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business key

/ˈbɪz.nəs kiː/ - n.

1 [colloq.] The identifier the business uses in conversation, which is to say a different one in each conversation.Keep. Punchy.This is the problem.

Working definition

2. The natural identifier the business recognizes for an entity, carried alongside the surrogate to preserve traceability to the source.

Filed

See also

keys and identityThe unanswered question of whether two rows are the same person, deferred until a regulator asks it for you.
master dataThe handful of nouns the entire company depends on and no single function will admit it owns.
natural keyA key the business swore was unique and permanent, right up until the merger, the typo, and the reissued account number.
surrogate keyA number we invented so we would stop arguing about which real-world thing it points to. The argument moved one table over.