{"product_id":"how-payments-work-artem-smirnov-9798184968841","title":"How Payments Work: The Hidden Infrastructure Behind Cards, Banks, Wallets, and Fintech","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eHow can a card from one bank work almost anywhere in the world?\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eYou tap a card, see \"Approved,\" and walk away with a receipt. The merchant does not know your bank. The terminal has never seen your account. The card itself does not hold your money. Yet in a few seconds, several institutions have exchanged messages, checked risk, reserved funds, applied rules, and created records that will later determine who gets paid.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eHow Payments Work\u003c\/i\u003e explains what happens in that gap between the tap and the receipt.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePayments have changed fast. Contactless cards reshaped checkout. Real-time payment rails launched across dozens of countries. Card networks moved into digital wallets and tokenized credentials. Buy now, pay later became a mainstream payment option. Stablecoins, central bank digital currencies, embedded finance, and open banking moved from specialist topics into everyday fintech conversations.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut the names change faster than the mechanisms. Authorization is still different from clearing and settlement. A wallet token still points to an underlying card or account. Bank transfers still rely on a different trust model from card payments. Every payment method, old or new, has to answer the same practical questions: who can initiate the payment, who can reverse it, who carries the risk, who holds the funds, and who reconciles the records?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWritten for people entering payments, card issuing, merchant acquiring, banking, and fintech - and for professionals who already work in one part of the industry but want to understand the rest - How Payments Work explains the roles, flows, incentives, trade-offs, and failure points behind the payment products people use every day.\u003c\/p\u003eThe book covers: \u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eCard payments\u003c\/b\u003e - issuers, acquirers, payment networks, processors, gateways, PSPs, merchant acquiring, card issuing, authorization, clearing, settlement, disputes, fees, and network rules.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eCards and credentials\u003c\/b\u003e - card anatomy, magnetic stripes, EMV chips, contactless payments, mobile wallets, tokenization, virtual cards, PINs, CVV\/CVC values, and 3-D Secure.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eTransaction processing\u003c\/b\u003e - ISO 8583, clearing files, settlement reports, authorization holds, posted and available balances, refunds, reversals, chargebacks, reconciliation, and payment accounting.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eCard products and transaction types\u003c\/b\u003e - debit cards, credit cards, charge cards, prepaid cards, commercial cards, card-present, card-not-present, recurring, card-on-file, pre-authorization, ATM transactions, and currency conversion.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eSecurity, compliance, and regulation\u003c\/b\u003e - payment fraud, PCI DSS, PSD2, PSD3, Strong Customer Authentication, GDPR, KYC, AML, onboarding, sanctions screening, and risk controls.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eBank payment rails\u003c\/b\u003e - ACH, SEPA, SWIFT, correspondent banking, ISO 20022, instant payment systems, and how bank transfers differ from card payments.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eAlternative payment methods and fintech infrastructure\u003c\/b\u003e - digital wallets, BNPL, QR payments, local payment methods, open banking, account-to-account payments, neobanks, Banking-as-a-Service, embedded finance, stablecoins, CBDCs, DeFi, Web3 finance, and AI in fintech.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is not a provider manual, API tutorial, legal textbook, or collection of fintech trends. It is a structured explanation of how payment systems work under the hood: how information moves before money does, where risk sits at each stage, and why the same transaction looks different depending on which side of the system you are on.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhether you are starting a career in payments or trying to understand the industry you already work in, \u003ci\u003eHow Payments Work\u003c\/i\u003e gives you the foundation most professionals spend years picking up through separate projects, systems, and incidents.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Artem Smirnov\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9798184968841\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Independently Published\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 07\/03\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 540\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 2.04lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 10.00h x 7.00w x 1.09d","brand":"Artem Smirnov","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":49084296364287,"sku":"9798184968841","price":30.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/how-payments-work-artem-smirnov-9798184968841","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}