Community Q&A
Questions
3,063 questions answered by experts in payments, banking, and financial services.
Why did remittances to low- and middle-income countries peak in 2018?
Is TransferWise generally better than other remittance services?
Could money be “wiped out” the way an ant society functions without money?
Why don’t banks process transactions on Sundays?
What qualifications are essential for an anti–money laundering (AML) officer?
Where does the money used for transfer payments actually come from?
How did banks transfer money bank-to-bank before telex or SWIFT existed?
Is it possible to identify which banks do business with gun manufacturers/dealers (for boycott purposes)?
How can I start a cryptocurrency exchange if banks won’t open accounts tied to Bitcoin?
What is the most important lesson you’ve personally learned about money?
Why can companies like Coinbase handle both fiat and crypto while others struggle?
What factors cause foreign remittances to rise or fall?
If I want a regulated money supply, don’t speculate, and don’t care about anonymity, why would I still choose Bitcoin?
Why are money transfer operators still popular in the Philippines even though PayMaya and GCash can be cheaper?
Which remittance corridors rely heavily on hawala networks?
Can international bank transfers be guaranteed at the time of execution?
Could Venmo realistically replace Western Union?
What legal position do individuals have when operating like MoneyGram or Western Union?
Who are market makers on Ripple, and are they considered money transmitters requiring licenses?
Why do countries hold foreign exchange reserves?
Why isn’t an escrow model like LocalBitcoins typically treated as a money transmitter/MSB in many US states?
Are MoneyGram and Western Union owned by the same parent company?
Will the Pakistani rupee strengthen against the USD under the government led by Imran Khan?
Can I be arrested in GCC countries or my home country if I have an unpaid UAE credit card debt of AED 5,000?
How much cash can I legally carry on an international flight (e.g., Karachi → Bangkok or Karachi → Dubai)?
Is Ripple classified as a money transmitter under FinCEN regulations?
Why do correspondent payout partners have to maintain reserves with the principal license holder—but not the other way around?
Where and how are exchange rates determined?
What’s the simplest way to convert cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin/altcoins) to fiat and withdraw to a bank account?
How much money volume is transacted globally in a single day across all categories (consumer, business, forex, etc.)?
Why are US banks closed during hours when it’s most convenient for many customers (evenings/weekends), and how does that make business sense?
Is it fair for TransferWise to take up to 90 business days to refund rejected transfers?
Can individuals send money directly to my Payoneer account?
Where does PayPal actually hold and deposit users’ funds?
Is gold necessary for a country to issue paper currency?
What payment gateway options exist besides PayPal for receiving funds from the US into Pakistan?
How is TransferWise able to process international transfers so quickly?
Why are cryptocurrencies still largely unregulated?
Besides cash and precious metals like gold, what other forms of payment would you personally accept?
What do you think about an Uber-style remittance model where senders in opposite directions match and exchange locally, with default risk insured via blockchain-based collateral?
What is the average monthly revenue a typical independent sales organization (ISO) is expected to generate for a small-to-mid principal license holder, and what commission structures are common?
Why do banks and money transfer businesses portray cash as “bad” or undesirable?
What is the difference between a traditional wire transfer and an email-based e-transfer?
How can I buy cryptocurrency in Pakistan?
Can a PayPal account be linked to a Pakistani national bank account?
Does a wire transfer recipient see the sender’s bank account details?
Why hasn’t PayPal launched another major breakthrough product in recent years?
Is Bitcoin protected by FDIC insurance?
Why is building a Plaid-like startup harder in the UK or Europe despite open banking APIs?
How do startup founders handle compliance risks when they are not compliance experts?
Can I verify a second PayPal account using the same Payoneer US bank details as my first account?
What would be the process for imposing a tax on remittances sent from the United States?
If an app only connects people to hawaladars but never touches funds, does it need FCA or HMRC registration in the UK?
Can someone identify my bank account details using only my SWIFT code?
Is there a global authority that oversees and regulates international wire transfers?
How long does a domestic wire from Union Bank (a US community bank) typically take to show up in a Chase account?
Why do we still use expensive payment processors like PayPal and Western Union when cheaper alternatives exist?
Is there any equivalent of a Social Security Number for people in Pakistan?
Can I pick up a MoneyGram transfer that was sent to me via Western Union?
Is it standard practice to pay remittance charges upfront?
If Ripple is a first mover in bank-based international transfers, how can competitors survive?
How do traditional banks respond to the rise of challenger banks?
If TransferWise/Wise can send money to Indonesia but can’t send money from Indonesia, why is that—doesn’t sending money there imply they already have local banking rails?
What factors make remittance systems complicated?
Can you receive a Western Union transfer without the tracking number?
What are the best blockchain guides or books for product managers, and which blogs/articles do you recommend?
Which cryptocurrency is the best alternative to Bitcoin?
Are international banks as strict as US banks when it comes to compliance and onboarding?
How do I start a money remittance agency in the UK?
Is Apple Pay considered a successful mobile payments app?
Why do people collectively have such strong faith in fiat currency?
If the petrodollar loses reserve currency status, what’s most likely to replace it (other than cryptocurrency)?
What is “float” in a banking system?
When a new currency is created, how does it move from the central bank into circulation among people?
Why do many places in Portugal reject “international credit cards”?
Could an app that enables users to exchange currencies with each other (so they become their own “money transmitters”) be disruptive for international remittances?
What do you think of a peer-to-peer FX platform where users directly exchange currencies without a middleman—can it reach enough liquidity to work?
What’s the safest way to transfer money from the Philippines to the US (wire, online services, or banks)?
Will mobile payments ever replace credit cards in the US, and what are the main obstacles?
As a traveler in Denmark, where should I exchange money to get a relatively good exchange rate?
If a money services business is exempt from state money transmitter licensing, is FinCEN registration alone sufficient, or do they still need state licenses?
Are payroll service providers considered money transmitters/MSBs—and if not, why not?
What conditions does a society need before it can successfully implement fiat currency?
What could replace paper currency in the future?
Can RTGS be used to transfer funds from overseas into a US bank?
Which banks are willing to provide accounts and payments services to crypto exchanges (for deposits and transfers)?
How can I replenish a forex account when my central bank heavily restricts foreign currency transfers?
If someone hides money offshore, how do they actually spend it back home without getting caught?
Is it smart for a fintech startup to build a blockchain product if its main customers are banks—would requiring banks to run nodes create security concerns?
How do remittances physically move money (as opposed to just account balances)?
Before credit cards and global banks, how did travelers (like aristocrats on continental tours) access funds safely without ATMs?
How can I set up multiple payment gateways on my e-commerce site so payments route based on the customer’s location to the nearest branch?
Why do ultra-wealthy people invest in second passports?
How can I transfer money from Pakistan to the US if my funds are in a USD foreign currency account in Pakistan?
Is there a currency called “Dahra”?
Will Ripple face serious regulatory risks (as of 2018)?
Which companies provide global payment services besides Payoneer?
International wires are supposed to take a few days—if a wire is delayed for weeks or a month, where is the money during that time?
Is it illegal in the US to offer remittances using cryptocurrency, and can crypto remittance services avoid the fees that regulated remittance providers pay?
Why did my USD transfer to a USD-denominated foreign account get converted? I sent $1,000 USD to Europe; the recipient got €820, which was then converted back to $970—why did this happen if their account is in USD?