OBI
Open Buying on the Internet is a purchasing process that gives a step-by-step description of the different transactions between the buyer, supplier and payment institution.

Oblige
One to whom another is bound by contract or legal agreement.

Obligor
One who binds oneself to another by contract or legal agreement.

Observation
Refers to the information contained in the database that comprises an entry for each field in the database. For example, an employee database contains a record for each employee. Also known as Case, Record, and Row.

Observation Date
The date predictive characteristics are observed.

Observation Exclusions
Accounts that are excluded from the observation sample of a behaviour score development.

Observation Point
The point that predictive characteristics are observed.

Occupation
The occupation of the credit applicant.

Occupation Dictionary
A dictionary listing all of the occupations that are used as attributes within the scoring model.

Odds
The statistical probability of a positive outcome arising from any financial risk. For example, a good account from a home loan, or minimal claims on an insurance policy.

Odds to be Good
The likelihood that an applicant or an account will perform in a satisfactory manner. For example 10 to 1 means that out of 11 applicants or accounts, 10 will perform well and one will not. Also known as Good/Bad Odds.

Off Balance Sheet Financing
This refers to money borrowed or assets purchased in such a way that this is not reflected on the company balance sheet. The accepted methods for this type of financing are controlled by legislation as well as generally accepted accounting standards.

Off the Shelf
Hardware or software programs that are commercially available and ready for use ‘as is’.

Off-line
An off-line database is kept on magnetic tape or cartridge. It is not possible to call up a record instantly from an off-line database.

Off-line Debit
Debit card transactions using a VISA/MasterCard branded card that looks like a credit card. The transaction must adhere to VISA/MasterCard debit regulations and the merchant is required to pay a discount fee.

Off-line Transaction
The after-the-fact entry of a purchase resulting from a referral ('call Authorisation Centre') message or a downtime interruption of service from a Network which enables the merchant to enter (as a force/post authorisation) the transaction and the approval code into the EDC batch. Also known as Force.

Off-market Trade
A trade or deal concluded by trading parties outside of a stock exchange system.

Off-market Transfer
A transfer of shares or security from one party to another, not arising from a trade on a stock market.

Off-shore Trade
This refers to cross-border trade. It is a trade between entities based within a country and entities based outside that country.

Offer
The product or service made available to a target market. The offer is sometimes only made available for a limited time period.

Offer to Purchase
This is an offer in writing from the buyer to the seller. Once signed, by all parties it becomes a legal and binding contract between the buyer and the seller.

Offshore Funds
Funds based outside the tax system of the country in which the investor lives.

OLAP
Abbreviation for Online Analytical Processing. Software that provides users with the ability to examine data within a multidimensional view. A term meant to contrast with OLTP.

OLTP
Abbreviation for Online Transaction Processing. The original description for all activities and systems associated with entering data reliably into a database. Most frequently used with reference to relational databases, although OLTP can be used generically to describe any transaction processing environment.

On Balance Sheet Financing
A more conventional method for financing assets or incurring debts. All borrowed funds, loans and purchases are recorded and reflected in the company balance sheet.

On-line
A transaction on a terminal permanently connected to a network that is on-line to the card account.

On-line Analytical Processing (OLAP)
Software that provides users with the ability to examine data within a multidimensional view. A term meant to contrast with OLTP.

On-line Authorisation
An authorisation for a transaction that is made in real time, rather than in batch mode.

On-line Debit Card
Enhanced ATM cards that work the same way as they would in an ATM transaction.

On-line Financial Transaction
A financial transaction that is made in real time, rather than in batch mode.

On-line Transaction Processing (OLTP)
The original description for all activities and systems associated with entering data reliably into a database. Most frequently used with reference to relational databases, although OLTP can be used generically to describe any transaction processing environment.

On-market Trade
Trades conducted on a recognised stock exchange and subject to the rules and regulations of that exchange.

On-pack Offers
These are Communications with customers, which make an offer on the package that they purchase.

On-shore Trade
Trade occurring between domestic entities within the boundaries of the country.

On-Us Transaction
A transaction that is made by the issuer’s customer or merchant.

Online Auction
Similar to a real-life auction in which property or merchandise is sold to the highest bidder. An online auction takes place via a Web site, usually offering items for sale by the individuals that own them. Also see eBay.

Online Banking
Using the Internet to access bank account information and do certain transactions via the financial institution`s Web site. Also known as Internet banking.

Onus
A duty cast upon a litigant to start proceedings in court or satisfy the court that he is entitled to succeed on his claim or defence.

Open
An account that is available for debit/credit activities.

Open Buying on the Internet
Open Buying on the Internet is a purchasing process that gives a step-by-step description of the different transactions between the buyer, supplier and payment institution. Also known as OBI.

Open Profiling Standard (OPS)
A proposed standard to allow World Wide Web users to control how much personal information they share with Web sites and allow Web sites to personalise their pages for the individual user.

Open Ticket
A customer contact (transaction) that has not yet been completed or resolved (closed).

Open To Buy (OTB)
The amount of available credit that a customer has to spend. This is calculated by subtracting the current balance plus any outstanding authorisations from the credit limit.

Open-End Credit
A line of credit that is used up to a set limit. Also known as a charge account or revolving credit.

Open-end Credit or Open-end Loan
Credit extended under a plan under which a creditor may permit an applicant to make purchases or obtain loans from time to time directly from the creditor or indirectly by use of a credit card, cheque, or other device.

Opened-loop Decision Support System
Traditional decision support systems are "open-loop" in that they present data to analysts and then require some action to be taken. See Closed-loop Decision Support System.

Operating Contribution
Operating income arising from goodwill, amortisation and the effect of any restructuring actions, as well as items deemed unusual.

Operating Income
This is income derived from operations prior to the cost of net interest, miscellaneous income items or expenses.

Operating Margin
This is defined as net sales divided into operating costs.

Operating Procedures
The current manual prepared by an acquiring processor, containing operational procedures, instructions and other directives relating to card transactions.

Operating Risk
The sum total of cumulative chargeback risk exposure plus the cumulative credit risk exposure with a given merchant.

Operating Rules
Rules and business practices designed to increase consistency and interoperability among the various financial service providers that will interact with each other and end-users. Examples of operating rules include: authorisation procedures, settlement timing requirements, audit and accounting rules, and credit limits.

Operating System
The underlying software of a computer. E.g. Windows 95 and Windows NT.

Operational Grouping
The re-classification of the attributes defined in the Detailed Analysis into broader, more practical and statistically significant groups. Also known as Coarse Classing or Grouping.

Operational Research
Attempts to solve complex problems by developing mathematical models to analyse the many variables.

Operational Risk
The risk of loss due to system breakdowns, employee fraud or misconduct, errors in models or natural or man-made catastrophes, among other risks. It may also include the risk of loss due to the incomplete or incorrect documentation of trades. Operational risk may be defined by what it does not include: market risk, credit risk, and liquidity risk.

Operational Strategies
Strategies deployed by the different functions of the organisation, such as manufacturing, marketing, finance and human resource management, and which contribute to the achievement of corporate strategy.

Operations Research
The expression of various business situations in mathematical terms and the subsequent application of mathematical methods to make these situations more efficient, less costly, more profitable or any combination of these improvements.

Opportunistic Fraudster
This criminal type will enter details that look legitimate but their online history will contradict the current application. Often this type of fraud is clumsy and easily detected. E.g. the opportunist will enter different credit card numbers over a short time period until one combination is accepted. See Professional Fraudster and Opportunistic Fraudster.

OPS
Abbreviation for Open Profiling Standard. A proposed standard to allow World Wide Web users to control how much personal information they share with Web sites and allow Web sites to personalise their pages for the individual user.

Optical Card
Card with information recorded on an optical memory stripe, similar to compact disks.

Options
An option is a contractual arrangement creating the right to sell or buy at a specified price for a certain period. Unlike futures, the trader is not obliged to take delivery of an option.

Order
Stock exchange term indicating an offer to sell, or a bid to buy, an agreed quantity of shares at a pre-determined price.

Order of Court
An instruction by a Judge directing either party to do something or to refrain from doing something.

Ordinal Variable
A variable that is categorical and whose values are ordered but without any implied distance between the values. For example, many survey responses are ordinal, whereby an answer can be between 1 and 5, but this does not imply that 5 is five times better than 1.

Organised
Where a group or syndicate will target specific credit grantors and submit many fraudulent applications over a relatively short time period. This type of fraud is sophisticated, well organised and attempts to maximise the value of funds obtained.

Original Draft
The actual bank copy of the form used in the transaction. Also referred to as the 'Hard Copy.'

Original Principal Balance
The amount that was borrowed.

Originator
A financial institution that initiates a wire transfer or automated clearing house (ACH) payment.

OTB
Abbreviation for Open To Buy. The amount of available credit that a customer has to spend. This is calculated by subtracting the current balance plus any outstanding authorisations from the credit limit.

Out Currency
The currency of a European Union Member State which has not converted to the Euro.

Outbound Telemarketing
This is the process of employing telephone sales representatives to call customers or prospects, with the intention of either selling a product or service or obtaining a lead.

Outcome
The scenario that suggests a specific action be taken when a branch corresponds to the state of the application or account management data. The actual data returned to the calling system when an outcome is reached is defined in the scenario record.

Outcome Period
The period between the application window and the good/bad definition being set.

Outlet
A trader which accepts credit or debit cards as a mechanism of payment are referred to as an outlet or merchant.

Outlier
A data item whose value falls outside the bounds enclosing most of the other corresponding values in the sample. It may indicate anomalous data.

Output
The data and information created by a computer and its user.

Outsourcing
The outsource model involves a transfer of responsibility for the operation of a (usually) non-core function, process or recurring activity to a specialist service provider. The service provider owns, manages and administers the outsourced process based on defined and measurable performance metrics.

Outsourcing
The process of having various database functions handled by external service bureaus. Typically, functions are outsourced to direct response agencies, computer service bureaus, data entry houses, mailshops, fulfilment houses and telemarketing companies.

Outstanding
The balance of a loan or credit amount not yet repaid is referred to as the outstanding amount.

Over-fitting
Occurs when spurious relationships are identified, which are not part of the underlying structure. This may occur when due to a small sample size, a relationship is identified in the data, which is not representative of the population to which the model will be applied. Also known as Sample Tuning.

Over-limit
The UK English term for an account exceeding its credit limit. Also known as Excess.

Over-the-limit Fee
A fee that is charged for exceeding the credit limit on a card.

Overall Odds
The product of the Information Odds and the Population Odds. Also known as Total Odds.

Overdraft
A pre-arranged facility allowing a current account customer to write cheques or make debit card transactions in excess of their funds in the current account.

Overlayed Data
A process whereby a customer file has data appended to it (such as age, income, home value) from some external data file. See Enhancement and Data Enhancement.

Overlays
External data, which can be merged with an existing database to create better, targeted marketing efforts. Though virtually any external data can be used, typical data overlays include census and tax filer information, which can serve to create a clearer picture of the individuals on a database. See Appended Data.

Overline
The US English term for an account exceeding its credit limit/credit line.

Override
Occurs when the decision recommended by the credit score is overridden. There are three types of overrides: informational, policy and intuitional.

Override Analysis
A statistical report that relates the number of applications that have been overridden in a particular period, to score bands. This should be produced on a weekly or monthly basis as it assists in controlling the lending function.

Override Rate
The percentage of all applicants where the decision recommended by the credit score has been overridden.