A–Z plain words

Short glossary for anyone new to prepaid

A few dozen terms that show up around a top up Ortel Mobile order, explained in short paragraphs. Not exhaustive — just the ones people typically ask about.

3-D Secure: Extra confirmation step your bank shows when you pay by card online — usually in a mobile app or by SMS. Runs on the bank side, not on this site.
Balance: The credit sitting on a prepaid SIM. Every call, SMS or data session eats from it. When it reaches zero, the SIM stops sending until it is topped up.
Card checksum: A digit derived from the other digits on a card, used to check for typos before the payment is even sent. Standard algorithm across the industry.
Custom amount: Any value between 5 and 100 € that you type into the form instead of the four preset chips.
EUR: Currency of the euro. The only currency guthabenwerk operates in.
Gewerbeamt: Local trade office in a German city. Where a small business registers to start operating.
Order id: Short unique code assigned to every top-up request when it enters the workshop queue. Format looks like GW-XXXXXXXX.
Ortel Mobile: Prepaid mobile brand active in Germany. guthabenwerk is not the operator; we run an independent top-up service for people who use an Ortel prepaid SIM.
PCI-DSS: Set of security rules that apply to businesses handling card data. The checkout uses a PCI-DSS compliant payment provider; the marketing site never touches card data.
PIN: Four-digit code that unlocks a SIM. Not related to a top-up. If you locked your SIM, contact Ortel Mobile directly.
Prepaid: Type of mobile line where you pay in advance for credit and use it until it runs out. The opposite of a monthly contract.
Preset chip: One of the four buttons in the recharge form: 15, 25, 35, 50 €. Selecting one fills the amount field.
PUK: Longer code your operator gives you if the SIM is fully locked. Also not related to top-ups.
Tariff: What Ortel Mobile charges for calls, SMS and data. We do not sell or change tariffs.
TLS 1.3: Current version of the transport layer security protocol. In short: the traffic between your browser and this site is encrypted end-to-end.
Top-up: The act of adding balance to a prepaid SIM. Also the name of the small workshop task guthabenwerk performs.
USt-IdNr.: German VAT identification number, format DE + 9 digits, issued by the Bundeszentralamt für Steuern. Ours is shown on the invoice you receive after a successful top-up.