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The number that proves it is you at a terminal or a cash machine. It is checked against the card itself, not looked up by the shop, which is why nobody behind the counter can tell you what it is.
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Explain it like a bankFlips every card at once
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Brazil's instant payment system, free for individuals and available around the clock. It went from launch to near-universal in a few years.
What you already know this as
An instant payment scheme run by the central bank itself rather than by the banks.
Points
also called rewards pointsA balance that is not money but converts into something later: a discount, a token, a fee rebate. In crypto they are often used to hint at a future airdrop without ever promising one.
What you already know this as
Airline miles or supermarket points. A currency the issuer controls, can devalue, and can retire whenever it likes.
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A network that runs alongside Ethereum to make transfers fast and cheap. Widely used for stablecoin payments because moving money on it costs a fraction of a cent.
What you already know this as
A low-value payment rail, used precisely because putting small payments through the main settlement system would cost more than the payments are worth.
In Kite: One of the networks you can top up from, with either USDC or USDT.
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The secret number that proves a wallet is yours and signs every transaction. Anyone who has it owns the money. It is never typed into a website, ever.
What you already know this as
Not your PIN. The actual key to the safety deposit box, where a copy is as good as the original.
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Thailand's national instant transfer and QR standard, linked to a phone number or ID number and accepted almost everywhere, including markets and taxis.
What you already know this as
A domestic instant payment scheme with a single national QR standard on top.
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A recent bill or statement showing where you live, used to finish an identity check. Where you legally reside usually decides what a service is allowed to offer you.
What you already know this as
The utility bill every bank has asked for since long before crypto existed.
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The rules a system runs on, usually as published code. In crypto the protocol is the institution, which is why people say 'the protocol decides'.
What you already know this as
Card scheme rules. Visa's rulebook governs a payment far more directly than your bank's opinion does.
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The shareable half of the pair, which your wallet address is derived from. Safe to post anywhere. It lets people send to you and lets anyone verify your signatures.
What you already know this as
Your account number and sort code. You give it out precisely so people can pay you.
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The Philippines' national QR standard, which made one code work across banks and e-wallets instead of a different sticker for each provider.
What you already know this as
An interoperability mandate. One code, every provider, by regulation.
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Indonesia's single national QR standard. One code on the counter that every Indonesian payment app can read, which is why the stickers stopped multiplying.
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A reward for bringing in another user, usually paid to both sides once the new one has done something specific like finishing verification or making a first top-up.
What you already know this as
Refer a friend, with the same conditions buried in the same small print.
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A merchant sending money back for something you bought. It travels the card rails forwards, not backwards, which is why it takes days: it is a new payment rather than an undo.
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Money sent home to family across a border. The traditional route loses value twice, once to the transfer fee and again to a quietly unfavourable exchange rate.
What you already know this as
The same word, the same money, the same families. Only the rails change.
In Kite: Someone sends you USDC or USDT and it lands as spendable dollars in your wallet, ready to tap on your card.
Reserves
also called backing, attestationThe real world assets an issuer holds so every token can be redeemed for a dollar. Reputable issuers publish what those assets are and have an accounting firm confirm it, usually monthly.
What you already know this as
The capital and liquidity a bank has to hold against deposits, and the audit that proves it.
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The dominant Layer 2 design. Thousands of transactions are compressed into one entry on the base chain, so each user pays a fraction of the settlement cost.
What you already know this as
A processor batching a day of card transactions and settling them to the network once.
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The internet address an app uses to talk to a blockchain. When a wallet says the network is unavailable, this is usually what it means.
What you already know this as
An API gateway into a bank's core or a card network's switch.
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The people behind a project drain the funds and vanish. Almost always a brand new token with anonymous founders and a return that could not possibly be real.
What you already know this as
An exit scam, or a Ponzi collapse. The vehicle is new, the con is not.
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The rule that a payment firm must keep customer money separate from its own, in accounts it cannot spend from, so balances survive the company failing.
What you already know this as
Client money rules. The reason a regulated balance is not simply an IOU from a company you hope stays solvent.
Sanctions screening
also called blacklist, blocked addressesChecking counterparties and wallet addresses against government lists before letting value move. Stablecoin issuers can and do freeze listed addresses.
What you already know this as
Screening against OFAC and equivalent lists, which every bank does on every payment.
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Paying a local merchant by scanning their existing QR code, in their currency, from a stablecoin balance. The merchant receives their own local money and does not need to know anything about crypto.
What you already know this as
Using a foreign wallet at a domestic QR terminal, which is exactly the thing travellers normally cannot do, because those national schemes link to each other rather than to visitors.
In Kite: This is ours. Scan, review the exact amount, slide to pay. It draws directly from your balance, so there is nothing to top up and nothing stranded when you fly home.
Seed phrase
also called recovery phrase, mnemonic, backup phraseTwelve or twenty-four ordinary words that regenerate your entire wallet on any device. Written down, it is the best backup there is. Photographed or typed into a support chat, it is the fastest way to lose everything.
What you already know this as
A master key that reopens your vault at any branch in the world, combined with your password reset codes. No bank would ever ask you to read one aloud.
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Anyone asking for your recovery words, for any reason. Support does not need them, wallet migrations do not need them, giveaways are not real. The request itself is the attack.
What you already know this as
No bank has ever needed your full password read aloud. The rule transfers exactly.
Self-custody
also called non-custodial, self custodialYou hold the keys, so no company can freeze, lend out or lose your money. The other side of that deal is that nobody can reverse your mistakes either.
What you already know this as
Keeping your savings as banknotes in a home safe rather than in a bank. Total control, total responsibility, and no manager to call.
In Kite: Kite is non-custodial. Your keys are yours, and you can export them at any time.
Showing 121 to 144 of 197 terms