Community Q&A
Questions
3,063 questions answered by experts in payments, banking, and financial services.
Who is likely to make the biggest leap in improving Bitcoin’s usability?
As Americans, what can we do to increase the strength or value of the U.S. dollar?
What is the difference between the term “banking area” and “banking industry”?
Do any banks use processing rails other than ACH?
What risks would the Bank of Russia face if it ran its own SWIFT-alternative messaging system?
Bitcoin in 2015: With Bitcoin’s price dropping sharply, can it still be a sensible business decision?
How do mobile banking apps that support check-deposit-by-photo compensate for the loss of physical anti-fraud controls?
I have a Visa Inc. interview next week—how should I prepare?
Is there a company that lets you accept bank transfers globally or across several countries?
What legal steps and requirements are needed to build a PayPal-like service in the U.S. and globally?
What is the difference between a current account and a savings account?
What is Google doing well in payments, and what is it doing poorly?
What does a letter-of-credit issuing bank do if the buyer fails to repay after the credit period ends?
Is there market space for another major payment service provider like PayPal?
How do banks settle foreign-currency transactions—what mechanisms and steps are used?
What are the key differences between conventional banks and Islamic banks?
What registrations and licenses are required to run an electronic money business?
How do electronic payments companies operate?
When might we see mainstream Bitcoin-based remittance that feels seamless for users and matches today’s experience for (a) bank-to-bank and (b) cash-to-cash transfers?
When a card is swiped, what data does the reader capture and in what format is it transmitted?
Bank accounts are verified via micro-deposits—who initiates those deposits and how does the verification process work?
What is the most common logo size used for Visa, Mastercard, AmEx, Discover, JCB, and UnionPay on standard bank cards?
Why do bank transfers still take so long today?
What technology does Venmo use to pull funds from user bank accounts, and does it rely on bank APIs?
Is it plausible that an independent PayPal could acquire Square?
Where can I earn an annual return of 10–20% on my money?
What conditions would need to be met for another virtual currency to overtake Bitcoin?
What is the broader significance of Bitcoin in economics and technology?
What is the level of credit card penetration in the United States?
Did Visa ever acquire Mastercard?
What is the general attitude of banks toward Bitcoin?
If UnionPay and Apple work together on iWallet, what major opportunities could that create?
How do global platforms like Facebook maintain fast access speeds from almost anywhere in the world?
What factors drive Bitcoin’s price up and down on a daily basis?
How can I put together a proposal for a mobile banking service?
How can I test demand for a new online payment solution without actually building the product first?
How do services like PayPal and Square move money into and out of their users’ bank accounts?
How do card networks like Visa, AmEx, and Mastercard handle cross-border transactions?
How do Bitcoin-based remittances work?
What are the implications of a telco like Smart (Philippines) partnering with Rocket Internet to launch a payments product, and is it likely to succeed?
How do debit and credit transactions flow between two different banks?
How are nostro and vostro accounts reconciled?
For an incorrect ACH transfer, how should the sender notify the receiving bank under UCC § 4A-205(b) to recover the funds?
What different methods can someone use to pay for a service via mobile phone?
How does PayPal manage cross-border payments in multiple currencies, who bears the FX risk, and which other payment companies offer similar cross-border handling?
During an IBAN wire transfer (sender bank → correspondent → recipient), what manual verification steps do humans perform?
What happens behind the scenes when you withdraw cash from an ATM?
How do ATMs function internally?
Where do you do most of your banking today—branch, web, or mobile?
Do Nepal, Bangladesh, and Pakistan restrict foreign banks from processing credit card transactions domestically?
What kinds of profit margins do remittance companies typically earn?
What are the benefits of leveraging existing money-transmitter license holders instead of obtaining a full bank charter?
How will mobile financial services achieve mass adoption among both the banked and unbanked?
Why do most hackers never get caught—can’t providers trace where stolen funds go in bank or PayPal fraud cases?
Which podcasts should bankers and banking professionals listen to in order to better understand mainstream money and banking systems?
Can I transition my career from literature into banking?
Now that Snapcash launched, does that imply most messaging apps will add money-sending, and should every platform do it?
What is the total addressable market (TAM) for micropayments in the U.S., Europe, and globally, and why?
Why are micropayment fees often so expensive?
For a bank, is it better to offer one all-in-one mobile app (banking + PFM + NFC + wallet), or multiple separate apps for different functions?
What major innovations by banks or non-banks have transformed global banking, and how successful were they?
What regulations apply when starting an online bank in Europe?
Are there banks in Hong Kong that specialize in Africa or Middle East operations?
Is there an international certification program specifically for payments professionals?
Do credit and debit card payments go through SWIFT, or do they use separate networks?
If I transfer $10,000 from the U.S. to India or ₹10,000 from India to the U.S., what net amount will I receive?
Why are NFC readers popular in most mobile payment solutions for physical purchases?
How do remittance transfers function from sender to receiver?
Before wire-transfer technology existed, how were funds moved from one person to another?
Are there APIs that support building remittance services to Nepal, India, and the rest of Southeast Asia?
What licensing considerations apply when holding customer funds in an international peer-to-peer marketplace?
Would a bullion-backed “hard” cryptocurrency meaningfully disrupt fiat currencies?
Could a digital-currency business succeed in Pakistan?
Who are the five most powerful figures in global banking today?
Will WhatsApp ever offer a full API for interacting with feature phones in creative ways?
Which payment gateway lets a U.S. company charge customers in multiple local currencies, including those in Southeast Asia?
What trends were expected to shape mobile payments in 2015?
What is the maximum amount of money I can legally send to Thailand?
What stops banks from processing electronic transactions on weekends and public holidays?
When opening a joint bank account, do all account holders need to be physically present?
What are the options for making foreign payments without using a credit card?
How do banks manage and record very large volumes of transactions and customer accounts?
Could Steam’s virtual wallet balance (or “Steam money”) become the most widely used virtual currency?
What would the world look like if borrowing money didn’t exist?
Bitcoin in 2015: What’s the best platform for Bitcoin day trading (excluding Coinbase) for users outside the U.S.?
What are some interesting facts about Stellar.org?
Should I combine remittances, bill pay, mobile top-ups, and merchant payments into one app, or build separate apps?
What is a strong payment gateway option for a Saudi/Middle East startup besides PayPal?
How can a website or app initiate an ACH transfer without being underwritten?
If Bank A’s debit card can withdraw cash at Bank B’s ATM, how does that work without banks sharing sensitive account data?
Why is every major tech company building its own payment platform?
What is Western Union?
Is there a way to let users transfer money to each other directly from their bank accounts inside my app?
How does one country lend money to another—do they transfer it electronically, ship it physically, or is it just accounting entries?
What impact will FinCEN regulation have on virtual-currency payment systems being treated as money transmitters?
Can an investment management company accept money (fiat and bitcoin) through a payment gateway?
Who is likely to become PayPal’s next president?
Can Pakistani businesses use a Skrill business account to accept Visa and Mastercard payments?
How would widespread adoption of Ripple affect SWIFT and CLS in terms of market share and revenue?
Is there any bank that offers insurance services through its ATM network?