Definitions

Use this glossary for the records and transaction terms used in the guides.

Core records

• Cardholder: the individual the card is issued to. In the API, card creation identifies the cardholder through person_id or employee_id.
• Person: an individual customer record. The API uses client in its endpoint names.
• Employee: the individual record used for card issuance, linked under a related corporate_id.
• Corporate: a company customer record used for account setup.
• Account: the financial account used for card issuance, funding, and transaction activity.
• Card: the payment instrument issued to the cardholder. In card endpoints, the card is identified by token_id.
• External ID (external_id): the partner-defined identifier used when creating person, corporate, and employee records. It is used to map the FINCI record back to your own record. In the API, it must be unique for that record type.
• External account number (external_number): the partner-defined account reference used during account setup. It is represented as a string in JSON, but the value must contain only digits 0-9.
• Product: the card product configuration used for issuance.

Card state

• Status: the operational usability state of the card.
• Stage: physical-card ordering and fulfillment state.

Transaction lifecycle

• Authorization: the real-time decision stage for a transaction request. It is not the final booked financial event.
• Authorization outcome confirmation: the follow-up authorization webhook, sent with the same authorization id, carrying the response_code FINCI actually returned to Mastercard.
• Additional authorization: another authorization record for the same purchase, with its own id and a reference to an earlier authorization. The amount-update rule determines whether it is an increment or a replacement total.
• Authorization advice flag (advice): true identifies an authorization advice message. Read the outcome from response_code and linkage from the original-reference fields. An additional authorization is not automatically an advice.
• Preauthorization: an approval for an estimated amount before the final purchase amount is known.
• Partial approval: approval of less than the amount requested. The current integrator webhook response has no field for returning a lower approved amount.
• Clearing: the transaction-record stage represented here by presentment webhooks. Post each supplied local account movement at this stage.
• Presentment: a clearing record used for posting and reconciliation. One approval usually has one presentment; several can occur rarely. The first matched presentment releases the whole remaining hold.
• Partial presentment: a presentment for less than the authorized amount. FINCI releases the entire matched hold; the unused amount does not stay reserved. A later distinct presentment can still arrive.
• Settlement: the network's financial settlement between issuer and acquirer, distinct from approval and receipt of a clearing record.
• Deferred authorization: an authorization request submitted after the purchase, for example after connectivity is restored. It still involves an authorization request.
• Offline transaction: a transaction accepted without a real-time issuer authorization. Your integration may first receive its presentment. An empty authorization_id alone does not identify a transaction as offline.
• Reversal: an authorization message with authtype: "Reversal" and its own id. It cancels all or part of an eligible unposted reservation; original-reference fields link the earlier authorization. It does not refund a posted debit.
• Refund (Return): a credit flow received after the original transaction flow.

API naming

person and client refer to the same individual customer record. API endpoints use names such as /v1/create-client; the identifier remains person_id.

See Core data model for ownership and identifier relationships, and Issuing cards for the personal and corporate request paths.