Holding all the cards
The history of how banks helped create and manage the credit card system—and the impact that has today
What are remittances?
Countless people around the world rely on remittances as a key source of income, but the system hangs in a careful balance
What is SWIFT?
Tracking how money moves internationally from bank to bank thanks to the SWIFT messaging system
What is PCI?
As the payments industry tries to keep fraud down and keep consumers safe, that’s where the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) comes in
PayPal’s history of fighting fraud
PayPal revolutionized anti-fraud measures. Now, new technologies are taking inspiration from the payment giant
How EMV hopes to chip away at fraud
U.S. credit card fraud is at an all-time high, but will switching to EMV cards help?
What is anti-money laundering?
A look at how banks and governments keep their money clean with AML rules
How Venmo does P2P without fees
Why playing the long game in the fiercely competitive peer-to-peer payments market pays off for Venmo
A tale of three marketplaces
How marketplaces—like Etsy, Airbnb, and Uber—wrestle with money transmission, and whether it's all worth it
The basics of ACH
An intro to one of the most popular ways to move money electronically
How Starbucks won mobile payments
Relying on loyalty and simplicity—a 2D barcode—helped the coffee giant crack the mobile payments code
The primary players in payments processing
A breakdown of the major players in the payment processing industry
Anatomy of a bank heist
What exactly happened when $81 million disappeared from a Bangladeshi bank, and what does it mean for SWIFT?
Checking out: A brief history of checks
How the rise of more efficient—and secure—forms of payment has spelled checking’s decline, but not its total demise
Who owns personal data?
Why the debate around financial data ownership has relevant precedent in healthcare
How KYC might evolve in a post-Equifax world
The 2017 breach was historic for many reasons, not least of which is its potential to transform the practice of KYC as we know it
Finterview: Flutterwave’s Iyin Aboyeji
The founder of Flutterwave and Plaid’s Chelsea Allison chat about the current state of Africa’s payments infrastructure and the optimistic future of the continent’s workforce
Bank infrastructure and inclusivity
When financial inclusion necessitates not just new products, but also inclusive infrastructure
The rise of prepaid cards in America
What’s making prepaid cards one of the fastest-growing financial products in the country
Banking-as-a-platform 2.0
Banks are becoming platforms organically, driven by consumer preferences. So what does banking-as-a-platform 2.0 look like?
Amazon is eating the world
When winning e-commerce isn’t enough: How Amazon is poised to disrupt financial services
Finterview: Poynt's Ray Tanaka
Poynt's CTO Ray Tanaka talks POS, the future of online commerce, and the commoditization of payments processing
Apple Pay and the rise of the five-party network
Apple’s contactless payments are far from ubiquitous, but new developments hint at a next-generation payment platform
The future of Dodd-Frank and the Financial Choice Act
Unpacking the House bill that puts Dodd-Frank in its crosshairs
Finterview: Meg Nakamura of Shift Payments
Shift Payments co-founder Meg Nakamura talks API platforms, unexpected challenges of starting out with cryptocurrency, and what the future looks like for Shift
Sticks and stones
Exploring the ancient precursors to cryptocurrency
How do you solve a problem like marijuana?
How the U.S. dual banking system is stymieing business growth
How does NFC payment work?
The burgeoning technology used for tap-and-go payment relies on radio waves and electromagnetic fields
What does the FTC do?
How the FTC aims to promote honest business practices and preserve consumer choice—and where fintech fits in to its broader mission
Rebundling the bank as a platform
The future of financial innovations will rely on banks and startups working together
Finterview: Qapital’s Erik Akterin
Plaid’s Chelsea Allison and Qapital’s CTO and co-founder chat about about what makes saving so difficult for so many, the differences between Sweden and the United States, and getting a fintech startup off the ground
Finterview: Privacy’s Bo Jiang
Talking privacy in payments and the challenges and opportunities in bringing new financial technologies to market
Why payment innovations are essential to progress in consumer technology
A look at eBay, Uber, and Flipkart as examples of how payments underpin innovation as a whole
Sorting out Same Day ACH
How Phase 1 tightens the ACH process to move money faster
You say you want a revolution—in access to banking data
The United Kingdom is leading the charge on a new industry standard to free consumers’ financial data—but what might it mean for the United States?