—Defined terms

Glossary.

A reference for the terms used across the firm's operating documents and this website. Defined to the standard the firm applies in correspondence; where a defined term in an executed instrument differs, the executed instrument prevails.

On this page. Sector and entity types · Regulatory framework · Operative instruments · Heads of claim · Identifiers and references · Process and posture

Sector and entity types.

PSP — Payment Service Provider: A regulated entity providing payment services within the meaning of PSD2 / PSD3. The umbrella term used on this site to refer to merchant counterparties.
EMI — Electronic Money Institution: An institution authorised under EMD2 to issue electronic money and provide payment services. EMIs hold electronic money on issue and are subject to safeguarding obligations.
PI — Payment Institution: An institution authorised under PSD2 to provide payment services without the electronic-money issuance function reserved to EMIs and credit institutions.
Credit institution / bank: An institution authorised under CRD / CRR to take deposits from the public and grant credit. Acquiring activity is performed by credit institutions in many jurisdictions.
Acquirer: The institution contracted by the merchant to process card payments and remit settlement, typically holding scheme membership with Visa, Mastercard and other schemes.
Merchant: The contracting customer of a PSP, EMI, PI, acquirer or bank under a merchant services agreement.

Regulatory framework.

PSD2: Directive (EU) 2015/2366 on payment services in the internal market — the second Payment Services Directive. Transposed into national law in each Member State.
PSD3: The proposed third Payment Services Directive, currently progressing through the EU legislative process. Will repeal and replace PSD2 with effect from a later date to be confirmed.
EMD2: Directive 2009/110/EC on the taking-up, pursuit and prudential supervision of the business of electronic money institutions — the second Electronic Money Directive.
CRD / CRR: Capital Requirements Directive (Directive 2013/36/EU) and Capital Requirements Regulation (Regulation (EU) 575/2013) — the prudential framework for credit institutions.
MiCA: Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 on markets in crypto-assets. Distinct from PSD2 / EMD2 but increasingly relevant where a counterparty's activity straddles payment services and crypto-asset services.
eIDAS: Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 on electronic identification and trust services. Provides the legal framework for qualified electronic signatures used in the firm's Claim Assignment and Recovery Agreement.
Wwft: Wet ter voorkoming van witwassen en financieren van terrorisme — the Dutch anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing act, transposing AMLD into Dutch law.

Operative instruments.

MSA — Merchant Services Agreement: The underlying contract between the merchant and the regulated counterparty governing payment processing, settlement, reserves, scheme passthrough and chargeback handling.
CARA — Claim Assignment and Recovery Agreement: The principal instrument under which the merchant assigns accrued claims to the firm and the firm undertakes to conduct the recovery in its own name. Executed under eIDAS.
Notice of Assignment: The counterparty-facing instrument served on the regulated PSP recording the fact of assignment and the passage of legal title from the merchant to the firm.
Letter of demand: A substantive demand letter served on the counterparty's legal function citing the executed contractual provisions, scheme correspondence and reconciliation evidence, with a defined response window.
Settlement deed: The formal instrument under which a recovery is settled, recording the consideration, mutual releases and mutual confidentiality.

Heads of claim.

Withheld settlement balance: Funds processed and settled by the scheme but withheld by the counterparty rather than paid out to the merchant.
Rolling reserve: A percentage of processing volume held by the PSP as security against chargebacks. Becomes a claim when retained beyond the contractual release window.
Scheme passthrough: Recoveries due from card schemes (Visa, Mastercard, other) that the PSP collected but did not pass through to the merchant.
Programme fine: A fine assessed under a scheme integrity programme (Visa Integrity Risk Programme, Mastercard equivalents). Contestable where no underlying scheme determination is evidenced.
Chargeback assessment: A monetary assessment for chargeback ratio breach. Contestable where the calculation, lookback period or threshold is undocumented.
Internal adjustment (unsupported): A ledger debit applied by the PSP that cannot be reconciled to scheme correspondence, fine notices or contractual provisions.
Refund pass-through: Refund liability or pass-through cost charged to the merchant without contractual basis or without merchant authorisation.

Identifiers and references.

MCC — Merchant Category Code: The four-digit ISO 18245 code applied by the PSP to a processing relationship. Identifies the merchant's business activity (e.g. 5816 digital goods, 7995 gambling, 5967 high-risk direct marketing).
BIN — Bank Identification Number: The leading digits of a card number identifying the issuing institution. Relevant to scheme passthrough analysis.
IBAN: International Bank Account Number under ISO 13616. Used for verified settlement disbursement.
KvK: Kamer van Koophandel — the Dutch Chamber of Commerce. The firm's KvK registration is 76675602.

Process and posture.

Assignee: The party to whom claims are assigned. The firm acts as Assignee in every engagement.
Assignor: The party assigning claims. The merchant in every engagement.
Complexity Threshold Assessment: The firm's assessment of file complexity, completed within 30 calendar days of execution of the CARA, used to calibrate the recovery split on a continuous scale between 75/25 in the merchant's favour and 75/25 in the firm's favour.
Recovery split: The agreed share of the net Recovered Amount between Assignor and Assignee, calibrated under the Complexity Threshold Assessment. Default 50/50.
Recovered Amount: The net amount recovered from the counterparty under a settlement deed, court order or voluntary payment, after direct deductions inherent in the recovery instrument itself.
Cost recovery threshold: The contractual provision that Legal Costs are deducted from the Assignor's share only once cumulative recoveries reach 2× cumulative Legal Costs paid by the firm.
Supervisory engagement: The track of recovery activity conducted with the competent supervisory authority of the counterparty's home Member State, treated as part of the recovery framework rather than as a separate matter.