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
If account balances aren’t tied to physical cash, what prevents digital manipulation? Jan 1, 2013 How Banks Work Is it standard to incur fees when transferring money from personal to business accounts within the same bank? Jan 1, 2013 Domestic Payment Rails, National Switches and Clearing Systems Should Indian companies accept online payments with a 1–2% fee instead of receiving cheques? Jan 1, 2013 Payment Operations, Pricing and Fees Can you get a temporary virtual card number without owning an actual credit card? Jan 1, 2013 Credit, Debit and Prepaid Cards How do providers like PayPal and Square verify and process credit card transactions? Dec 12, 2012 Merchant Accounts, Processors and Gateways Why did personal digital certificates fail to gain widespread adoption? Dec 12, 2012 Cybersecurity, Digital Identity and Authentication If two NFC cards are in my wallet, what prevents both from being charged when I tap for payment? Dec 12, 2012 Digital Wallets, Mobile Money and P2P Payments What’s a low-cost way for an independent contractor to collect payments online quickly? Dec 12, 2012 Freelancers, Side Hustles and Getting Paid Online What is a low-cost way for an independent contractor to quickly collect payments online? Dec 12, 2012 Freelancers, Side Hustles and Getting Paid Online Can you purchase a cashier’s check or money order using a credit card? Dec 11, 2012 Credit, Debit and Prepaid Cards What requirements must a company meet to legally call itself a bank in the UK? Dec 11, 2012 UK and EU Licensing, EMIs and Payment Institutions Can a Simple-style virtual bank be built in the United Kingdom? Dec 11, 2012 UK and EU Licensing, EMIs and Payment Institutions What are some inspiring success stories about SaaS customer support? Dec 11, 2012 Business Strategy, Case Studies and Lessons Learned Approximately how many payment transactions occur globally each day? Dec 11, 2012 Payments (General) What are your views on cloud-based digital wallets for proximity payments? Dec 10, 2012 Digital Wallets, Mobile Money and P2P Payments Which payment gateways work for a self-hosted online store in India? Dec 10, 2012 Merchant Accounts, Processors and Gateways What payment gateway options exist for self-hosted e-commerce stores in India? Dec 10, 2012 Merchant Accounts, Processors and Gateways What are the core components required to build a peer-to-peer payment system? Dec 8, 2012 US Money Transmitter Licensing and MSB Registration How does Bank of America determine exchange rates for incoming wire transfers? Dec 8, 2012 FX Rates, Spreads and Currency Markets Which bank does Apple use to process iTunes and App Store payments? Dec 8, 2012 E-Commerce, Marketplace and Platform Payments What are the steps to build a peer-to-peer payments platform? Dec 8, 2012 US Money Transmitter Licensing and MSB Registration How does Bank of America determine exchange rates for incoming wires? Dec 8, 2012 FX Rates, Spreads and Currency Markets Which bank handles Apple’s iTunes and App Store payment processing? Dec 8, 2012 E-Commerce, Marketplace and Platform Payments Is it advisable to use a credit card check to pay down a credit line balance? Dec 7, 2012 Lending, Credit Scores and BNPL Which payment systems are best suited for selling software online? Dec 7, 2012 E-Commerce, Marketplace and Platform Payments Are there third-party billing platforms where I can collect payments, take a cut, and forward the rest to merchants? Dec 7, 2012 E-Commerce, Marketplace and Platform Payments Should mobile payment systems be free for merchants to use? Dec 7, 2012 Payment Operations, Pricing and Fees What payment systems work best for selling software online? Dec 7, 2012 Merchant Accounts, Processors and Gateways What third-party billing services allow acting as an intermediary—collecting customer payments, taking a cut, and paying merchants? Dec 7, 2012 Merchant Accounts, Processors and Gateways Should mobile payment platforms charge merchants or remain free to use? Dec 7, 2012 Payment Operations, Pricing and Fees Which online service is most cost-effective for registering multiple S/C-corporations in the U.S. and obtaining EINs? Dec 7, 2012 Law, Contracts, Terms of Service and Legal Structures What is the minimum data required to authorize a credit card transaction? Dec 6, 2012 Card Networks and Card Issuing Which U.S.-based independent payment gateways are considered the best? Dec 6, 2012 Merchant Accounts, Processors and Gateways Which major bank offers the simplest and easiest account opening process? Dec 6, 2012 Opening Bank Accounts, Personal and Business Are there recommended books or research papers on money laundering? Dec 5, 2012 Money Laundering and Financial Crime What does it cost to manufacture a U.S. penny? Dec 5, 2012 General Finance Questions Can Visa gift cards be used to pay for online services? Dec 5, 2012 Credit, Debit and Prepaid Cards How can payment processing be handled in the background? Dec 5, 2012 Developer Tools, APIs, Sandboxes and Open Source What is the total amount of physical currency currently in existence? Dec 5, 2012 Economics, Inflation and Monetary Policy What qualities do online merchants prioritize when choosing a payment processor? Dec 3, 2012 Merchant Accounts, Processors and Gateways Are there studies analyzing the link between digital-to-traditional transaction ratios and retail banks’ operating costs? Dec 3, 2012 How Banks Work Banking: Do banks move physical cash to settle online transfers, and if not, how is it handled? Dec 3, 2012 Correspondent Banking, Nostro and Vostro, and Settlement How are international sales of online services taxed? Dec 3, 2012 Tax and Financial Reporting Which U.S. bank is best for opening a personal account without a Social Security Number? Dec 3, 2012 Opening Bank Accounts, Personal and Business Is PayPal’s value proposition still meaningful today? Dec 2, 2012 Business Strategy, Case Studies and Lessons Learned What are some creative ideas to make consumer banking more appealing or modern? Dec 1, 2012 Digital Banks, Neobanks and Mobile Banking What are effective strategies for negotiating with banks? Dec 1, 2012 General Finance Questions Why do banks require more time to process refunds than they do purchases? Dec 1, 2012 Credit, Debit and Prepaid Cards What is an appropriate response when someone says “money doesn’t buy happiness”? Dec 1, 2012 Payments (General) How can someone launch a Stripe- or Braintree-style payment processor in sub-Saharan Africa? Dec 1, 2012 Starting and Running a Fintech or Payments Business