The Pay Off: How Changing the Way We Pay Changes Everything

by Gottfried Leibbrandt, Natasha De Terán

Length: 320 pages
Edition: 1
Language: English
Publisher: Elliott & Thompson Limited
Publication Date: 2021-07-01
ISBN-10: 1783966068
ISBN-13: 9781783966066
Sales Rank: #171585 (See Top 100 Books)

“What happens when we make a payment is literally a multi-billion dollar question. This is a fascinating and entertaining insight into those seconds between clicking a button and money appearing in far-off accounts – and the changing face of those who profit.” – Dharshini David, author of The Almighty Dollar

How we pay is so fundamental that it underpins everything – from trade to taxation, stocks and savings to salaries, pensions and pocket money. Rich or poor, criminal, communist or capitalist, we all rely on the same payments system, day in, day out. It sits between us and not just economic meltdown, but a total breakdown in law and order. Why then do we know so little about how it really works?

As you read this, technology is dismantling payment barriers and governments are erecting them; cash is on the way out, and crypto and BigTech are fighting their way in. The Europeans are heavily regulated, the Americans oddly backward, and the Chinese hoping to lead the way forward. Challenging our understanding about where financial power really lies, The Pay Off shows us that the most important thing about money is the way we move it.

Leibbrandt and De Terán shine a light on the hidden workings of the humble payment – and reveal both how our payment habits are determined by history as well as where we go from here. From national customs to warring nation states, geopolitics will shape the future of payments every bit as much as technology.

Cover
Title
Contents
Introduction
Part I: Moving money
    1. What’s a payment, anyway?
    2. If money doesn’t move, how does it make the world go round?
    3. Not so simple: the fundamental challenges of payment
Part II: History
    4. The enigma of cash
    5. The war on cash
    6. Fantastic plastic: the advent of cards
    7. The mother of invention: advances in card technology
    8. Minting plastic: from credit to debit cards
Part III: Geography
    9. Prisoners of geography: why our payment habits are national
    10. Starting from scratch: how payments went mobile in China and Kenya
    11. Incredible India: the instant payment revolution
Part IV: Economics
    12. Paying to pay: the hidden costs of payments
    13. Making money by moving money: who profits from payments?
Part V: Big money
    14. How to steal a billion: fraud and theft
    15. Invisible plumbing: the mechanics behind payments
    16. How to move a trillion (or why we need central banks)
    17. If money never moves, how do you send it abroad?
Part VI: The Tech revolution
    18. Crashing the party: challenging the role of banks
    19. Cashing in on cards: the rise of the acquirers
    20. Live now, pay later: the allure of invisibility
    21. The new oil? The importance of data
    22. In code we trust: meeting the cryptocurrencies
    23. BigTech and banks enter the fray
    24. Crypto for grown-ups: central banks go digital
    25. Open access or closed loops: how payment networks compete for customers
Part VII: Politics and regulation
    26. Who’s running the show? Rules and regulators
    27. Europe gets a phone number: how EU regulators reshaped payments
    28. How payments became weaponised
    29. Follow the money: payment trails and the fight against financial crime
    30. No way to pay: excluded from the payment system
Epilogue: What’s next?
Acknowledgements
Sources
Index
Copyright