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The Pay Off: How Changing the Way We Pay Changes Everything
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. Europeans are heavily regulated, Americans oddly backward, and the Chinese are 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.
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. Europeans are heavily regulated, Americans oddly backward, and the Chinese are 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.
374 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 14, 2022
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18 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 9, 2022
A fascinating glimpse into the fast-evolving arena of payments, this book delves deep into all the opposing forces that have led to its transformation thus far. What’s in store is an inevitable series of battles: Innovation vs. regulation; Technology vs. legacy infra; Data vs. privacy; Private profits vs. consumer interests; Nationalism vs. geopolitics. And the wealth of information in the book definitely helps one understand these aspects very well.
For what many will call an esoteric topic, the narrative never loses steam and keeps the reader engaged and - at the same time - informed.
For what many will call an esoteric topic, the narrative never loses steam and keeps the reader engaged and - at the same time - informed.
November 16, 2022
Fundamentally the way we pay from the 1900s to today has changed immensely. A good payments system today addresses/is based on risk, liquidity and convention.
Technology, telecommunication and digitization has propelled the payment industry in more ways than one could ever imagine. Leading industry mechanisms such as Visa, MasterCard and SWIFT have innovated, improved and also efficiently sped up the processes of payments which on top of that innovations such as Stripe, Adyen, Square have been built.
Additionally, technological companies are fighting in the forefront in the battle of payments by creating their own innovations and process through Apple Pay, Google Pay to Alipay, Mpesa and Tenpay. Payments are different globally and the adaptation of it is considers the political, economic and geolocation of countries and regions. As some countries still use cash (particularly SSA and South East Asia) whereas cash is close to nonexistent in most of the western world and China! 10 years from today who knows how we’ll be paying but one thing is for sure ‘money makes the world go round’!
Technology, telecommunication and digitization has propelled the payment industry in more ways than one could ever imagine. Leading industry mechanisms such as Visa, MasterCard and SWIFT have innovated, improved and also efficiently sped up the processes of payments which on top of that innovations such as Stripe, Adyen, Square have been built.
Additionally, technological companies are fighting in the forefront in the battle of payments by creating their own innovations and process through Apple Pay, Google Pay to Alipay, Mpesa and Tenpay. Payments are different globally and the adaptation of it is considers the political, economic and geolocation of countries and regions. As some countries still use cash (particularly SSA and South East Asia) whereas cash is close to nonexistent in most of the western world and China! 10 years from today who knows how we’ll be paying but one thing is for sure ‘money makes the world go round’!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews