a non-profit association of life insurance companies. Its purpose is to detect and deter fraud by providing warnings called, alerts, to member companies. For example, if an insurance applicant advised one insurance company of a heart attack and then applied to another insurance company omitting this history, codes, reported by the first insurance company, indicating a heart attack would alert the second insurance company to the undisclosed history. It is a rarity, however, that the alert is the only notice of a specific medical impairement as most applicants completely disclose their history.

Non-Medical Limit

This is the maximum value of a policy that an insurance company will issue without the applicant taking a medical examination, although medical questions are invariably asked during the application process. When a non-medical issue is made through group insurance, in most cases, medical data is not requested at all.

Credit

A rating of a company's credit (ability to payback debt), usually by a third party credit agency.

Credit Loss

A loan receivable that has proven uncollectible and is written off.

Credit Risk

Financial and moral risk that an obligation will not be paid and a loss will result.

Credit Terms

Conditions under which credit is extended by a lender to a borrower.

Credit Union

Credit unions are community based financial co-operatives and most offer a full range of services. All are owned and controlled by members who are also shareholders. Credit unions are regulated provincially and insured by a stabilization fund, deposit insurance or guarantee corporation.
Credit unions are supported by a system of provincial credit union Centrals, a national credit union Central and affiliated national financial co-operatives.

Creditor

Person or business that is owed money.

Export Credit Insurance

The granting of insurance to cover the commercial and political risks of selling in foreign markets.

Formalized Line of Credit

A contractual commitment to make loans to a particular borrower up to a specified maximum during a specified period, usually one year.

Full Credit Period

The period of trade credit given by a supplier to its customer.

Intermediary

An independent third party that may act as a mediator during negotiations.

Letters of Credit

A letter of credit is a guarantee of payment by a bank (issuing institution)to a third party for a specific amount of money, if certain conditions are met.

Line of Credit

An agreement negotiated between a borrower and a lender which establishes the maximum amount against which a borrower may draw. The agreement also sets out other conditions, such as how and when money borrowed against the line of credit is to be repaid.

Operating Line of Credit

A bank's commitment to make loans to a particular borrower up to a specified maximum for a specified period, usually one year.

Revolving Credit

Line of Credit against which funds may be borrowed at any time, with regular scheduled repayments of a predetermined minimum amount.

Supplier Credit

Period of delay allowed by a firm's supplier to pay its invoices. Frequently, the terms are : 2% discount on invoice if paid in 10 days or net if paid in 30 days.

credit

On your bank statement, 'credit' represents funds that you have deposited into your account. The opposite of a credit is a debit.
However, ‘credit’ also means money that you borrow from a financial lender, like a bank. A credit card, for example, is a card that allows you to access funds which you then have to repay.

credit bureau

An organization that provides financial institutions with credit information concerning existing or potential customers who are looking to obtain credit services.

credit card

A revolving source of credit with a pre-established limit. You have to pay interest on a credit card if you have an outstanding balance.

credit memo

A record of the funds which have been credited to your account.

line of credit

A revolving source of credit with a pre-established limit. You access the funds only as you need them, and any amount that you pay back becomes accessible to you again. Unlike a personal loan, a line of credit permits you to write cheques and make bank machine withdrawals, and requires you to pay interest only on the funds that you actually use.

personal line of credit (PLC)

A revolving source of credit with a pre-established limit. You access the funds only as you need them, and any amount that you pay back becomes accessible to you again. Unlike a personal loan, a PLC permits you to write cheques and make bank machine withdrawals, and requires you to pay interest only on the funds that you actually use.

secured loan or line of credit

A lump sum of funds (loan), or a revolving source of credit with a pre-established limit (line of credit), for which the customer must provide collateral.

Accidental Dismemberment: (Credit Insurance)

Provides additional financial security should an insured person be dismembered or lose the use of a limb as the result of an accident.

Amortization (Credit Insurance)

Refers to the reduction of debt by regular payments of interest and principal in order to pay off a loan by maturity.

Beneficiary (Credit Insurance)

The person or party designated to receive proceeds entitled by a benefit. Payment of a benefit is triggered by an event. In the case of credit insurance, the beneficiary will always be the creditor.

Borrower (Credit Insurance)

A consumer who borrows money from a lender.

Commercial Business Loan (Credit Insurance)

An agreement between a creditor and a borrower, where the creditor has loaned an amount to the borrower for business purposes.

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