Community Q&A
Questions
3,063 questions answered by experts in payments, banking, and financial services.
What is the most valuable banknote ever issued to date?
What is the best payment system to integrate into a website that operates as a platform?
Is there a website payment system that automatically converts fiat to Bitcoin and sends it to a specified Bitcoin address?
Does PCI DSS specify any maximum acceptable network latency for card transactions?
How does Bitcoin trading work in Pakistan?
How do U.S. banks run background checks on non-citizens?
Why did M-Pesa succeed so strongly in Kenya while similar products underperformed in South Africa or India?
How does Visa settle funds between acquirers and issuers at day-end—what rails/mechanisms are used (ACH, switches, etc.)?
Why does it seem like most people don’t really understand how money works?
Can money laundering be done via large-scale art purchases, and how does that affect art pricing and valuations?
Why aren’t PayMaya and GCash in the Philippines widely viewed as success stories despite clear benefits?
How many Swiss banks exist in total?
Bitcoin in 2014: Which companies offered Bitcoin merchant acquiring/processing?
Why are banks wary of Bitcoin?
Why are there so many physical bank branches concentrated in Manhattan?
History: How did wealthy Europeans move assets to the New World during the colonial era?
How can someone get a meeting with a major tech company like Apple or Samsung?
What items does PayPal need to recognize and account for in its financial statements?
How are large-value bank transactions executed in practice?
Banks: Which financial services brand is doing a strong job marketing “innovation”?
Does Dubai have its own stock exchange?
Is there a country-by-country directory of financial regulators, or an online database of regulatory enforcement actions and breaches?
Why hasn’t peer-to-peer money transfer seen widespread adoption?
When did societies begin using currency to trade goods across borders?
How can I set up a Ripple gateway for African/Asian currencies, and what would it cost?
The UK Faster Payments website says around 400 payment service providers access the system indirectly via sponsor banks—who are these providers and what level of access/service do they get?
Which payment gateway providers let Pakistan-based e-commerce businesses offer PayPal as a checkout option?
Which banks and financial institutions are supported by Yodlee?
What exactly is involved in Check 21 processing services?
Online Banking: What happens if you accidentally deposit money into the wrong account?
Can funds sent to the wrong account via NEFT/RTGS be reversed?
Why do banks ask “public records” verification questions when confirming identity?
I live in India and have no U.S. contacts—how can I open a U.S. business bank account remotely?
Somalia’s currency is unrecognized internationally—what does that mean and what are the consequences?
What paths can someone take to enter investment banking without experience?
What is the best dataset available on global remittance flows and average remittance costs?
When I transfer money from my bank to PayPal, where does the money actually go behind the scenes?
What is the minimum ACH debit settlement time needed to reduce fraud risk?
Payment Processing: What should I understand before becoming a merchant of record?
Is it better to exchange currency before leaving your country or after arriving in the destination country?
What opportunities exist for U.S. or European startups within the remittances sector?
What does a payment analyst do?
Who is currently in charge of Facebook’s payments division?
Why do many self-proclaimed payment-processing experts provide inaccurate information?
How does PayPal actually process a transaction when a customer submits a payment?
How do banks use encryption in ATMs, and where is ATM-related data stored?
What steps are required to accept Bitcoin payments in countries where PayPal and similar services are not available?
How can I set up my own mobile money-transfer startup?
What is the fastest and cheapest way to send money to someone in another U.S. state, excluding MoneyGram or Western Union—perhaps via a bank?
What are the biggest problems with today’s payment systems?
Why don’t banks integrate Mint directly into their sites, and is that good or bad for Mint?
Why do banks typically not charge fees for transfers within the same bank?
How are banks regulated?
If I want to launch an international money-transmission business, do I need licensing in every country?
What are the best books on payment infrastructure?
Why don’t developed countries like the U.S., U.K., and Australia have instant interbank transfers?
Can merchants using processors like BitPay or Coinbase shield themselves from Bitcoin’s exchange-rate volatility?
What does it currently cost to purchase one bitcoin?
Which bank performs the currency conversion during a cross-border wire transfer?
If $100 million suddenly appeared in my room and I deposited it into my bank account, would authorities investigate or visit me?
What do consultants at the World Bank typically do?
What is CoinX, and how does it differ from other companies in the space?
What is a recent change in the banking industry, and what might it mean for a technology analyst?
How is money “virtualized,” what prevents banks from misreporting funds, and what would a new bank need to do to accept and hold digital balances?
What is accurate and what is misleading about the article claiming M-Pesa and Bitcoin are mirror images of each other?
Which Bitcoin startups have achieved—or are closest to achieving—product-market fit?
What is the cheapest way to send money from Europe to India?
What is a batch payment?
Why do so many people find Bitcoin difficult to understand?
In simple terms, what is a clearinghouse?
What is the cheapest way to buy Bitcoin in Pakistan?
What are some standout startups in Pakistan?
When will Facebook add person-to-person payments to WhatsApp?
I forgot my ATM PIN—what should I do next?
Is there an efficient way to automate making hundreds of payments to online retail customers besides PayPal?
What is the proper definition of a third-party payment service?
How do banks in Pakistan recover money from borrowers who don’t pay?
How can a charity in Pakistan set up an online donation system to accept credit card payments?
Why do companies use Stripe instead of local banks if banks can offer much lower fees?
What is required to start a business similar to PayPal or Venmo?
Which payment gateways provide white-label offerings?
How can a foreign worker send just $1 home?
Which method of booking is more trustworthy—online or offline?
Can I open a U.S. bank account from a branch of that bank located in my home (non-U.S.) country?
What is an effective way to define target customer segments in the payments industry?
How does anti–money laundering policy apply to Bitcoin, and what compliance steps must I take?
What is the typical pricing range for white-label card issuers?
How does an express (urgent) international wire differ from a standard wire transfer?
Is a Reuters Terminal actually better than Bloomberg for FX, and does that apply to other asset classes too?
How can banks improve customer experience in their call centers?
Is there an EU-wide KYC provider similar to IDology?
With oil under $50 per barrel, when would the broader stock market typically enter a bear market?
How do firms like BillMeLater get away with requesting only the last four digits of an SSN for CIP/Patriot Act compliance?
How do Catholic churches around the world transfer funds to the Vatican?
Why isn’t there a single universal secure authentication method to prove identity to banks and critical websites?
Why are international remittance fees so expensive?
If my U.S. company invoices a German client, must I charge VAT?
Which mutual funds are considered the best investment options in Pakistan?
How many individual banks are there worldwide?
Where can I find the ISO 8583 message specifications for each card network such as Visa, Mastercard, and STAR?