Want to Learn Payments? - Read Payments in the U.S.!

Right now is a great time to dive in and learn payments. The Payment and FinTech industry experienced growth and interest in recent years. In 2020, this trend accelerated with the impact of COVID-19 on day-to-day transactions. To deeply understand payments, you have to learn how banks, consumers, ACH, buyers, and merchants work within the financial systems of the United States.

Payments Systems in the U.S. – Third Edition: A Guide for the Payments Professional

If you are interested in learning more about the Payments Industry, I highly recommend reading Glenbrook’s Payments in the U.S. book to learn how all these systems work together. I consider it an essential read for anyone breaking into FinTech or entering the payments space as an outsider.

When I started working at Finix, I considered it my Payments bible and used it daily. This is always my answer when someone asks me which book I recommend to understand the FinTech or Payments space.

Book Summary

Payments Systems in the U.S.” is a comprehensive description of the payments systems (cards, checks, ACH, wires, and cash) that move money between and among consumers and enterprises in the U.S. In clear and lively writing, the authors explain how the payments systems work, how they evolved, who uses them, who provides them, who profits from them, and how they are changing. Anyone in the payments industry – or needing to use payments products – can benefit from understanding this. The third edition updates information about each system, adds a chapter on payments innovation, and includes a glossary of industry terminology.