# Glossary
source: https://developer.mastercard.com/mastercard-processing-mastercard/documentation/glossary/index.md

The glossary explains the various terms and definitions, and the acronyms used throughout this documentation.

| Abbreviation/Acronym |                     Term                     |                                                                                                                                                                                     Description                                                                                                                                                                                     |
|----------------------|----------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| API                  | Application Programming Interface            | A set of routines, functions, and protocols exposed by a system to enable seamless integration and communication with other systems.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                |
| BIN                  | Bank Identification Number                   | The first six or eight digits of a card number (PAN) that is used to identify the issuer and a card payment product.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                |
| CBS                  | Core Banking System                          | The primary system of an issuer, which is treated as a master source of data in this setup.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |
| CIS                  | Customer Implementation Services             | A managed onboarding process that configures and approves access to the MTF and Production environments. It enables the required APIs after credentials are created, ensuring proper environment setup and compliance.                                                                                                                                                              |
| CMS                  | Card Management System                       | The core system owned by Mastercard Processing (MP) that stores and maintains all card-related data used across the Mastercard Processing ecosystem. The CMS acts as the authoritative source of truth for: • card contracts • card numbers (PANs) • product configurations • card lifecycle states All interactions with CMS-stored data occur through Mastercard Processing APIs. |
| JSON                 | JavaScript Object Notation                   | A lightweight, text-based data format used for structured data exchange in APIs.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |
| JWE                  | JSON Web Encryption                          | An open standard (RFC7516) for encrypting structured data using JSON-based data structures and base64url encoding. It is used by Mastercard to encrypt sensitive payloads during transmission.                                                                                                                                                                                      |
| MDES                 | Mastercard Digital Enablement Service        | A tokenization platform that enables issuers to securely store payment card credentials on mobile devices or merchant servers, replacing the PAN with secure tokens for enhanced security.                                                                                                                                                                                          |
| MP                   | Mastercard Processing                        | A payment processing platform that serves as the primary service provider for this product. It is responsible for card issuance (including preparation and management of card data) and transaction processing.                                                                                                                                                                     |
| MTF                  | Mastercard Test Facility                     | A Production-like environment used for full integration and User Acceptance Testing (UAT). It provides access to the latest Production API release and is enabled through a CIS-managed onboarding process.                                                                                                                                                                         |
| PAN                  | Primary Account Number                       | A unique card number that is used to identify a card. Each PAN is associated with a specific Bank Identification Number (BIN) and corresponding payment product.                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |
| PCI DSS              | Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard | A global security standard designed to protect cardholder data and ensure secure handling of payment card information.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              |
| RSA                  | Rivest--Shamir--Adleman                      | A widely used asymmetric encryption algorithm that uses a public--private key pair to securely encrypt and decrypt data.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            |
| TLS                  | Transport Layer Security                     | A cryptographic protocol that secures communication over the Internet by encrypting data exchanged between client applications and Mastercard systems.                                                                                                                                                                                                                              |