All briefings
Articles — Page 10
208 briefings on payments, fintech, and AI money infrastructure.
The True Cost of a Chargeback: Unit Economics Beyond the Dispute Fee
A full chargeback costs 2–3x the transaction value when you account for lost goods, representment labour, VAMP thresholds, and reserve impact.
May 18, 2026
Visa Reason Codes: VCR Workflows, Deadlines, and How to Choose
Visa Claims Resolution explained: Allocation vs Collaboration workflows, filing deadlines, and CE 3.0 eligibility. Per-code lookup is in the reason-code tool.
May 18, 2026
Authorized Push Payment Fraud and the Real-Time Rail Liability Problem
APP fraud exploits real-time rail irrevocability. UK mandatory reimbursement live since October 2024 means operators face direct liability on both sides.
May 17, 2026
Stripe vs Square: An Operator's Decision Framework
Stripe dominates online and SaaS; Square dominates card-present retail and SMB. Here's how to choose based on your business model, not feature checklists.
May 17, 2026
DORA for Payment Operators: EU Digital Operational Resilience
DORA has applied since January 2025. Payment institutions, e-money institutions, and AISPs are all in scope. What compliance actually requires in production.
May 16, 2026
Least-Cost Routing: Sending Payments to the Cheapest Eligible Rail
Least-cost routing means three different things: Australian eftpos/RBA, US Durbin dual-routing, and generic cost-based routing. The decision math for each.
May 15, 2026
The MDR Stack: Reading Your Processing Statement Line by Line
MDR is a five-layer stack, not a single fee. What each layer is, who pays whom, what's negotiable, and how to decompose your own processing statement.
May 15, 2026
AI Agents and Payment APIs: MCP, Stripe Agent Toolkit, and Mastercard
MCP, Stripe Agent Toolkit, Visa TAP, and Mastercard Agentic Tokens: four-layer stack covering protocol, PSP, and network layers for agentic commerce operators.
May 14, 2026
AI in Merchant Onboarding: KYB Automation, Risk Scoring, and Approvals
ML compresses merchant onboarding from days to minutes. Document AI, UBO extraction, risk scoring, and straight-through processing logic at PSPs and PayFacs.
May 14, 2026
SEPA Credit Transfer, Instant, and Direct Debit: Operator Guide
SEPA payments explained for operators: SCT, SCT Inst, and SDD Direct Debit, with scheme coverage, timing, fees, and merchant use cases.
May 14, 2026