Card Dispenser
A device that automatically dispenses a card once the customer has completed a process such as enrollment with a certain retail store or network.

Cardholder
An individual to whom a credit card is issued. Typically, this individual is also responsible for payment of all charges made to that card. Corporate cards are an exception to this rule.

Card Imprinter
Often refers to a manual (not electronic) device using which the merchant (retail store) takes an imprint of the credit card that the customer presents for payment, The merchant takes the customer’s signature and provides a carbon copy of the imprint (acts as a receipt and legal confirmation of the transaction) to the customer.

Card Issuer
An institution that issues credit cards to cardholders. This institution is also responsible for billing the cardholder for charges. Often abbreviated to "Issuer".

Cash Management
In United States banking, cash management, or treasury management, is a marketing term for certain services offered primarily to larger business customers. It may be used to describe all bank accounts (such as checking accounts) provided to businesses of a certain size, but it is more often used to describe specific services such as cash concentration, zero balance accounting, and automated clearing house facilities. Sometimes private bank customers are given cash management services.

Check 21
The future of check deposits is here. In October 2004, the Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act, better known as Check 21, took effect. The law allows financial institutions to exchange digital check images, giving those digital images the same legal weight as paper checks. The law's implications are far reaching, and most won't be fully realized until implementation is widespread. Among the act's benefits: allowing FIs to reduce costs and speed check truncation.

Check Cashing
To cash a check means to get the funds that are written on the face of the check and the process can be as follows:

1. Present the check at the issuer's bank for funds and sign the back of the check to confirm receipt of funds (endorse). This ensures that the check can not be represented again.

2. Since the check is a negotiable instrument, it can be cashed via a third person entity, who may charge a fee for the service but provide the bulk of the funds to the payee (the person indicated on the top of a check). Again an endorsement at the back of the check is made which confirms that the third party will now get the funds indicated on the top of the check.

3. The service can also be provided through ATMs and Kiosks in self-service and full-service fashion.

Check reader
A device that reads and recognizes the code of numbers printed at the bottom of a check to ensure that the check is a genuine check.

CMR (An Infonox Solution)
A customer-managed relationship (CMR) is a relationship in which a business uses a methodology, software, and information networks to encourage the customer to gain control of purchasing products. CMR is a different concept from Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and can be viewed as complement to CRM and even as alternative to include in a CRM strategy.

The Challenge of the 4 Cs
We are now in a customer-managed era where business value means customer value. Businesses have to rethink how they serve and manage customers because of the 4 Cs.

Customers: Customers have more options than ever before and are very discriminating. Customers can find exactly what they want from exactly the right supplier when they want it.

Competition: It is easier for competitors to begin offering similar services and products and get into markets they were unable to before.

Communication: Customers have higher access to information than ever before. Most customers have Internet access that allows access to information of competing products and services at a click. In a networked world, the communication gap between buyers and suppliers can be bridged rapidly.

Commoditization: The first 3 C’s mean that there is a general industry trend towards commoditization of financial services. Products and services have become so similar that they can be directly compared. Only when products are differentiated, can businesses break out from competitive pressure to reduce prices.

There are three aspects to CMR. The first is that customers should own their information including transaction history, preferences and profiles. The second aspect is that customers should have access to this information. The third aspect is that the entire system should be designed with the customer's needs and feelings as the fundamental priority. CMR allows a customer to define how they communicate with a business, what services or products they will purchase, and how they will pay for them.

Infonox solutions help businesses construct Customer Managed Relationships. Specifically, Infonox helps integrate a business's existing data and processes in such a way that the business can easily deliver products to meet the needs of their individual customers. A customer-managed relationship also has certain key benefits for the business:

• Interactive touchpoints shift business intelligence from the back-office to the devices used for customer service = Smart money
• Data can be aggregated across all systems that are used to deploy services = Zero latency
• Services to match the needs of each individual customer are configurable and are delivered at the touchpoint= Minimum waste and confusion

Corporate Dashboard
A comprehensive dashboard for up-to-the minute status on any system.

Credit Bureau
Provides information on the credit worthiness or borrowing ability of individuals. This helps lenders assess credit worthiness, the ability to pay back a loan, and can affect the interest rate applied to loans. Interest rates are not the same for everyone, but instead are based on risk-based pricing, a form of price discrimination based on the different expected costs of different borrowers, as set out in their credit rating.

Credit bureaus collect and collate personal financial data on individuals, from financial institutions with which they have a relationship. The data is aggregated and processed using algorithms to arrive at scores/rating and the rating is made available on request to contributing companies for the purposes of credit assessment and credit scoring. Different credit bureaus (there are three major ones) collect data from a variety of sources and then apply a mathematical algorithm to assess the likelihood that an individual will repay a given debt given the frequency that other individuals in similar situations have defaulted. An individual's credit score is highly dependent on the data input into the algorithm. If a credit bureau has collected inaccurate or misleading data, an individual's credit score could be wrongly reported. The process of reporting errors is cumbersome, time-consuming and paper based. In case of identity fraud, the system more or less breaks down.

Credit Card
A credit card is a plastic card that denotes a system of payment provide to users of the system. A credit card is different from a debit card in that it does not remove money from the user's account after every transaction. In the case of credit cards, the issuer lends money to the consumer (or the user). It is also different from a charge card which requires the balance to be paid in full each month. In contrast, a credit card allows the consumer to 'revolve' their balance, at the cost of having interest charged. Most credit cards are the same shape and size, as specified by the ISO 7810 standard. Credit cards also have a magnetic stripe.

CRM
Customer relationship management (CRM) is a broad term that covers concepts used by companies to manage their relationships with customers, including collecting, storing and analyzing customer information.

There are four aspects of CRM, each of which can be implemented in isolation:

1. Active CRM: A centralized database for storing data, which can be used to automate business processes and common tasks.

2. Operational CRM: The automation or support of customer processes involving sales or service representatives

3. Collaborative CRM: Direct communication with customers not involving sales or service representatives (“self service”)

4. Analytical CRM: The analysis of customer data for a broad range of purposes