Faisal Khan
Answers by

Faisal Khan

Cross-border payments, banking access, licensing. Thirty-one years inside regulated money movement.

Founder, Faisal Khan LLC·Istanbul, working globally
3,061Questions answered
31+Years in payments
400+Companies served
72+Countries
About

Every answer on askmint is mine. I have spent more than thirty-one years in financial services, almost all of it on one problem: how money legally crosses a border, and what a regulator needs to see before it will.

My career began in technology, not banking. I moved into banking and payments, and then into cross-border payments. That is where I saw how badly companies get caught by the rules across many countries. Not because the rules are impossible, but because the wrong structure was chosen before anyone understood the flow of funds.

Since starting the consultancy in 2010, I have worked with more than four hundred companies across seventy-two countries, from early-stage startups to established financial institutions. The work is helping them obtain licences, secure banking relationships, and build compliance frameworks that hold up under examination.

Today it is mostly licensing strategy, MSB banking access and cross-border payment structures, alongside writing, speaking and the educational sites that sit around the practice. This site is one of them.

Every call I take, I take myself. Twelve thousand of them so far.

Where I work

Licensing and compliance

Money transmitter licences, payment institution registration and compliance programmes across many countries. More than fifty licence applications done.

Banking relationships

Getting and keeping bank accounts for high-risk and regulated businesses. The part most operators underestimate.

Cross-border payments

Payment corridors, settlement design, FX risk and the licensing that sits underneath international money movement.

What I am not
  • A bank, money transmitter or money services business
  • A law firm. Nothing here is legal advice
  • In the flow of funds. I never hold client money

Answers

3,061 answers · newest first
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Mar 10, 2014 Fintech, BaaS and Embedded Finance What is the most comprehensive method for processing payments online? Mar 10, 2014 Banking and Payments Technology Stack If global confidence in the U.S. dollar collapsed, what would likely become the new world reserve currency? Mar 10, 2014 Geopolitics of Money and the International Monetary System Do bank-to-bank wire transfers count as taxable income? Mar 10, 2014 Tax and Financial Reporting Where can I cash a MoneyGram money order if I do not have a bank account? Mar 8, 2014 Money Transfer Business and MTOs How can a non-U.S. resident open a U.S. bank account if they have already formed a U.S. company? Mar 8, 2014 Opening Bank Accounts, Personal and Business Can someone who is not a Singapore citizen or resident open a bank account in Singapore? Mar 8, 2014 Opening Bank Accounts, Personal and Business What is the most affordable method to transfer money from the U.S. to Indonesia or other Asian countries? Mar 8, 2014 Sending and Receiving Money Abroad What distinguishes a Merchant Service Provider (MSP) from an Acquirer? Mar 8, 2014 Merchant Accounts, Processors and Gateways Which U.S. banks permit opening an account without in-person branch visits? Mar 8, 2014 Opening Bank Accounts, Personal and Business Where can I locate former banking C-suite executives who now work as consultants or have retired? Mar 8, 2014 Careers, Jobs and Working in Finance IRS: Does FBAR reporting apply to offshore accounts if the $10,000 threshold was met only briefly within the same day, without remaining overnight? Mar 8, 2014 Tax and Financial Reporting Are customers more inclined to visit a bank branch if it resembles an Apple Store or a lounge-style environment? Mar 8, 2014 Business Strategy, Case Studies and Lessons Learned Will Dubai continue its rapid growth, or is its construction boom and economy likely to slow down? Mar 8, 2014 Economics, Inflation and Monetary Policy As a consultant in the payments industry, what should you definitely do—and what should you avoid doing? Mar 8, 2014 Careers, Jobs and Working in Finance Why might governments choose to officially recognize cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin? Mar 8, 2014 Regulators, Enforcement and Regulatory Change What are the lowest-cost methods for international bank or money transfers? Mar 8, 2014 Sending and Receiving Money Abroad Does anyone here believe that Leaf is genuinely disrupting the point-of-sale (POS) payments space? Mar 7, 2014 Merchant Accounts, Processors and Gateways What are effective ways to receive payments from international clients when PayPal isn’t an option? Mar 7, 2014 Freelancers, Side Hustles and Getting Paid Online Can multiple different people wire money into my bank account without it triggering suspicion? Mar 6, 2014 AML Programs, KYC and Compliance Operations How do Coinbase and Kraken differ from each other as cryptocurrency exchanges? Mar 5, 2014 Crypto Exchanges, Trading and Markets What are the most important things to understand about the banking industry? Mar 5, 2014 How Banks Work Has anyone found a fully online-only bank that caters specifically to small and medium enterprises (SMEs)? Mar 4, 2014 Digital Banks, Neobanks and Mobile Banking Why did the bank place a special stamp in my passport when issuing traveler’s checks? Mar 4, 2014 Personal and Consumer Finance, Budgeting and Saving Can a non-U.S. citizen form a Delaware C-Corp and open its bank account remotely? Mar 4, 2014 Opening Bank Accounts, Personal and Business Banking in Singapore: Is it possible to open a savings account for children? Mar 4, 2014 Opening Bank Accounts, Personal and Business Why does a payment aggregator need dedicated teams for fraud detection, underwriting, and risk analysis? 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Gox effectively removed from circulation, or are they considered stolen and now owned by someone else? Mar 1, 2014 Crypto Exchanges, Trading and Markets Why do certain gas stations add a surcharge for credit card payments? Feb 12, 2014 Merchant Accounts, Processors and Gateways Why is there no M-Pesa-style mobile money system in Europe despite its success in some African nations? Feb 12, 2014 Digital Wallets, Mobile Money and P2P Payments What is the main reason you choose one specific credit card over others when making a purchase? Feb 12, 2014 Credit, Debit and Prepaid Cards What are some of the best websites or services on the internet where you can spend Bitcoins? Feb 12, 2014 Crypto Payments, On-Ramps and Off-Ramps Why do some venues occasionally stop accepting bank cards for a short time? Feb 11, 2014 Merchant Accounts, Processors and Gateways Who is the largest Bitcoin broker or exchange besides Mt. Gox? Feb 11, 2014 Crypto Exchanges, Trading and Markets What are the biggest current issues with Bitcoin? Feb 11, 2014 Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Basics How do banks settle payments internally when payment systems connect to multiple banks? Feb 11, 2014 Correspondent Banking, Nostro and Vostro, and Settlement As data-security demands grow, will credit card processing shift more toward cloud-based solutions? Feb 10, 2014 Banking and Payments Technology Stack