Beginner: New to Payments

Payments from the ground up: what a payment is, how it moves, who is involved, and how it is tracked. No banking background needed.

Who this is for

Someone new to payments, with no banking background.

Experience level: No experience needed. No banking background needed. Start from first principles.

What you will be able to do

• Explain what a payment is and trace it from instruction to beneficiary credit.
• Name the parties, the messages and the systems in a payment.
• Read a payment lifecycle and say where it can stop.

Prerequisites

None. No banking background needed.

Recommended sequence

Work through the chapters in this order. Within each chapter, complete the core lessons listed.

1. What money is (All lessons)
   What money is: the foundation everything else builds on.
2. What is a Payment (All lessons)
   What a payment is, and how it differs from a transfer and from settlement.
3. Cheques and Paper Instruments (All lessons)
   Cheques and paper instruments: the instrument before the lifecycle.
4. Payment Instruments and Types (All lessons)
   Payment instruments: cash, card, cheque, direct debit, electronic transfer.
5. The Payment Ecosystem (All lessons)
   The payment ecosystem: the parties and how they fit together.
6. Accounts and balances (All lessons)
   Accounts and balances: the accounts a payment moves through.
7. Ledger, posting and reconciliation (All lessons)
   Ledger, posting and reconciliation: how a payment is recorded.
8. Payment Lifecycle End to End (All lessons)
   The payment lifecycle end to end, from instruction to reconciliation.
9. Lifecycle timelines and failure modes (All lessons)
   Lifecycle timelines and failure modes: one payment minute by minute.
10. ISO 20022 Fundamentals (All lessons)
    ISO 20022 fundamentals: the message language payments run on.
11. India: UPI, IMPS, NEFT, RTGS (All lessons)
    A real-time rails example: UPI, IMPS, NEFT and RTGS in India.
12. Card Authorization, Clearing and Settlement (All lessons)
    Cards: authorisation, clearing and settlement.
13. Payment Reconciliation (All lessons)
    Reconciliation: how a bank knows what happened.
14. BA Practical Workshop (Lessons 1-3)
    BA basics: requirements gathering and process modelling.

Simulators and labs

• Lifecycle Simulator
• Interactive Payment Trace

Assessments

• Placement Test (29 questions across 12 areas)
• Foundations Test

Capstone: Trace a payment end to end

Trace a payment end to end and explain each stage in plain words.

Deliverable: A written walkthrough of one payment from instruction to beneficiary credit, naming each stage, each party, and where the payment can stop.

Completion criteria

• Finish every core lesson in the sequence.
• Complete the placement test and review the recommended areas.
• Pass the Foundations Test with 70% or more.
• Submit the capstone walkthrough.