Welcome to a video series I am putting together on how to start a money transfer business. It seems folks don’t have too much time to read lengthy articles or other blog posts, so I thought I’d give it a try by putting up small (read: short) videos that explain some of the nuances. Needless to say, you can argue, each video left this out or left that out. That is true. Even though as small of a subject each video discusses, it is in NO way complete. There is so much information out there, I am not sure if I or anyone else would be able to compile it together.
Nonetheless, this is a small endeavour to try to achieve just that.
Introduction – Watch This First
Starting Out? Learn the basics
- How To Start A Money Transfer Business? YouTube Series (Intro video)
- Financing – How are you getting the money to start this? Friends or Family?
- Monetary Requirement – How much money is required to start it?
- What “problem” are you trying to solve?
- Build versus Lease versus Buy – Which one is the right choice?
- Banking, License, Compliance, and Regulations!
- What Are Remittances?
- Why Are Remittances Important?
- What is an ISO and what do they do?
- What is a Flow of Funds (Time Motion Diagram)
- What is Passporting?
- What is KYC?
- What is KYB?
- Your Business Intelligence Plan?
- How to Validate your Problem & Solution Via Field Research?
- What is a Term Sheet?
- What Is Source Of Funds (SOF)?
- What is Aggregation and How does it Work in the World of Money Transfer?
- What is Liquidity?
- What Is The Travel Rule?
- Money Transfer as a Service (MTaaS) – General Presentation
- Explanation of Cross Border Money Transfer (Pre-Funded and Non-Pre-Funded)
- Example of Money Transfer from US to UK. Walk Through Description
- Currency Cross Rate! What Is It?
- What Is The Mid-Market Rate (or the Interbank rate)? Why Is It Important?
- What Are Exotic Currencies? Why Are They Called Exotic To Begin With?
- What is a UBO (Ultimate Beneficial Owner)?
- How To Start A Money Transfer Business? (Updated Intro Message)
Licensing
- Difference between MTL and MSB?
- What is Money Transmitter License and How Can You Get One?
- Do I Need A License To Start A Money Transfer Service?
- How many Money Transmitter Licenses do I require if I have to do business in the US?
- Licensing: Agent vs. Program Manager
- How will you operate? As a License Holder or as an ISO?
- What Is A Decent Revenue Share For Using Someone Else’s License For Regulatory Coverage?
- Why Do You Need a Money Transmitter License If You Are Licensed Outside the U.S.?
- How Much Do Money Transmitter Licenses Cost?
- What Does A Program Manager Do?
- What Is A Program Manager? (Part II)
- FinCEN Registration & Money Transmitter Licenses
- Is FinCEN Registration Free or Not?
- Why FinCEN Registration is NOT a License?
- Unlicensed Money Transfer! What to do next?
- 3rd Party Payment Apps? It Might Be Illegal To Use Them!
- Difference Between An Authorized Delegate vs Non-Authorized Delegate
- I have an idea for an app. Do I need a license to send money all over the world?
- Buying a UK SPI License? Consider this!
- Working with an EMI license and becoming an EMD Agent
- Nationwide Coverage vs. Must-Have States?
- Want To Get Your Own EMI Or Become An EMI Agent? Consider This.
- Leveraging A License
- Single-State License In the United States – What Can You Do With It?
- Difference Between EMD (Registered Agent) and Sponsorship
- Difference between an API and an EMI
- What is a Program Manager? (Updated)
Banking
- What is a Correspondent Tie-Up Agreement?
- What is a Pre-funded Account?
- What is a Payout Partner?
- What is a Good Funds Settled Model?
- What is a Payment Account?
- What is Pre-Funding and How Does it Work?
- What is a Reserve Account?
- What Is An FBO (For Benefit Of) Account?
- What is Netting Off and How Does it Work?
- What is a Correspondent Tie-up? & Why is it Necessary?
- What is a Tri-Party Correspondent Tie-Up Agreement?
- As a Licensed MTO Can You Operate A Bank Account Outside In Another Country?
- What If Banks Decide To Close My Account After The Account Has Been Active For Some Time?
- BYOB – Build Your Own Bank! (Video: 1 of 3)
- BYOB – Build Your Own Bank! (Video: 2 of 3)
- BYOB – Build Your Own Bank (Video: 3 of 3)
- Need Pre-funding Money for your Money Transfer business?
- Build Your Own Bank As A Service (BYOBaaS)
- Understanding Merchant Account Zones for Acquiring
- Flow of Funds for Correspondent Accounts (for Remittance as a Service) – USA Only
- Merchant Account! You Cannot Just Get It – You Have To Apply And Qualify For It
- Want To Build A Neo Bank?
- Card Acquiring Options for Money Transfer Operators
Remittances
- How Big is the P2P Remittance Market?
- How Big is the B2B Market?
- What is a Corridor Killer?
- Negotiating with a Financial Institution – Are You a Good Negotiator?
- Are You A Fintech That Is Going From Zero to One?
- What is Remittance-As-A-Service (RaaS)?
- What are the Pros and Cons of RaaS (Remittance-as-a-Service)?
- How Much Does Remittance-As-A-Service (RaaS) Cost?
- How Much Do I Charge For RaaS Consulting?
- What Does The Value Added Payment Stack in Remittances Look Like?
- Why Value-Added Payments In Remittances Reduces Financial Misappropriation?
- How Long Does It Take To Setup A Remittance-As-A-Service Solution?
- Is It Possible To Have Real Time Transfers in Money Transfer World?
- How Big Is The Real Time Payments Economy in the Money Transfer World?
- Is There Fraud In The Money Transfer Industry?
- What is Hawala (or Hundi)?
- What is Hawala? (Part Two)
- What are Official and Unofficial Remittances?
- The Case For Small Value Remittances
- How Does Hawala Work? How In A Few Minutes, You Can Get Money Across The World, In Your Hotel Room!
- Who Pays for the Remittance Fees Customer or MTO?
- Real-Time Payments The Trillion Dollar Opportunity
- Interoperability in Payments
- Value Addition in Money Transfers (Remittances)
- Interoperability between Wallets and Stored Value Systems
- Super APIs. What the heck are they?
- Quick Understanding of Hyperlocal Payments
- Difference between an Aggregator and a Super API
- Let’s talk about Somalia
- Where Does Your Company Need To Be Registered (For RAAS)?
- You Do Not Have To Be Afraid Of RaaS From The United States
- Let Us Talk About Turkey Versus UAE: Who Is Winning The Money-Transfer Game?
- Want to start a Money Transfer Company? Have You Considered RaaS?
- The Next Big Thing? Micropayments!
- The Brick Equation
- How Big Is The B2B Market Compared To The P2P Market?
- How Big Is The Market Size For Small Value Transfers?
- Percentage Only Transactions – Removing Network Access Charges
- Wallet vs. Remittances
- Demo of White-Label, Skin-able, Mobile App for Remittances
- World Bank Data: Average Cost of Sending Remittances
- Launching of new Remittance as a Service (RaaS) Pricing
Cryptocurrency
- Remittances 2.0 – Crypto in remittances
- USA to Nigeria: Money Transfer using Bitcoins! (or any other country in Africa)
- How Can A Traditional Money Transfer Business Get Started With Cryptocurrency For Remittances?
- Got a Cryptocurrency Project? Think you’re exempt from licensing? Think again!
- How Stable Coins Have Failed For Value Transfer In Cross Border Payments
- Five Things You Can Do To Get Started With Crypto for Your Money Transfer Business – No Fluff!
- Don’t Fall For COVID19 Token / Coins for Remittances Scam!
- What Happens When Central Bank Issued Digital Currency (CBDC) Comes Out?
- What Is A Collateralized Asset In The Digital/Crypto World?
- What I Think Of XRP
- Is XRP and RippleNet Going To Be Dominant And Be The Winner?
- Starting a Crypto-Related Money Transfer Business? Understand Regulations!
Operations
- Is There Money To Be Made In The Money Transfer Business?
- Is there Money To Be Made in the Money Transfer Business (Part II)?
- Are You A Small Money Transfer Operator? 12 Questions You Need To Ask Yourself.
- FinCEN MSB Definition for Transactions Under $1000 Per Person Per Day
- Are You A Small Independent Money Transfer Operator That Is Struggling?
- Understanding Custody of Funds in Money Transfer / Remittances
- 5 Questions Before Starting A Money Transfer Business to High-Risk Countries!
- 10 Things to know before Starting your own Money Transfer Business!
- FAQ on Money Transmitter License Sponsorship under an ISO Program for the United States
- How to Build a Small Payments (Money Transfer) Company
- 7 Steps to Starting a Cross Border Payments Company
- Card Processing for your Money Transfer Business
- As a Money Transfer Company… What are your Top 5 Problems?
- What is a Remittance Contract? …How Does It Work?
- Legal Contracts… Do You Have A Say In Them?
- Legal Opinion: Why Banks Do Not Provide Legal Opinion For Your Flow Of Funds Or Licensing?
- EMI Agents & Restriction on Correspondent Agreements
- How To Better Your Money Transfer Business During These Quarantined Times
- 5 Things To Do Today To Better Your Money Transfer Business In The US
- How Do We Charge Our fees?
- Volume Fees! What’s The Magic Number?
- Why Do Prices Vary In Different Markets?
- Architecting A Mobile Wallet That Customers Want
- So You Want To Start A Money Transfer Business?
- Shall We Test Your Knowledge On Money Transfer?
- 12-Pivot Points for Money Transfer Operators
- MLS Type Collaboration for Money Transfer Businesses
- USA to Nigeria Money Transfer Business
- Nigeria: Pre-funding Project
- MTOs as Cash Out Points App Idea
- Somali MTOs in Minnesota – The Turkey Option!
- Naira Parallel Market Rate and Money Transfer
- How Do You Defeat Or Work With A Parallel Market Rate?
- Revenue Modeling Google Sheet for Remittances – Simplex and Complex
- Financial Modeling For The Money Transfer Business
- Some hurdles to consider when starting a money transfer business to Nigeria
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This page was last updated on July 28, 2021.