E

EBCDIC

Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code; the data representation standard used by IBM mainframe computers. Most other systems use ASCII representations.

EDI

Electronic Data Interchange; the exchange of business information, including purchase orders and invoices, between computers used by cooperating companies.

EFT

Electronic funds transfer; the paperless act of transmitting money through a computer network.

electronic bulletin board

A computer that offers access to its files by means of telephony from remote computers.

electronic cash register

The combination of a cash register and a POS terminal, often PC-based.

electronic commerce

The conducting of business transactions via remote electronic means.

electronic funds transfer

The paperless act of transmitting money through a computer network.

electronic publishing

The dissemination of information via digital media, such as CD-ROM, computer networks, floppy disks, and so on.

electronic shopping

The use of electronic media by shoppers, such as online services, the Internet, or CD-ROM to purchase goods or services.

electronic wallet

The software that stores and provides access to cardholder financial information, including credit card data and digital account IDs.

e-mail

Electronic mail.

encapsulation

The use of headers to “surround” network data for the purpose of handling its proper routing across a network or internetwork. The result is a network transmission unit directed to some destination host, with some unspecified content that will not be accessed until it arrives at its destination.

encryption

A reversible process of modifying cleartext for the purpose of keeping it secret from anyone other than its intended recipient.

Ethernet

A baseband networking medium, initially developed in the 1970s by Robert Metcalfe.

external sales agent

The AmEx term for ISO or MSP.