A payment involves giving money in exchange for something.
Payment is a term with different uses. When the word comes from the verb pay , it is about the delivery of money or kind that is owed, or the reward , prize or satisfaction .
Payment is, therefore, a way of extinguishing obligations through the effective fulfillment of an owed service . The active subject is the one who makes the payment: it can be the debtor himself or a third party (who pays in the name and representation of the debtor). The passive subject , on the other hand, is the one who receives the payment (the creditor or his legal representative). The payment must always coincide with the content of the obligation.
For example: “We have to call González's company, he has not yet made the payment for the month” , “I am very happy, I just received payment for the work I did for the United States” , “Miguel is worried, he has to do paying the rent but there is not enough money” , “The worst part of my job is demanding payments and listening to clients' excuses” .
Payment letter
Starting from this meaning we find a wide variety of terms that use that meaning and the word in question to establish qualifications. Specifically, for example, there is what is known as a payment letter .
We can establish that it is a document in which a person acknowledges having received all or part of the debt owed to them.
The term in law
In the same way, we cannot ignore the term dación en pago . This is used fundamentally in the field of law to refer to that action carried out by the person who has a debt and who cannot solve it with the corresponding money.
In that case, what it does is transfer ownership of something (car, property...) to the creditor in substitution of the aforementioned monetary amount.
An electronic payment can be made from a phone or computer.
Suspension of payments
Another term related to that meaning at hand is suspension of payments . With this expression, what is done is to determine a situation in which a merchant or businessman finds himself at a time in which he cannot meet the payment of the expenses and responsibilities he has.
A situation that, as a general rule, is usually communicated to the relevant judicial authority so that it can be taken into account.
To all these terms exposed we should add one more that is along the same lines. We are referring to what is known as payment paper . This is a document issued by the Treasury and whose objective is to be able to meet a series of economic obligations with the State.
Other uses of the concept
Another meaning of the term comes from the Latin word pagus and is linked to a certain district , town or village .
In Spain and other countries the concept is used to name relatively small territories , while in Argentina , Uruguay and Bolivia the payment is the place where a person was born or is rooted: “I have lived here for forty years, but I still miss my payments” , “I work in the city, but my payment is the countryside” , “My girlfriend was born in Balcarce, Juan Manuel Fangio's payments” .