E-Cash: Electronic cash is a payment mechanism designed for the Internet. It is electronic money that can be passed along from person to person like cash. It is anonymous like cash, and has value immediately. It's cash, not a promise to pay later.

E-Check: The electronic equivalent of a paper check.

Electronic Banking: A form of banking in which funds are transferred through an exchange of electronic signals between financial institutions, rather than an exchange of cash, checks or other negotiable instruments.

Electronic Bill Delivery: A bill delivery system offered by Visa Interactive that allows banks to send consumers their bills through their personal computers or via telephone lines. This system now allows consumers to transfer funds through their bank to the billing agent itself.

Electronic Bill Payment (E-pay): An alternative to paper checks for paying bills. Consumers can use PCs, telephones, screen phones or ATMs to send electronic instructions to their bank or bill payment provider to withdraw funds from their accounts and pay merchants. Payments may be made either electronically or by a paper check issued by the bill payment provider.

Electronic Bill Presentment (EBP): The electronic delivery of vendor requests for payment. Vendors send consumers their bills via PCs, telephones or screen phones.

Electronic Cash Register (ECR): A system which functions most efficiently and effectively for large businesses with many registers in single or multiple locations. Provides a direct, computer-to-computer linkup between the processor host and the merchant's host.

Electronic Check Acceptance(SM) or ECA: A system that captures banking information off a paper check and converts it into an electronic item processed through the Automated Clearing House network. With ECA, checks are processed similarly to credit cards, and the paper check is returned to the consumer at the point of sale.

Electronic Commerce (E-commerce): The transacting of business electronically rather than via paper.

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI): The electronic communication of business transactions; specifically the exchange of trade-related documents, such as purchase orders, invoices and corporate Electronic Funds Transfer (EFTs) in a standard format. With EDI, electronically transmitted data replaces paper documents in the business accounts receivable cycle.

Electronic Draft Capture (EDC) Terminal: Also referred to as Electronic Data Capture terminal. A point-of-sale device that reads information encoded in the bankcard's magnetic stripe, performs authorization functions, stores transaction data, and batches and transmits that data to the acquirer for processing. The stored transactions are used to create settlement files and transaction reports.

Electronic Financial Services (EFS): Financial services that are provided via electronic delivery channels (e.g. PCs, telephones, screen phones and ATMs). These services may be transaction and/or information oriented and may be provided by bank and non-bank providers.

Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT): A transfer of funds between accounts by electronic means rather than conventional paper-based payment methods. EFT is any financial transaction originating from a telephone or electronic terminal, or from a computer or magnetic tape.

Electronic Funds Transfer at the Point of Sale: The technology and practice of making payments for goods and services by means of electronic funds transfer initiated at the point where goods and services are purchased.

Electronic Mail (E-mail): A system where a computer user can exchange messages with other computer users (or groups of users) via a communications network.

Electronic Point of Sale (POS): A point-of-sale merchant with electronic equipment for pricing and recording transactions, but not necessarily incorporating functions for electronic funds transfer.

Embossing: The process of printing data, in the form of raised characters, on the bankcard. Provides identification of the card and allows the imprinting of sales drafts.

Encryption: The technique of scrambling data automatically in the terminal or computer before data is transmitted for security/anti-fraud purposes.

Enveloping: A process whereby documents of the same type or purpose are grouped together, bound, and sent to the same destination into an electronic envelope. This is done by an electronic data interchange management software function.

Expiration Date: The date embossed on a bankcard, beyond which the card becomes invalid.

Extranet: A Web site that links businesses to consumers, suppliers, etc., for electronic commerce. These sites usually provide more consumer-specific information than public sites and may have security devices such as passwords for a user to gain access to more sensitive information.