Glossary

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The structure

Attachment point — The pool loss level at which a given layer starts to lose money. Below it, untouched; above it, being eaten. See attachment points. First loss — The originator’s own money, at least 15% of the pool, deposited before the pool opens and destroyed before any investor loses anything. See first loss. Junior — The layer paid last and losing earliest, other than first loss. At PRISM this is pALPHA. Mezzanine — The middle layer, between junior and senior. At PRISM this is pCORE. Senior — The layer paid first and losing last. The largest and cheapest. Funded by a bank or credit fund, or by pPRIME investors where no bank is present. Second loss — A position that takes losses only after first loss is exhausted. pALPHA is second loss, which is why it is priced at ~16% rather than the much higher rate true first-loss capital would demand. Tranche — A position in the queue for both repayments and losses. Repayments enter at the top and work down; losses start at the bottom and work up. See tranches. Waterfall — The order in which repayments are distributed and losses are absorbed.

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The notes

pPRIME — The senior note. Target 7.5–9%. pCORE — The mezzanine note. Target ~11%. pALPHA — The junior note. Target ~16%. Intended for a professional credit investor who also judges the originator.

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The parties

Borrower — The end customer who owes money on an invoice, BNPL balance or merchant advance. PRISM never lends to them and is never their lender of record. Originator — The lending company whose loan book the pool is built against. It finds the loans, collects the money, and reports the numbers — which is why it is the concentrated risk. Pool company — The separate legal entity that buys the receivables outright, so the originator’s other creditors cannot reach them if it goes bankrupt. Trustee — The independent party controlling the fiat collections account.

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The mechanics

Advance rate — The share of a loan book a senior lender will lend against. Banks typically 70–75%, private credit funds 85–90%. PRISM funds part of what sits above that line. Collection tripwire — The automatic stop. Collections below 90% of expectation halt new purchases and route all cash to repaying investors. See the collection tripwire. Controlled account — An account the originator can see but cannot empty. See controlled collections. Loan tape — The weekly report: every loan, its dates, amounts and payment history. Receivable — An amount a borrower owes: an unpaid invoice, a BNPL balance, a merchant advance. Servicing fee — What PRISM charges on notes outstanding, 75–150 bps. Structuring fee — What PRISM charges when a pool is issued, 50–100 bps. Tenor — How long the pool runs. PRISM pools are 30 to 90 days. True sale — The receivables legally belonging to the pool company rather than the originator. Utilisation · deployment — How much of the committed capital is actually working rather than idle. See utilisation.

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Chains and rails

Arc — Circle’s Layer 1, live since 16 September 2026. EVM-compatible, USDC as native gas. Carries the pool. CCTP — Circle’s cross-chain transfer protocol. The settlement rail beneath Gateway. Gateway — Lets an investor fund a pool from a unified USDC balance across chains. Circle Mint — Converts USDC to fiat and back, and supplies the institutional account behind controlled collections. StableFX — Circle’s FX product. On PRISM’s roadmap for local-currency pools; not yet in use. USDC — The dollar stablecoin every pool is denominated in. USYC — On the roadmap for capital held between pools; not yet in use.

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Units

bps · basis points — Hundredths of a percentage point. 100 bps is 1%. Gross yield — What the underlying loan book earns before losses, funding costs and fees. PRISM needs roughly 15–17%. See minimum asset yield.