Glossary
Definitions of Banking terms — PSE, Mono Turbo, ACH, Transfiya, cards, and more.
A short alphabetical reference for the terms you will encounter while integrating Banking. Each entry is a one or two sentence plain-language definition. For the full data model behind any of these, follow the link to the corresponding concept page.
This glossary is a starting point and will grow. If a term you need is missing, please open an issue on the docs repo so we can add it.
ACH
The standard same-day rail used in Colombia for bank-to-bank transfers. ACH transfers are not real-time; settlement happens in cycles during banking hours.
Bank account
A funding account at a Colombian bank, identified by an account number and bank code. See Bank accounts.
Bank transfer
A payout from your Mono account to a beneficiary's bank account, dispatched across one of the Banking rails (ACH, Transfiya, or Mono Turbo). See Bank transfers.
Card
A payment instrument issued by Mono that spends against a Mono account. Cards can be virtual or physical and can be debit (linked to the account balance) or prepaid (with their own credited balance). See Cards.
Collection link
A payment link your business generates and sends to a customer to receive a PSE payment. See Collection links.
Idempotency key
A unique label your system attaches to a write request so that Banking treats a retry as the same operation. See Idempotency Keys.
Mono Turbo
Mono's real-time payout rail for transfers to participating Colombian banks. Falls back to ACH when the destination does not support real-time settlement.
Physical card
A plastic card issued by Mono. Used for payments in physical stores, ATM withdrawals, and online purchases. Requires activation before use. See Cards.
Production
The live environment where Banking moves real money. Production credentials and sandbox credentials are not interchangeable. See Authentication.
PSE (Pagos Seguros en Línea)
Colombia's standard system for paying from a bank account on a website. The local equivalent to Brazil's Pix or US ACH Direct Debit. See Collection links.
Routing
The choice of which rail (ACH, Transfiya, Mono Turbo) Mono uses to dispatch a transfer. You can request a specific routing or let Mono decide.
Sandbox
The test environment where Banking integrations can exercise the full API without moving real money. Sandbox credentials only work against sandbox base URLs.
Settlement
The point at which a transfer or collection moves from "accepted" to a final state — money credited to the destination account. Mono confirms settlement via webhook.
Transfiya
A real-time inter-bank rail in Colombia for transfers within a specific bank cluster.
Virtual card
A card issued by Mono that exists only digitally. Available immediately and used for online purchases or digital subscriptions. See Cards.
Webhook
An automatic HTTP notification Mono sends to your endpoint when a Banking event happens (transfer settled, collection paid, card created, etc.). See Webhooks.