The Pay Off

‘Fascinating and entertaining… What happens when we make a payment is literally a multi-billion dollar question.’ Dharshini David, author of The Almighty Dollar 

How we pay is so fundamental that it underpins everything – from trade to taxation, stocks and savings to salaries, pensions and pocket money. Rich or poor, criminal, communist or capitalist, we all rely on the same payments system, day in, day out. It sits between us and not just economic meltdown, but a total breakdown in law and order. Why then do we know so little about how that system really works?  

Leibbrandt and de Terán shine a light on the hidden workings of the humble payment – and reveal both how our payment habits are determined by history as well as where we might go next. From national customs to warring nation states, geopolitics will shape the future of payments every bit as much as technology.  

Challenging our understanding about where financial power really lies, The Pay Off shows us that the most important thing about money is the way we move it.  

“"Whenever you buy or sell something, you use a payments system but, do you ever wonder how that system works? It's like plumbing or electricity maybe, but it is actually far more complex as it is changing fast thanks to technology. You used to pay with cash, then with a click, now with a swipe or with a touch. What's next? How does all of this work? The Pay Off provides a wonderful deep-dive into the subject [...]. In this book, you find so many useful insights about the past, present and future of payments that anyone who is vaguely interested in the politics, economics and world of finance should pick it up and read it. NOW!" --Chris Skinner, author, Digital Bank”

"The Pay Offsounds like a thriller and it reads like one. The authors succeed in demonstrating 'networks are an inexhaustibly interesting subject' with wit and panache. The book was written with a twinkle in the eye and brought a twinkle to mine. Accessible and erudite, entertaining and enriching, The Pay Off delivers." --Tim Frost, former director of the Bank of England and chair of Cairn Capital
"A long overdue, highly readable and authoritative account of the uses and occasional abuses of the systems on which we all rely, and how they are still rapidly changing, that both specialists and the general reader will find informative and entertaining." --Mark Yallop, Chair, FICC Markets Standards Board, Former External Member, Prudential Regulatory Committee at the Bank of England, Former External Member, Financial Market Infrastructure Board at the Bank of England

"Admirably lucid" --Financial Times

"An excellent and important book. Payments are transforming our society and our lives, and yet few people understand what's driving the change, or what the consequences could be, for good or ill. Hugely engaging and accessible, The Pay Off demystifies this critical subject for the layperson and policy makers alike" --Natalie Ceeney CBE, Chair, Access to Cash review

"Excellent reading" --Professor Alistair Milne, author, The Fall of the House of Credit

"Payments are the most important things most people have probably never even thought about. Banks, tech companies, Central Banks, crypto firms and crooks all know that if you control payments, you may also control critical data and ultimately the world. The Pay Offcleverly dissects the workings and future of this geopolitical and technological war. A must read for anyone in business." --Bob Wigley, Chair, UK Finance

"The world of payments is complex and confusing, but hugely important. The authors have produced a comprehensive, authoritative and even, at times, amusing, guide. I have read nothing better on a subject which increasingly preoccupies both commercial and central banks." --Howard Davies, Chairman of the NatWest group, and former chairman of the FSA

"Whenever you buy or sell something, you use a payments system but, do you ever wonder how that system works? It's like plumbing or electricity maybe, but it is actually far more complex as it is changing fast thanks to technology. You used to pay with cash, then with a click, now with a swipe or with a touch. What's next? How does all of this work? The Pay Off provides a wonderful deep-dive into the subject [...]. In this book, you find so many useful insights about the past, present and future of payments that anyone who is vaguely interested in the politics, economics and world of finance should pick it up and read it. NOW!" --Chris Skinner, author, Digital Bank

A self-confessed payments nerd, Gottfried Leibbrandt is the former CEO of SWIFT, the cross-border payments network. Prior to that, he was a partner with McKinsey & Company. He holds degrees from Vrije Universteit Amsterdam, Maastricht University, and Stanford Business School.

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