Part 11 — Reference
Glossary
This glossary is compiled from Parts 01-10. Each entry links to the page that explains the term in its operating context.
| Term | Meaning | Covered in depth |
|---|---|---|
| AA | Account Aggregator, the consent-based financial data sharing framework used to fetch bank and other financial information. | India Stack lending |
| ABB | Average bank balance, usually computed over a lookback period to test liquidity and EMI buffer. | Bank statement analysis |
| Account Aggregator | RBI-regulated consent manager/data rail for sharing financial information from FIPs to FIUs. | Ecosystem institutions |
| Adverse media | Negative public information, litigation or news signals used in fraud and risk screening. | Data vendors map |
| AGF | Annual Guarantee Fee payable for CGTMSE guarantee cover. | Guarantees, LC & schemes |
| ALCO | Asset-liability committee, the governance forum for funding, liquidity, interest-rate and maturity mismatch risk. | Pricing & ALM |
| ALM | Asset-liability management, the discipline of matching loan assets, borrowings, liquidity and rate risk. | Pricing & ALM |
| AML/CFT | Anti-money laundering and countering financing of terrorism controls. | KYC/AML |
| Anchor | Platform, buyer, manufacturer or ecosystem participant that provides borrower access and transaction data. | Embedded lending |
| Anchor financing | Credit program where a platform, buyer, manufacturer or distributor supplies transaction data, counterparty comfort or payment control to support lending to its dealers, suppliers or buyers. | B2B Commerce & Procurement Finance |
| Anchor-led finance | Lending where an anchor’s data or payment flow supports sourcing, underwriting or repayment control. | Embedded lending |
| ANBC | Adjusted Net Bank Credit, a base used in priority sector lending calculations. | PSL & guarantee schemes |
| API | Application programming interface used for partner, bureau, KYC, payments and system integrations. | Integration catalog |
| APR | Annual percentage rate, the all-in annualized borrower cost disclosed in the KFS. | Conduct rules |
| ARC | Asset Reconstruction Company, an entity that buys stressed loans or recovery rights. | Repossession & asset sale |
| Asset classification | Regulatory classification of an exposure as standard, SMA, NPA, sub-standard, doubtful or loss. | IRAC provisioning |
| AUM | Assets under management, the gross managed loan portfolio including on-book and, where disclosed, off-book loans. | Growth Scenarios |
| Auction | Sale process for repossessed or enforced collateral, especially under SARFAESI. | Repossession & asset sale |
| B2B BNPL | Business-to-business buy-now-pay-later credit, often embedded in procurement or distributor flows. | Embedded lending |
| Beneficial owner | Natural person who ultimately owns or controls a customer entity for KYC purposes. | KYC/AML |
| BG | Bank guarantee, a non-fund facility where a bank promises payment on defined default/non-performance. | Guarantees, LC & schemes |
| BL | Business loan, usually unsecured or lightly secured term credit for SME needs. | Unsecured business loans |
| Blended rate | The weighted borrower rate in a split-funded loan, such as bank rate times bank share plus NBFC rate times NBFC share in co-lending. | How Lenders Make Money |
| BNPL | Buy now, pay later; in SME context, short-tenor trade or checkout credit. | Embedded lending |
| BO | Beneficial owner. | KYC/AML |
| Borrower-level classification | Rule that default by a borrower in one facility can affect classification across that borrower’s facilities. | Delinquency fundamentals |
| Bounce | Failed repayment presentation, usually cheque, NACH, UPI Autopay or e-mandate. | Collections operations |
| BRE | Business rules engine used for eligibility, policy gates, scoring, deviations and routing. | Lending systems landscape |
| BSA | Bank statement analysis, the extraction of inflows, outflows, balances, obligations and fraud signals from bank data. | Bank statement analysis |
| CAM | Credit appraisal memorandum, the structured underwriting note supporting sanction. | Underwriting decisioning |
| Capital adequacy | Minimum capital buffer against risk-weighted assets and regulatory requirements. | NBFC regulation |
| Cash budget method | Working-capital assessment method based on seasonal cash inflows and outflows. | Working capital |
| CC | Cash credit, a revolving working-capital facility normally secured by stock and receivables. | Working capital |
| CCA | Controller of Certifying Authorities, relevant for eSign and digital-signature infrastructure. | Documentation & security |
| CDD | Customer due diligence under KYC rules. | KYC/AML |
| CERSAI | Central Registry of Securitisation Asset Reconstruction and Security Interest of India. | Ecosystem institutions |
| CGFMU | Credit Guarantee Fund for Micro Units, a guarantee mechanism associated with micro-unit lending. | PSL & guarantee schemes |
| CGTMSE | Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises. | PSL & guarantee schemes |
| Charge | Legal security interest recorded over collateral or company assets. | Documentation & security |
| Champion-challenger | Controlled strategy testing where the current champion ruleset is compared with a challenger on a defined sample before wider rollout. | BRE functional specification |
| CIC | Credit Information Company such as TransUnion CIBIL, Experian, Equifax or CRIF High Mark. | Bureau report anatomy |
| CIBIL | Common market shorthand for TransUnion CIBIL credit reports and scores/ranks. | Bureau report anatomy |
| CIMS | RBI’s Centralised Information Management System for regulatory submissions such as DLA reporting. | Governance & other directions |
| CIN | Corporate Identification Number for companies registered with MCA. | Application documents |
| CIR | Credit information report. | Bureau report anatomy |
| CIRP | Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. | Legal toolkit |
| CKYC/CKYCR | Central KYC Records Registry and the central KYC identifier/evidence system. | India Stack lending |
| Circuit breaker | Runtime control that temporarily stops calls to a failing provider or dependency and routes requests to retry, fallback or manual handling. | BRE runtime architecture |
| CLA | Co-lending arrangement under RBI’s 2025 co-lending framework. | Co-lending directions |
| CLM | Co-lending model, the earlier market term for bank-NBFC co-lending structures. | Co-lending business |
| CMA data | Credit Monitoring Arrangement data: the CA/borrower-prepared projected financial schedules used in working-capital and larger credit appraisal. | The Credit Appraisal Package |
| CMR | Commercial rank, especially TransUnion CIBIL’s CMR-1 to CMR-10 ranking for commercial borrowers. | Bureau report anatomy |
| Co-lending | Joint lending by two regulated entities with split exposure, blended disclosure and shared borrower servicing rules. | Co-lending directions |
| Collateral | Property, receivable, asset or guarantee supporting recovery if primary cash flow fails. | Collateral, valuation & legal |
| Collections bucket | Operational delinquency segment, such as current, 1-30, 31-60, 61-90 or 90+ DPD. | Delinquency fundamentals |
| Connector | Local referral intermediary who sources leads but is not usually a full DSA or LSP. | Sourcing leads |
| CP | Condition precedent, a condition that must be met before documentation, disbursement or other action. | Disbursement |
| CRAR | Capital to risk-weighted assets ratio. | NBFC regulation |
| Credit cost | Annualized loss/provision impact net of recoveries. | Unit economics |
| Credit memo / CAM | Credit memorandum or credit appraisal memorandum, the structured underwriting note sent for sanction approval. | The Credit Appraisal Package |
| Credit note | Alternate name for CAM or underwriting recommendation note. | Underwriting decisioning |
| Credit summation | Total credits in bank statements over the assessment period before policy exclusions such as reversals, loan credits or circular transfers. | The Credit Appraisal Package |
| Current ratio | Current assets divided by current liabilities, used in working-capital appraisal. | SME financial analysis |
| Dedupe | Duplicate check across borrower, promoter, PAN, GSTIN, mobile, bank account and group exposure. | Pre-screening |
| Deviation | Approved exception to credit, policy, pricing, documentation or operations rules. | Underwriting decisioning |
| Decision table | Tabular rule representation that maps input conditions to outputs, usually with a defined hit policy for matching rows. | BRE functional specification |
| Dealer-distributor finance | Short-tenor working-capital credit for dealers or distributors buying stock from an anchor, usually supported by order, invoice, stock or channel payment data. | B2B Commerce & Procurement Finance |
| Direct assignment | Sale of a pool or share of loan exposures from one lender to another investor or lender, distinct from ex-ante co-lending. | How Lenders Make Money |
| DLA | Digital Lending App or digital interface used for lending activities. | Digital lending directions |
| DLG | Default loss guarantee, formerly often called FLDG, capped and controlled under RBI digital lending rules. | Digital lending directions |
| DMN | Decision Model and Notation, the OMG standard for modelling decisions, decision requirements, decision tables and related expressions. | BRE functional specification |
| DMS | Document management system. | Lending systems landscape |
| DoA | Delegation of Authority, the matrix that maps approval powers by product, amount, risk and deviation. | Actors & permissions |
| DP | Drawing power, the usable cash-credit limit after applying stock/receivable eligibility and margins. | Working capital |
| DPD | Days past due, the age of the oldest unpaid due after its due date. | Delinquency fundamentals |
| DRT | Debt Recovery Tribunal. | Legal toolkit |
| DSA | Direct selling agent, a sourced-channel intermediary for borrower acquisition. | Sourcing leads |
| DSCR | Debt service coverage ratio, cash available for debt service divided by debt service obligation. | Underwriting decisioning |
| EAD | Exposure at default, a credit-risk modelling input for expected loss. | Scorecards & models |
| ECL | Expected credit loss under Ind AS 109/accounting models. | Scorecards & models |
| ECLGS | Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme, a COVID-era guarantee programme now relevant mostly for legacy portfolios. | PSL & guarantee schemes |
| Early settlement advance | Marketplace finance where the seller receives cash before the normal settlement cycle, documented as a loan, receivable purchase or assignment-backed advance depending structure. | Marketplace seller finance |
| EMI | Equated monthly instalment. | Servicing |
| eNACH/NACH | Electronic National Automated Clearing House mandate for recurring repayments. | Disbursement |
| Entity resolution | Matching borrowers, promoters, businesses, GSTINs, PANs, accounts and group links into one risk view. | Data vendors map |
| EWS | Early-warning signals used to detect stress before hard default. | Monitoring & EWS |
| Factoring | Purchase or financing of receivables, with or without recourse depending structure. | Invoice & supply-chain finance |
| FCU | Fraud control unit. | Credit risk roles |
| Feature store | Governed store or service for versioned model and rule features, including source, freshness, consent and transformation metadata. | BRE functional specification |
| FI | Field investigation, including residence/business verification and local checks. | Due diligence |
| FIP/FIU | Financial Information Provider and Financial Information User in the Account Aggregator ecosystem. | India Stack lending |
| FITL | Funded interest term loan, often used in restructuring to convert unpaid interest into a term loan. | Special workflows |
| FLDG | First-loss default guarantee, older market term now treated as DLG in RBI digital lending rules. | Regulatory guardrails applied |
| FOIR | Fixed obligation to income ratio, existing plus proposed obligations divided by assessed income/surplus. | Underwriting decisioning |
| FPC | Fair Practices Code, the lender’s customer-conduct baseline. | Conduct rules |
| Fund flow | Movement of disbursement, repayment, escrow and partner money. | Disbursement |
| GMV | Gross merchandise value, the gross value of marketplace sales before returns, refunds, cancellations and platform deductions. | Marketplace seller finance |
| GST Sahay | OCEN-linked invoice-finance flow using GST data and public rails. | OCEN, ONDC & future |
| GSTIN | Goods and Services Tax Identification Number. | Application documents |
| GSTN | Goods and Services Tax Network. | Ecosystem institutions |
| HFC | Housing finance company. | Regulatory architecture |
| Hit policy | Decision-table rule that defines how matching rows are selected or combined, such as unique, first, priority or collect. | BRE functional specification |
| HUF | Hindu Undivided Family, a constitution type relevant to KYC and documentation. | KYC onboarding |
| IBC | Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. | Legal toolkit |
| ICR | Interest coverage ratio, usually EBITDA divided by interest expense. | The Credit Appraisal Package |
| IME | Informal micro enterprise, often onboarded through Udyam Assist. | MSME definition |
| Idempotency | API and persistence discipline where a repeated request with the same key returns the same stored result instead of creating duplicate side effects. | BRE runtime architecture |
| Ind AS 109 | Indian accounting standard for financial instruments and expected credit loss. | Scorecards & models |
| IRAC/IRACP | Income Recognition, Asset Classification and Provisioning norms. | IRAC provisioning |
| ITR | Income tax return. | Underwriting data |
| KFS | Key Facts Statement, the standardized disclosure of APR, charges, repayment schedule and key terms. | Conduct rules |
| KYC | Know Your Customer controls for identity, address, beneficial ownership and ongoing due diligence. | KYC/AML |
| LaaS | Lending-as-a-service, where software, operations, sourcing and lending rails are packaged for partners. | Operating models |
| LAP | Loan against property. | LAP secured |
| LC | Letter of credit, a non-fund trade facility. | Guarantees, LC & schemes |
| LGD | Loss given default, the share of exposure expected to be lost after recoveries. | Scorecards & models |
| LMS | Loan management system, the source of truth for booked loans, schedules, receipts, DPD and closure. | Module map |
| LOS | Loan origination system, the workflow for leads, application, underwriting, sanction and pre-disbursement controls. | Lending systems landscape |
| LRD | Lease rental discounting, credit against contracted lease/rent cash flows. | LAP secured |
| LSP | Lending Service Provider, an agent/vendor performing lending functions for an RE. | Digital lending directions |
| LTV | Loan-to-value ratio, loan amount divided by accepted collateral value. | LAP secured |
| MCA | Merchant cash advance, repayment linked to merchant sales or settlement flows. | Unsecured business loans |
| MCA21/MCA | Ministry of Corporate Affairs registry data for companies and LLPs. | Data vendors map |
| MFI | Microfinance institution. | Lender landscape |
| MLI | Member Lending Institution under CGTMSE. | PSL & guarantee schemes |
| MPBF | Maximum Permissible Bank Finance under projected balance-sheet working-capital assessment. | Working capital |
| MSE | Micro and small enterprise. | MSME definition |
| MSME | Micro, small and medium enterprise. | MSME definition |
| MUDRA/PMMY | Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana loans for micro units, with Shishu/Kishor/Tarun/Tarun Plus bands. | Guarantees, LC & schemes |
| NACH | National Automated Clearing House. | Disbursement |
| Nayak method | Turnover-based working-capital assessment, commonly 25% of projected turnover with borrower margin. | Working capital |
| NBFC | Non-Banking Financial Company. | NBFC regulation |
| NBFC-ICC | Investment and Credit Company category of NBFC. | NBFC regulation |
| NBFC-P2P | NBFC peer-to-peer lending platform. | Digital lending directions |
| NBFC-SBR | Scale-Based Regulation framework for NBFCs. | Regulatory architecture |
| NBFC-UL/ML/BL | Upper, middle and base layer NBFC classifications under SBR. | NBFC regulation |
| NCGTC | National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company. | PSL & guarantee schemes |
| NeSL | National e-Governance Services Ltd., India’s Information Utility under IBC. | Ecosystem institutions |
| NIM | Net interest margin. | Unit economics |
| NOF | Net Owned Fund, the minimum capital base for NBFC registration/operation. | NBFC regulation |
| NPA | Non-performing asset; in ordinary SME term-loan operations, more than 90 DPD is the cliff. | IRAC provisioning |
| NPCI | National Payments Corporation of India. | India Stack lending |
| NTC | New-to-credit borrower. | Market credit gap |
| OCEN | Open Credit Enablement Network, a protocol approach to unbundled credit journeys. | OCEN, ONDC & future |
| OD | Overdraft, a revolving facility with limit and interest on utilisation. | Working capital |
| Off-book AUM | Loans sourced, serviced or originated by a platform or lender but held on another lender’s balance sheet, such as through co-lending, assignment or partnership structures. | B2B Commerce & Procurement Finance |
| Operating leverage | Improvement in profitability when fixed branch, technology and staff costs are spread over a larger performing AUM base. | Cost Structures & Benchmarks |
| Opex | Operating expense. | Unit economics |
| ONDC | Open Network for Digital Commerce, including emerging financial-services use cases. | OCEN, ONDC & future |
| OTS | One-time settlement. | Settlements & OTS |
| PAN | Permanent Account Number. | Application documents |
| PD | Personal discussion with borrower/promoter, or probability of default in modelling context. | Due diligence |
| PDD | Post-disbursement document. | Documentation & security |
| PEP | Politically exposed person, a higher-risk KYC screening category. | KYC/AML |
| PII | Personally identifiable information. | Nonfunctionals & regulatory constraints |
| PMMY | Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana. | Guarantees, LC & schemes |
| POS | Point of sale terminal or transaction data source. | Unsecured business loans |
| PSL | Priority Sector Lending. | PSL & guarantee schemes |
| PSB | Public sector bank. | Lender landscape |
| PTP | Promise to pay, a borrower commitment captured in collections. | Collections operations |
| Procurement marketplace | B2B platform that helps businesses source inputs such as raw materials, industrial goods or inventory from verified suppliers, often with embedded logistics, pricing and credit. | B2B Commerce & Procurement Finance |
| Purchase finance | Short-tenor credit used to buy inputs or inventory, commonly disbursed directly to the supplier and repaid after production, resale or receivable collection. | B2B Commerce & Procurement Finance |
| RACI | Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed role matrix. | RACI matrix |
| RCU | Risk Control Unit, usually fraud, field, negative-list and investigation control. | Credit risk roles |
| RDB Act | Recovery of Debts and Bankruptcy Act, used for DRT route. | Legal toolkit |
| RE | Regulated Entity such as a bank, NBFC or other RBI-regulated lender. | Regulatory architecture |
| Reason code | Stable coded explanation for a decision, deviation or decline, with internal text and borrower-safe text where applicable. | BRE functional specification |
| Restructuring | Concession because of borrower financial difficulty, with asset-classification and provisioning consequences. | Special workflows |
| Revenue-based financing | Credit whose repayment amount or frequency is linked to borrower revenue, sales or platform settlements rather than only a fixed EMI schedule. | Marketplace seller finance |
| RM | Relationship manager. | Front office roles |
| ROC | Registrar of Companies, relevant for company charge registration. | Documentation & security |
| RoA | Return on assets. | Unit economics |
| RoE | Return on equity. | Unit economics |
| Runoff | Reduction in outstanding loan principal through scheduled repayment, prepayment, write-off or sale. | Growth Scenarios |
| RRB | Regional Rural Bank. | Regulatory architecture |
| RTO | Return to origin in marketplace seller finance; recovery time objective in nonfunctional system design. | Marketplace seller finance |
| SARFAESI | Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002. | Legal toolkit |
| SBR | Scale-Based Regulation for NBFCs. | Regulatory architecture |
| SCB | Scheduled commercial bank. | Market credit gap |
| Scorecard | Rule/model framework assigning application or behavioural risk scores. | Scorecards & models |
| SFB | Small finance bank. | Lender landscape |
| Seller churn | Drop-off, suspension, delisting or migration of a marketplace seller that weakens data visibility and settlement-linked repayment control. | Marketplace seller finance |
| Settlement cycle | The time between marketplace order, delivery/return resolution and payout to the seller. | Marketplace seller finance |
| SIDBI | Small Industries Development Bank of India. | Ecosystem institutions |
| SLA | Service-level agreement or operational turnaround standard. | Workflow specs |
| SMA | Special Mention Account, RBI’s early stress category before NPA. | IRAC provisioning |
| SMA-0/1/2 | SMA overdue bands: up to 30 days, more than 30 up to 60, and more than 60 up to 90 days. | Delinquency fundamentals |
| SME | Small and medium enterprise, broader commercial shorthand; MSME is the regulatory category. | MSME definition |
| SOA | Statement of account from an existing lender, used to verify outstanding balance, repayment history, charges and closure/foreclosure amounts. | The Credit Appraisal Package |
| Split settlement | Payment or marketplace settlement instruction that routes portions of a merchant settlement to different beneficiaries, such as seller balance and lender repayment, where legally permitted. | Marketplace seller finance |
| Stock statement | Borrower declaration of inventory, receivables and creditors used to compute drawing power. | Monitoring & EWS |
| STP | Straight-through processing. | Lifecycle overview |
| STR/CTR | Suspicious Transaction Report and Cash Transaction Report under AML monitoring. | Compliance hooks |
| Subvention | Interest or price support paid by manufacturer, anchor or scheme rather than borrower. | Term & machinery loans |
| TAT | Turnaround time. | Lifecycle overview |
| TDS | Tax deducted at source, a signal in bank-statement and cash-flow analysis. | Bank statement analysis |
| Transaction-tethered credit | Credit where sanction and drawdown are tied to a specific order, invoice, supplier payment or goods movement, giving the lender stronger end-use evidence than a general cash loan. | B2B Commerce & Procurement Finance |
| TReDS | Trade Receivables Discounting System. | Invoice & supply-chain finance |
| TOL/TNW | Total outside liabilities divided by tangible net worth, a leverage ratio used in SME appraisal. | The Credit Appraisal Package |
| UAP | Udyam Assist Platform for informal micro enterprises. | MSME definition |
| UCB | Urban co-operative bank. | Working capital |
| Udyam | Online MSME registration system and certificate used for classification and PSL evidence. | MSME definition |
| UMRN | Unique Mandate Reference Number for NACH mandates. | Integration catalog |
| UPI Autopay | UPI recurring mandate rail used for repayments in eligible flows. | Disbursement |
| URC | Udyam Registration Certificate. | MSME definition |
| URN | Udyam Registration Number. | MSME definition |
| UTR | Unique Transaction Reference for bank transfers. | Colending partner module |
| V-CIP | Video-based Customer Identification Process. | KYC/AML |
| Vintage curve | Delinquency or loss performance by months-on-books for a cohort. | Portfolio analytics |
| Vintage seasoning | The ageing of an origination cohort until delinquency and loss experience is observable enough to judge credit quality. | Growth Scenarios |
| Watchlist | Portfolio monitoring list for stressed or higher-risk accounts before or after delinquency. | Monitoring & EWS |
| Wilful defaulter | Borrower classified under RBI wilful/large defaulter framework based on default conduct. | Fraud typologies |
| Write-off | Accounting removal of an exposure while legal recovery may continue. | Repossession & asset sale |