Credit cards as a legacy system
Credit cards have been in use for almost 75 years. Some long-ago decisions still cause consequences in the present day. But change is possible.
Previous issues of Bits about Money
Demystifying financial leverage
Leverage is actually reasonably easy to understand, both in the math and in the implications for financial firms.
Siting bank branches
Community access to banking is downstream of siting decisions in commercial real estate, in fascinating detail.
The optimal amount of fraud is non-zero
Counterintuitively, businesses, customers, and society prefer having fraud to what they'd need to do to not have it.
The branch banking model
Ever wondered how bank branches work at a nuts-and-bolts level? Let's dig into the logic and economics of them.
Deposit insurance under the coverage
Deposit insurance is the backstop that guarantees the money-ness of deposits. Here's how it works under the covers.
The alchemy of deposits
Deposits are a public/private partnership which create generally usable money out of risky banking activities.
Stablecoin mechanisms and use cases
There are a few different mechanisms underpinning commonly used stablecoins. Some of them may not perish in a fire.
Reconciliation: A game designed to frustrate the player
I made a video game about reconciliation. Here's the textual version of it.
Plastic (and payments) in the fantasy supply chain
Shenzhen baseboard manufacturers, bicoastal U.S. tech companies, mom-and-pop factories throughout the Western world, and a global network of artisans bringing a bit of magic to your tabletop.
Charitable donations and the infrastructure supporting them
There exists specialized infrastructure to enable charities, for both operational and tax reasons.
Accounting for SaaS and swords
Revenue recognition for software companies is much deeper than many appreciate, and improbably implicates the age-old question "What is the economically useful life of an imaginary sword?"
Hybrid offline/online transactions
You can't upload cash... or can you? Convenience stores function as hybrid offline/online spaces for payments and identify verification.
Moving money internationally
SWIFT operates a messaging protocol which ties banks together with correspondent banks. This collaboration enables most international wires.
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I write roughly biweekly on the intersection of tech, financial infrastructure, and systems thinking. It's free.