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Industry: Fintech

'Pay' to 'transfer' – Core language change

Holvi, 2023

Problem

Holvi’s English terminology used the word ‘payment’ to refer to (credit) ‘transfers’. This lack of specificity would cause complications down the line as Holvi expanded its payments capabilities.

Solution​

Align payments terminology with industry standards and allow Holvi to scale its services.

Impact

  • ​Successful launch of international transfers, with a cohesive system of payments terminology

1. Introduction

Problem

Holvi's English terminology used the word ‘payment’ to refer to (credit) ‘transfers’. While not technically incorrect, this lack of specificity threatened to cause complications down the line as Holvi expanded its payments capabilities.​

 

Even when considering Holvi’s product positioning — namely, that Holvi offers business banking solutions — payments occur at a high level, and transfers (SEPA, SWIFT) form a subset of the superset of payments.

​

In other words, users pay a bill by transferring money.

 

In English, 'payments' is no longer market-standard. That's not a problem in itself; however, it resulted in Holvi using the word ‘pay’ where in some contexts it didn't fit perfectly. Besides not being fully accurate, the word ‘Pay’ can sound aggressive in some contexts. That’s why you get banks using constructions like ‘send money’ (N26) and ‘move money’ (RBC), among other solutions.

Effort to reward analysis

'Pay' was a historical term, which was likely introduced early in Holvi’s lifetime. Changing this term across all channels required sizeable effort, but as Holvi expanded its payments capabilities with international transfers, it ran the risk of compounding this problem and making it harder to fix in the future.

Holvi is business banking. Don’t our customers ‘pay’ bills?

Holvi's customers pay bills, yes. But they have options when it comes to exactly how they pay bills. In Holvi, they can do the following:

  • Transfer money (via SCT or SWIFT) from their Holvi account to another

  • Pay using any of these options

    • Holvi debit card (online)

    • Holvi credit card (online)

    • Cash (in person)

    • Mobile (Apple Pay, Google Pay, MobilePay, etc.) in person

    • Arrange SDD

2. Definitions (Investopedia)

Definitions

What is a payment?

Payment is the transfer of money, goods, or services in exchange for goods and services in acceptable proportions that have been previously agreed upon by all parties involved. A payment can be made in the form of services exchanged, cash, check, wire transfer, credit card, debit card, or cryptocurrencies.

What is a transfer?

A transfer involves the movement of assets, monetary funds, and/or ownership rights from one account to another. A transfer may require an exchange of funds when it involves a change in ownership, such as when an investor sells a real estate holding. In this case, there is a transfer of title from the seller to the buyer and a simultaneous transfer of funds, equal to the negotiated price, from the buyer to the seller.

Payment is correct at a higher level, but using the term broadly poses problems. Namely, you can ‘pay’ in many ways, with various methods. Here are the most common, most of which Holvi offers:

Screenshot 2024-12-02 at 17.29.42.png

3. Terminology hierarchy

Hierarchy

H1 – Transactions

  • Includes payments and transfers

 

H2 – Payments 

  • Debit card

  • Credit card

  • Cash

  • Mobile phone (Apple Pay, Google Pay, MobilePay, etc.)

  • SEPA Direct Debit

  • Cheque

  • Cryptocurrency

  • Electronic funds transfers

 

H3 – Electronic funds transfers (aka transfers)

  • SEPA Credit Transfers (SCTs)

  • International money transfers

    • Wire transfer using SWIFT

​

Qonto sums up the terminology hierarchy nicely with this infographic:

Screenshot 2024-12-02 at 17.32.30.png

4. Localisation

Localisation
🇬🇧 English (EN)
🇩🇪 German (DE)
🇫🇮 Finnish (FI)
Transfer
Überweisung
Siirto
Payment
Zahlung
Maksu
Transaction
Transaktion
Tapahtuma/Tilitapahtuma/Maksutapahtuma

​How does this terminology work in other languages?​​​​

  • Notes for DE terms: In Germany, both "überweisung" (transfer) and "zahlung" (payment) are commonly used to describe monetary transactions. The term "überweisung" specifically refers to the transfer of money from one bank account to another, while "zahlung" refers more broadly to the process of paying for goods or services, whether in cash or electronically.

  • Generally speaking, "überweisung" is more commonly used to describe bank transactions, while "zahlung" is more commonly used in the context of purchasing or paying for services. However, the terms are often used interchangeably depending on the context and situation.

  • Notes for FI terms: The FI Payment is commonly used when you pay/transfer money to someone else. When you transfer money between your own accounts it’s called own transfer (oma siirto). When paying outside euro zone, Holvi's FI competitors have different approaches: Nordea – Currency payment (Valuuttamaksu), OP – Pay abroad (Maksa ulkomaille)

5. Competitor benchmarks

Benchmarks
Transfer comp benchmark
App
Website
Monzo
Transfer
Payment Transfer
Revolut Business
Transfer
Transfer Uses ‘payments’ only in reference to card payments
SWIFT
(Credit) Transfer
Transfer
Wise Business
Payment
Transfer
N26 Business
Transfer
Transfer Uses ‘payments’ only in reference to card payments
Starling Business
Transfers
Money transfers
Qonto
Transfers
Transfer ‘Payments’ refers to high-level term encompassing card payments, transfers and more
Kontist
Not available
SEPA transfers & direct debits
Lili
No transfers? Only direct debits and card payments.
Monese
Transfers
Instant M–M transfers International transfers Local transfers in and out Recurring payments and direct debits
Finom
Not available
Payment initiation requests (DE-EN site)
Pleo
n/a
n/a
RBC
Transfers
Transfers International money transfers
Neo
n/a
n/a
Barclays
Natwest
OP

6. Product mockups

Mockups

Before

After

Screenshot 2024-12-03 at 10.50.11.png
Screenshot 2024-12-03 at 10.50.22.png
Screenshot 2024-12-03 at 10.50.30.png

This allowed us to launch 'International transfers'

Screenshot 2024-12-03 at 10.56.17.png
Screenshot 2024-12-03 at 10.56.32.png
Other

7. Other considerations

Marketing potential

This change didn't impact marketing potential. Like Holvi's competitors, it already used these terms interchangeably for SEO purposes. How Holvi talks about things in marketing collateral does not need to align perfectly with its in-app terminology (see competitor benchmarking).

Related terms:

  • SDD – SEPA Direct Debit

  • SCT – SEPA Credit Transfer

  • SEPA transfer

  • Bank transfer

  • International money transfer

  • Foreign currency transfer

©2025 by Daniel McLeod.

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