Community Q&A
Questions
3,063 questions answered by experts in payments, banking, and financial services.
How can someone generate significant income working online?
Which online card-processing options (besides PayPal) work for companies not registered in the U.S. or Europe?
What alternatives to PayPal exist for website card processing by companies outside the US and Europe?
Does offering your account-to-account price for free actually work in practice?
Can wire transfers be reversed in cases of fraud, and what recourse does a defrauded customer have?
What online payment solutions work best for a U.S. startup with low volume and small transactions?
If donors send donations via PayPal, can their email addresses be automatically captured into a nonprofit’s database?
How can someone pay rent using a credit card?
What payment methods are teenagers most comfortable using for web services or e-commerce?
Do banks share customer information with law-enforcement agencies such as the FBI or CIA?
What happens if I mistype a recipient’s bank account number when transferring money online?
Why are banks continuing to open new physical branches?
Why are banks opening more physical branches in the digital age?
How can someone break into the Money Service Business—especially for business payments between developed and developing nations?
Economic Policy: Why might a country choose its own domestic card network instead of relying on Maestro/Mastercard or Visa?
How difficult is it to enter the African money-transfer market?
Is there any service that allows truly free international transfers, and if not, why not?
What would be required to become a Payment Service Provider for the full Middle East and North Africa region?
Why would a country build its own card payment provider instead of using Visa/Mastercard/Maestro?
What are the main issues with the U.S. Money Service Business model?
What is the process for becoming a credit card processor?
What steps are required to become a credit card processor?
What is the best travel card for an Indian student visiting the U.S. for a three-month externship?
Where can I find an Address Verification System (AVS) service that only verifies addresses and does not process credit cards?
What are the ways to register a U.S. company and open a business bank account without traveling there?
How do credit-card reward point programs work economically for banks?
How do check-cashing services confirm there’s money behind a check?
What licenses must Indian e-commerce companies like Flipkart and Shimply hold?
Which banks worldwide support Online Banking ePayments (OBeP)?
How do check-cashing services verify whether a check has sufficient funds?
What licenses are required to sell goods online in India?
Which banks globally support Online Banking ePayments or direct account debit?
What knowledge would be required to illegally siphon money from a bank?
Online Payments: What is the typical chargeback rate for U.S. merchants?
Is acquiring a defunct company better than starting a new one from scratch?
What creative strategies can a fashion e-commerce site use to acquire customers?
How can I pitch my startup idea engagingly to keep people interested?
Why do major payment processors all charge roughly the same fee (2.9% + $0.30)?
Are clearinghouses required to register with FinCEN?
Do FinCEN regulations apply internationally?
Online Payments: How can I create a Dwolla-style payment service in another country?
Do any U.S. banks allow foreign citizens to open savings or checking accounts remotely from abroad?
How risky is online banking, and what measures can reduce those risks?
What requirements must be met to establish a new bank?
What is the most serious consequence of signing every credit card receipt with a rocketship drawing instead of an actual signature?
Why are many French banks closed on Mondays, and has this negatively impacted France’s business responsiveness or entrepreneurial development?
How does a bank determine when to seal a safe deposit box after a customer passes away?
Seeking an attorney who can assist our client (a Sri Lankan bank) with registering as a money transmitter in New York and eventually other states. Any recommendations?
Can a U.S. bank operating in just one state provide money transfer services to residents of other states?
What’s the worst-case consequence of signing credit card receipts with a drawing (like a rocketship) instead of a signature?
Why are French banks often closed on Mondays, and has that negatively affected entrepreneurship or business responsiveness in France?
How do banks know when to seal a safe deposit box after someone dies?
Can anyone recommend a lawyer to help a Sri Lankan bank register as a money transmitter in New York (and later other US states)?
Can a US bank that operates in only one state offer money transfer services to residents of other states?
What alternative currencies, similar to Bitcoin, have been most successful?
What alternative payment methods are most used in international B2B transactions?
Why don’t banks rely on fingerprints for customer identification instead of signatures or ID cards?
Is there a WordPress plugin to stream Quora activity to a blog?
Does Xoom assume fraud risk for credit-card-based transfers, or do credit-card companies bear that risk—and is this why card transfers cost more?
How precisely can a person’s location be determined from blog comments?
Is an internet-exclusive currency practical or useful?
Do banking transaction references include profanity filters?
Why are wages distributed in periodic cycles like biweekly rather than continuously in real time?
Why did HSBC avoid indictment for laundering money linked to drug and terrorist organizations?
Which POS system is best suited for a small single-register liquor store?
Must payment processors confirm an organization’s 501(c)(3) nonprofit status?
How can a non-financial startup achieve PCI compliance?
If I run a Canadian business selling digital products on a U.S. platform, am I responsible for collecting sales tax from Canadian customers?
Is it possible to send remittances using prepaid debit cards?
When transferring money between banks, what is technically being exchanged behind the scenes?
What are some highly recommended paid digital subscription products?
How does international remittance operate step-by-step, such as sending money from the U.S. to Europe?
What is the most accurate method for measuring a solar panel’s efficiency?
Where can you access data on aggregated credit card transactions?
Where can you find the best rates for converting foreign currencies to USD?
What’s the process to cash a check issued in a foreign currency?
How does the Federal Reserve decide bank reserve requirements in practice?
Who are the primary shareholders of ICICI Bank?
Is a VAT number required on e-commerce invoices globally?
How profitable are international wire transfers for banks?
What defines a transnational company?
Where can aggregated statistics on global credit card payments be accessed?
Where can the best exchange rates for converting foreign currency to USD be found?
How can a check issued in a foreign currency be cashed?
How does the US Federal Reserve determine reserve requirements in practice?
Who are the major shareholders of ICICI Bank?
Is a VAT number required on e-commerce invoices in every country?
How much profit do banks typically earn from international wire transfers?
Why is there resistance to online payments among Indian consumers?
Why does PayPal struggle with Indian regulations while 2Checkout does not?
Which payment gateways are best for selling digital content in Europe and South America?
What are realistic ways to make money online today?
Which payment gateways support merchants based in Southeast Asia?
How popular is PayPal as a payment method in Southeast Asia?
Are ATM fees driven by actual technical costs or mainly used as profit centers by banks?
Can a non-US citizen living abroad use a credit card issued by a US bank?
Which processors allow online cash-advance transactions?
What are the reasons behind low adoption of online payments among Indian users?
Why does PayPal face legal and regulatory hurdles in India compared to 2Checkout?
What payment gateway works best for selling digital content in Europe and South America?