Glossary
Definitions for Roots account, payment, compliance, and lifecycle terminology.
Use this glossary to interpret Roots account, payment, and compliance terminology in the Beta API and integration guides.
See API versions and Beta status for current availability and production requirements.
Accounts and money movement
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Account | A Roots account record used to hold and move supported assets. Depending on the enabled product, an account can be a USD virtual account or a wallet account. |
| Available balance | The portion of an account balance that Roots makes available for new activity after applicable holds, reviews, and pending payment locks. Do not calculate spendable funds from current balance alone. |
| Book transfer | An internal transfer recorded within the Roots ledger. It does not require external movement through a banking rail. |
| Counterparty | An external individual, business, bank account, financial institution, or other permitted payment destination associated with an end customer. |
| Current balance | Funds recorded in an account. Some recorded funds can remain unavailable while Roots completes compliance checks or processes a pending payment. |
| FBO account | A for-benefit-of account. Customer funds can be pooled in the same physical bank account while Roots tracks each end customer's ownership and balance in its internal ledger. |
| Internal transfer | A payment between Roots accounts. The current payment schema represents this as an internal payment type. |
| Payment | A Roots instruction representing a deposit, withdrawal, or internal transfer. A payment-create response does not guarantee settlement. |
| Payment rail | The network used to process a payment, such as Fedwire, ACH, SWIFT, or an internal rail. Availability depends on the product configuration and production API contract. |
| Return | A payment outcome in which funds are returned after processing begins. Reconcile the returned funds before creating a replacement instruction. |
| Settlement | The completion of a payment. In the current Beta schema, Settled is the terminal status that indicates payment completion. |
| Virtual account | A customer-specific account structure recorded under an FBO arrangement. The account can receive account instructions and balances only after the applicable issuance and approval steps complete. |
Parties and records
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Association | A relationship between two Roots persons. Use associations to link a business to its UBOs, directors, control persons, and authorized signatories. |
| Authorized signatory | A person authorized to act or sign for a business. The current association schema uses the AuthorizedSignatory role. |
| Client | A direct Roots customer, typically a financial institution, fintech, payment company, or other financial platform that integrates with Roots on behalf of its end customers. |
| Control person | An individual with significant responsibility to control, manage, or direct a business. The current association schema uses the ControlPerson role. |
| Customer person | A Roots Person with the Customer role. Use this role for an end customer that receives Roots products or account services. |
| Director | A person who serves on a business's board or in an equivalent governance role. The current association schema uses the Director role. |
| End customer | An individual or business served by a Roots client. The client submits data and actions to Roots on the end customer's behalf. |
| Graph person | A Roots Person with the Graph role. Use this role for an individual recorded only through a business ownership or control relationship. |
| Identity | The latest structured information Roots holds about a person, including identity details and supporting documents. |
| Person | The shared Roots record for either a business or an individual. A person can have one or more roles in the Roots model. |
| UBO | Ultimate beneficial owner: an individual who ultimately owns or controls a business. The current association schema uses the UBO role. |
Compliance and review
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Attestation | A Roots record of a specific first-line compliance outcome, such as business verification or sanctions-screening clearance. A Roots attestation does not replace a required Bank decision. |
| Bank gate | The required Bank approval stage that follows Roots first-line verification. Roots must not create or activate an account, issue account instructions, enable funding, or enable a new product when the required Bank approval has not been recorded. |
| EDD | Enhanced due diligence: additional compliance checks and evidence required for higher-risk relationships or activity. |
| Hold | A control that prevents the affected onboarding flow, account activity, funds, or payment from proceeding while a review, RFI, or other required decision remains unresolved. |
| KYC | Know Your Customer: identity verification and screening for an individual. |
| KYB | Know Your Business: verification and screening for a business and its ownership or control structure. |
| RFI | Request for information: a Roots request for missing or additional information, explanation, or supporting documents. Keep linked activity blocked until Roots resolves the request. |
| Review | A point-in-time compliance assessment of an identity, counterparty, payment, or other subject. Reviews can include verification, screening, risk evaluation, and required human assessment. |
| Screening | Checks against applicable sanctions, politically exposed person (PEP), adverse-media, and other compliance data sources. |
| Restriction | A configured limitation on an account, payment, funds access, product, currency, or payment rail. Enforce the restriction returned by Roots; do not infer permitted activity. |
Statuses and lifecycle terms
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Active | A status indicating that an account, counterparty, or other object can operate within its enabled capabilities and active restrictions. Always retrieve the latest state before taking action. |
| Blocked | A status indicating that compliance or operational controls prevent affected activity. Stop automation and follow the linked review or RFI process. |
| In review | A status indicating that Roots is assessing submitted information or a response. Do not treat it as approval. |
| Issued dormant | A planned account state for an issued account awaiting first funding and applicable review. Do not assume funds are available or outgoing payments are enabled. |
| Pending | A non-terminal state. For payments, it means the payment exists but is not settled; for accounts or counterparties, it can mean additional issuance, screening, or approval steps remain. |
| Submitted | A payment state indicating that the payment has entered processing. Continue monitoring until it reaches a terminal state. |
Regulatory and reporting terms
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| CTR | Currency Transaction Report: a regulatory report relating to qualifying cash transactions. The Bank—not Roots—determines and performs regulatory filings. |
| FinCEN | The U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury responsible for financial-crime prevention and related reporting requirements. |
| OFAC | The U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control. OFAC administers and enforces U.S. economic and trade sanctions. |
| PEP | Politically exposed person: an individual who holds or has held a prominent public function, and in some cases their family members or close associates. PEP outcomes can require enhanced review. |
| SAR | Suspicious Activity Report: a regulatory filing for suspected financial crime. Roots can investigate and escalate potential suspicious activity, but the Bank makes the final determination and files any SAR. |
| Travel Rule | A U.S. funds-transfer requirement to collect and transmit specified originator, beneficiary, transaction, and institution information for qualifying transfers. |
Next steps
- Read Core concepts for object relationships and lifecycle behavior.
- Read Respond to RFIs and understand holds for blocked-activity handling.
- Check the API reference for the current Beta schema and endpoint availability.
Updated about 1 hour ago
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