Payment is the performance of an obligation to pay money. A person under such an obligation is called a debtor, and a person to whom the obligation is owed is called a creditor. The obligation may arise in various ways, but it is most commonly the result of a commercial transaction or contract between the parties. In law, in order that payment may extinguish the obligation, it is necessary that it be made at a proper time and place, in a proper manner, and by and to a proper person.