Type
A2ABNPLCardCarrier BillingDirect DebitOfflineOverdraftRequestVoucherWallet
The primary product or funding model. A2A covers account-to-account methods, while Offline covers methods completed outside a native digital payment flow.
Taxonomy
Taxonomy
Entity types
Payment Methods
Customer- or merchant-facing ways to initiate or receive a payment.
Channel
OnlineIn-Person
Where the payment experience is available. A method may support more than one channel.
Use Case
PayinP2PPayout
The payment purpose: collecting funds, transferring between people or disbursing funds.
Initiation
PayeePayer
Who starts the payment. Payee is the merchant- or recipient-initiated model formerly called Pull; Payer is the customer-initiated model formerly called Push.
Capability groups
Initiation & AuthenticationFunding & RequirementsProcessing & SettlementTransaction ManagementRefunds & Disputes
The five groups on a payment-method record describe its underlying capabilities. PSP Integration & Operations is shown with a provider-specific implementation, not as a method baseline.
Markets
Countries and explicitly modelled geographic payment markets.
Region
US&CLatAmEMEAAPAC
The four regional groups used across Atlas market filters and comparisons.
Market scope
CountryTerritoryExplicit payment market
Geographies remain canonical market records instead of being embedded as free text on other entities.
PSPs
Providers that connect merchants to acceptance, processing and payout capabilities.
Provider role
PSPProcessorGatewayAcquirerOrchestrator
Provider roles describe the payment services an organization offers without merging the provider with the methods or rails it supports.
Graph connections
Payment MethodsMarketsLicencesStandards
Method support and market presence are separate explicit links; neither is inferred from the other. Permissions and security claims retain their own evidence.
Payment-method capability groups
PSP Integration & OperationsInitiation & AuthenticationFunding & RequirementsProcessing & SettlementTransaction ManagementRefunds & Disputes
A PSP-specific implementation can describe the five method capability groups plus PSP Integration & Operations, which covers the provider's connection and operations.
Currencies
Fiat currencies represented by their canonical ISO 4217 identity.
Canonical identity
ISO 4217 alpha codeISO 4217 numeric codeMinor units
Currencies are first-class records with standardized identifiers rather than repeated text labels.
Graph connections
MarketsPayment MethodsPricingSettlement
Currency use is represented through relationships to the relevant market, product or payment flow.
Payment flow role
ConsumerProcessingSettlement
A method may present one currency to the customer, process in another and settle in a third. These roles are mapped separately.
Schemes
Governed rules, rights and obligations for a payment proposition.
Type
CardCredit TransferDirect DebitAlternative
Scheme type describes the governed payment proposition independently from the technical system beneath it.
Card subtype
Global CardDomestic Card
Card schemes may be Global Card or Domestic Card. The subtype applies within Card; credit transfer, direct debit and alternative schemes do not use it.
Graph connections
Payment MethodsSystemsOperatorsMarkets
Participation, operation and reach are separate sourced relationships. A scheme appears in a market only through a direct market link, not through a linked method alone.
Systems
Infrastructure that routes, processes, clears or settles payment instructions.
Type
RetailLarge-value
Retail and Large-value classify infrastructure. Card switches are represented as Retail systems with the Switch subtype.
Subtype
InstantBatchSwitch
Instant and Batch describe processing cadence; Switch identifies card-message routing infrastructure. The displayed type and subtype together identify the system.
Graph connections
SchemesOperatorsMarketsStandards
Technical infrastructure stays distinct from the scheme rules and customer-facing methods that use it.
Operators
Organizations that operate a payment method, scheme or system.
Operating role
Payment MethodSchemeSystem
An operator remains its own organization record and connects to each product or infrastructure layer it operates.
Graph connections
MarketsStandardsRegulatorsBanks
Reach, conformance and oversight remain source-linked relationships.
Regulators
Authorities responsible for payment-market supervision and oversight.
Jurisdiction
NationalRegionalInternational
The geographic reach of an authority's mandate is distinct from a separate regulator type.
Graph connections
RegulationsRegulated entitiesPayment infrastructureMarkets
Authorities stay separate from the instruments they publish and the entities they supervise.
Regulations
Laws, requirements, controls and reference records used to manage compliance.
Category
Customer Due DiligenceConsumer ProtectionSanctions & ScreeningAML & MonitoringOperational ResilienceData & SecurityRegulation & LicensingPricing & InterchangeFraud & Reimbursement
Regulations are grouped by the primary control, legal or operational domain they address.
Banks
Banks and their cards and payment products across markets.
Issuer role
Card issuerPayment product issuerParticipant
An issuer keeps one canonical organization record while its product and infrastructure roles are expressed through relationships.
Graph connections
CardsMarketsSystemsIdentifiers
Products, reach, infrastructure participation and assigned identifiers remain independently traceable.
Standards
Technical, security and operating standards used across payment systems.
Category
Schemes & RailsAcceptance & InterfacesSecurity & AuthenticationIdentifiers & DataMessaging & DataAPIs & Open Banking
Standards are grouped by the primary interoperability, acceptance, security, data or implementation domain they define.
Cards
Individual consumer and business card products.
Card type
DebitCreditChargePrepaid
Card type describes how the product is funded or repaid; product-specific variants remain distinct records.
Audience
ConsumerBusinessCommercial
Audience distinguishes personal and organizational propositions without merging separately marketed products.
Form factor
PhysicalVirtualHybrid
Form factor records how the card credential is issued and used.
Identifiers
Canonical payment and institution identifiers, including IIN/BIN, BIC, BSC and MCC.
Family
IIN/BINBICBSCMCC
Each identifier family keeps its own format, authority, scope and lookup behavior.
IIN/BIN
IIN/BIN
Issuer Identification Number / Bank Identification Number ranges used for payment cards.
BIC
BIC
Business Identifier Codes used to identify financial institutions.
BSC
BSC
Market-specific bank and branch clearing identifiers, such as routing numbers, sort codes, BSBs, IFSCs and BLZs.
MCC
MCC
Merchant Category Codes used to classify merchant activity.