Community Q&A
Questions
3,063 questions answered by experts in payments, banking, and financial services.
Why do banks impose fees for placing a stop payment on a check?
Do savings accounts come with routing numbers?
Is it feasible to open a temporary bank account in Munich for six weeks to transfer funds from my home country?
Why do banks charge fees for stop-payment requests on checks?
Do savings accounts have routing numbers?
Can I open a bank account in Germany for only six weeks (e.g., in Munich) to transfer money from my home country?
Why do processors exist — why don't Visa and Mastercard directly handle all transactions themselves?
Why do credit card companies perform poorly in the online banking arena?
What is international banking, and why is it necessary?
What is Paymate and how does its money transfer service work?
Why should we trust that small U.S. businesses can generate sufficient employment?
Will physical cash still be widely used twenty years from now?
Money Transfers: How does Western Union offer a zero-fee transfer option?
Can U.S. bank account numbers include alphabetic characters?
Do you believe a gallon of gasoline could drop to $1 again within your lifetime?
What might the USD-to-Zamunda Pound exchange rate have been in 1988 and what could it be today?
How long does an international wire transfer from the U.S. to HDFC Bank in India usually take?
Can someone legally turn $200 into $1000 within 30 days?
My friend needs to open a current account for employment — which UAE bank should he choose?
What does it cost a bank to produce and issue a debit card?
Why are physical checks free to process while ACH transfers incur fees?
How can I set up a PayPal business account?
Can someone open a U.S. PayPal account using an Israeli credit card?
If an FDIC-insured bank run occurs, when would I receive my insured funds?
Payment Processing: What is the most effective method for paying vendors overseas?
Online Payments: Which African countries have populations with no or very limited access to debit and credit cards?
How does the World Bank provide loans to countries? Do they create currency, or use another mechanism?
How much remittance revenue is sent to Africa annually?
What else can banks do beyond financing to support growing businesses?
Why should small business owners understand their financial statements?
Beyond lending, how else can banks support growing businesses?
Why is it important for small business owners to understand and read financial statements?
Which payment gateway is most suitable for global transactions?
What are effective methods or tools for processing online payments originating from Nigeria?
Why do international money transfers require time to complete?
What is the least expensive method to transfer funds from Turkey to the U.S.?
What effective strategies exist for marketing products to banking professionals?
What are good alternatives to a traditional safe deposit box?
Is it safe to provide debit-card information to a web sales representative in chat?
What is the Hawala system, and what happened in the Hawala scandal?
Which e-commerce platforms let customers buy credits for future purchases?
Where is the best option for non-U.S. residents to open a U.S. merchant account?
What distinguishes a money transmitter license from an escrow license?
How can commercial companies handle Check21 transactions on their own?
What is the difference between a money transmitter license and an escrow license?
How can for-profit companies directly process Check21 transactions?
How long does an international wire take to reach a Standard Chartered PKR account?
How long does an international wire transfer take to reach a Standard Chartered PKR account?
How many bank branches are there globally?
If account balances aren’t tied to physical cash, what prevents digital manipulation?
Is it standard to incur fees when transferring money from personal to business accounts within the same bank?
Should Indian companies accept online payments with a 1–2% fee instead of receiving cheques?
Can you get a temporary virtual card number without owning an actual credit card?
How do providers like PayPal and Square verify and process credit card transactions?
Why did personal digital certificates fail to gain widespread adoption?
If two NFC cards are in my wallet, what prevents both from being charged when I tap for payment?
What’s a low-cost way for an independent contractor to collect payments online quickly?
What is a low-cost way for an independent contractor to quickly collect payments online?
Can you purchase a cashier’s check or money order using a credit card?
What requirements must a company meet to legally call itself a bank in the UK?
Can a Simple-style virtual bank be built in the United Kingdom?
What are some inspiring success stories about SaaS customer support?
Approximately how many payment transactions occur globally each day?
What are your views on cloud-based digital wallets for proximity payments?
Which payment gateways work for a self-hosted online store in India?
What payment gateway options exist for self-hosted e-commerce stores in India?
What are the core components required to build a peer-to-peer payment system?
How does Bank of America determine exchange rates for incoming wire transfers?
Which bank does Apple use to process iTunes and App Store payments?
What are the steps to build a peer-to-peer payments platform?
How does Bank of America determine exchange rates for incoming wires?
Which bank handles Apple’s iTunes and App Store payment processing?
Is it advisable to use a credit card check to pay down a credit line balance?
Which payment systems are best suited for selling software online?
Are there third-party billing platforms where I can collect payments, take a cut, and forward the rest to merchants?
Should mobile payment systems be free for merchants to use?
What payment systems work best for selling software online?
What third-party billing services allow acting as an intermediary—collecting customer payments, taking a cut, and paying merchants?
Should mobile payment platforms charge merchants or remain free to use?
Which online service is most cost-effective for registering multiple S/C-corporations in the U.S. and obtaining EINs?
What is the minimum data required to authorize a credit card transaction?
Which U.S.-based independent payment gateways are considered the best?
Which major bank offers the simplest and easiest account opening process?
Are there recommended books or research papers on money laundering?
What does it cost to manufacture a U.S. penny?
Can Visa gift cards be used to pay for online services?
How can payment processing be handled in the background?
What is the total amount of physical currency currently in existence?
What qualities do online merchants prioritize when choosing a payment processor?
Are there studies analyzing the link between digital-to-traditional transaction ratios and retail banks’ operating costs?
Banking: Do banks move physical cash to settle online transfers, and if not, how is it handled?
How are international sales of online services taxed?
Which U.S. bank is best for opening a personal account without a Social Security Number?
Is PayPal’s value proposition still meaningful today?
What are some creative ideas to make consumer banking more appealing or modern?
What are effective strategies for negotiating with banks?
Why do banks require more time to process refunds than they do purchases?
What is an appropriate response when someone says “money doesn’t buy happiness”?
How can someone launch a Stripe- or Braintree-style payment processor in sub-Saharan Africa?
What are the optimistic and pessimistic scenarios for Facebook Payments?