Bitesize Payments
Bitesize Payments is a podcast that explains the history, mechanics, and players in the payments industry. Host Paul Thomalla breaks down complex topics into digestible episodes under 20 minutes, covering who gets paid and how the system works. The show aims to turn listeners into payment experts or at least equip them to ask tough questions. It is based on the author's experience in payments education and training.
Episodes
The New Settlement Reality
Welcome back to Bitesize Payments: Digital. I’m Paul Thomalla.There is an extended version of this on my Substack channel here.Last time we talked about programmable money — the idea that value itself could carry rules and conditions. Today we’re going somewhere that sounds like pure upside but isn’t. We’re talking about settlement.Specifically, we’re asking: what happens when settlement becomes i
Programmable Value
Welcome to Bitesize Payments: Digital. I’m Paul Thomalla.The expanded Substack version is here :-https://bitesizepayments.substack.com/p/programmable-valueImagine a banknote that could decide whether you’re allowed to spend it.Or a coin that automatically splits itself when certain conditions are met.Or money that flows continuously from your account without you touching it, based on rules it’s ex
When Scarcity Isn’t the Constraint
Welcome to Bitesize Payments: Digital. I’m Paul Thomalla.You use money every day. You work for it. You worry about it. You plan your life around whether you have enough of it.But what is it? Not what does it buy. Not how does it work. Not who controls it.What actually is it?This seems like an obvious question. Of course we know what money is. It’s the thing in your bank account. The numbers on you
The Physical-to-Digital Break
There is also an expanded read here on my Substack channel hereRemember the Gringotts scene in Harry Potter? Those carts racing through underground tunnels, goblins moving gold from one vault to another, the physical reality of value stored in specific locations, transported through space, guarded by dragons.That's still how we think about payments. In 2025.You tap your phone at the coffee sh
Introduction to Bitesize Payments: Digital
There is an extended version of this on my substack channel here https://bitesizepayments.substack.com/publish/post/191148138?r=5zpu1m&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=trueIn 1995, I picked up Nicholas Negroponte's Being Digital. The premise was simple but profound: the world was shifting from atoms to bits. Physical things were becoming digital information, and
The Sovereignty Container Breaks
Welcome back to Bitesize Payments Digital.The expanded Substack version is here: https://bitesizepayments.substack.com/p/the-sovereignty-container-breaksToday I’m going to cover a topic that one way or another is front and centre in Europe in particular. But frankly it’s a global issue. My aim here isn’t to be political but to try and explain.Today I’m covering: The Sovereignty Container Breaks. Y
Wrapping Up Series 1: Why I Started Bitesize Payments — and What Comes Next
After more than 30 episodes, I wanted to take a moment to reflect.This isn’t a deep dive into real-time payments, standards, or compliance. This episode is about why Bitesize Paymentsexists in the first place — and what I’ve learned from doing it.I started the series to give back. To share what I’ve learned from years in payments — and from the many brilliant people I’ve worked alongside. The goal
Sovereignty (and Payments)
In this episode of Bitesize Payments, we zoom out from the usual rails and rules of payments to explore a much bigger force shaping the industry: sovereignty. From the ancient control of coinage by kings to today’s battles over digital currencies, data, and cross-border standards, sovereignty has always been about power — who has it, who wants it, and what happens when that power is challenged.We
Compliance, KYC, and All That Stuff
Welcome back to Bite-Size Payments, where we dive into their history, how they work, and, of course, who does what. Today, we’re tackling compliance—yes, that lovely, complex topic that often seems like it gets in the way. But it’s essential, and we’ll explain why. Yes, it’s complex, but it’s also the backbone of a secure financial system. Today, I am joined by the rock star that is Susan Hall t
Cross border Payments
Welcome to Bitesize Payments where we discuss their history how they work and of course who does what. In today’s episode, we’ll unravel the fascinating world of Cross-Border Payments. With so many payment terms, brand names, and confusing jargon out there, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. But at its core, cross-border payments are actually a straightforward concept—and we’re here to simplify it for
Fintechs - the disruptors
Welcome back to Bitesize Payments where we discuss their history, how they work and of course who does what…. Today we are looking at key stakeholder in payments, fintech's… The new young things of the industry or are they… ? So today we are discussing Fintech’s, and I am super pleased to be joined by Caleb, CEO of Tilled.It was not long ago that the industry was the Fintech's were all t
The rise of Mobile Payments
Welcome to Bitesize Payments, where we discuss their history, how they work and of course who does what… Today we are going to discuss mobile payments…. Remember when losing your wallet was the ultimate nightmare? These days, losing your phone feels like losing your entire life—and your wallet’s just a passenger on that ride!Let’s take a quick journey through time. Once upon a time, cash was king.
Gold - All that Glitters is not Gold
Welcome back to bitesize Payments, where we explain their history, how they work and of course who does what. Today we’re diving into a topic that has fascinated civilizations for thousands of years: gold. Did you know that all the gold ever mined would fit into a cube just 21 meters on each side?All that Glitters is not Gold – comes from Shakespeare don’t you know!! But it's history and role
European Payment Systems from a US PoV
Welcome back to Bitesize Payments. Where we discuss their history, how they work and who does what.Today we are going to do the reverse of the last podcast with Eric Grover – we will be looking at Europe from an American's point of view.We say Europe, but what do we mean? What’s the EU, SEPA, and EEA? We will walk you through that.Obviously, European history is a little more complex as, among
The US Payments System from a Europeans PoV
Welcome back to Bitesize Payments where we look at their history, how they work and who does what. When we look at the payment systems of another region, they often seem impenetrable due to different brand names, terminologies, use cases, and cultural nuances.You might be thinking, aren’t payments just payments around the world? Well, yes and no. While there are common elements like high-value pay
Banks - The invisible network
Welcome back to bitesize payments where we discuss the history, how they work and who does what? Today we are going to discuss banks, what do they do? We have discussed a little of their history in previous episodes, we talk through them as key stakeholders as well, banks are right at the top of the list. So we're zooming in on banks - institutions as ancient as civilization yet as contemp
Clearings - Its groundhog day
Welcome back to bitesize Payments were we discuss their history, how they work and of course who does what. In this episode we're discussing Clearings.Clearings what are they? Well, they are sometimes called rails, schemes or the last mile either way there are a lot and I mean a lot, as I have mentioned before there is a clearing for every type of payment – RTGS, IP etc for every country.
Fraud and Scams - The dark underbelly of Payments
Welcome back to Bitesize Payments, in today's episode we dive into the murky waters of payment fraud and scams. From ancient swindlers to modern-day cybercriminals, we're charting the course of deceptive practices that have evolved alongside our financial systems. Fraud is a personal and often distressing experience, and while we won't dwell on the emotional aspects, it's impor
Corporates - the power house of Payments
Welcome back to Bitesize Payments, in this episode we are going to discuss a Major Stakeholder that is not always discussed as much as they should have. As an example, when the EU asked for feedback in preparation for PSD2 the “corporates” gave more feedback than all the other groups put together, yet we seem to put them in a distant place. While we think of us citizens as the super user, as we d
Regulators - Are they helping?
Welcome back to Bitesize Payments, where we delve into the world of payments, exploring their history, how they work, and the key players involved.Today, we're tackling a crucial topic: regulators. Love them or hate them, they play a vital role in shaping the payments landscape. From ensuring fair competition to protecting consumers, their influence is undeniable.But navigating the complexwor
ISO20022 - The "cure all"?
Welcome back dear listeners to Bitesize Payments, today we are going to discuss ISO20022. It’s the lingua franca of financial services. We started this journey when we discussed Standards, but ISO deserves a podcast on its own. But here’s the thing ISO touches the entire ecosystem and so the issue is a timing one. The stakeholders need to not just adopt but get ready. So, a central bank, a com
Standards - They're more interesting than you think!!! No really they are....
Standards hmm that sounds interesting Paul well yep fair point but where would we be without them?Imagine a world where each time you tried to send money to someone, you had to navigate a new process, perhaps even create new accounts, or understand new protocols. Sounds chaotic, right? That's a world without payment standards.The financial world thrives on trust, security and efficiency, and
CBDC – The next big thing in Fiat money
Welcome to today's episode of Bitesize payments, where we'll be diving deep into the world of Central Bank Digital Currencies, or CBDCs. The latest revolution in Fiat Money since the bank note. From their origins to their potential impact on the global financial system. Probably a once in a lifetime event, we will also talk specifically about the Digital Euro. I am joined today by Ka
Crypto - The red pill or the blue pill
Welcome to back dear listeners to Bitesize Payments. Today, we delve into the world of cryptocurrencies. They are digital natives in a payments world that is mostly analogue, the technology behind them is genuinely impressive however they introduce new paradigms which to some cause’s issues.Like many tools in the payment sphere, it’s not the tool per se that is the issue but, in its application, w
RTGS part 2
Dave and I thought that there was so much to discuss around RTGS that we decided that we need 2 podcasts. So here is part 2…. We are going to discuss a little of their history and dive into why RTGSs are so critical….Before the advent of RTGS, many countries used deferred net settlement systems for interbank transactions. In these systems, payments were accumulated over a certain period, and then
Governmental Bodies - The Treasury, Central Banks, and payment operators.
Welcome back dear listeners to Bitesize Payments. Today, we're going to explore a topic that's at the heart of every country's economy: our governmental bodies – The Treasury, Central Banks, and payment operators. Their roles are pivotal to any nation, but they are probably the least understood by Payment’s folk – generally the stakeholders and their ecosystems are best known in te
Real Time Gross Settlement part 1
Today we will be discussing something that underpins every major economy and is of vital importance to the flow of money yet is probably totally unfamiliar to many people - Real-Time Gross Settlement systems, or RTGS for short. I’m joined again by David Godfrey to help me explore this subject, RTGS, as I said, is possibly something that many people are unfamiliar with, yet, they underpin all elect
Cash - Is it still king?
Welcome to Bitesize Payments! In this episode, we're delving into the world of cash. Over the past few years, I've had numerous conversations about cash and its unique characteristics, including its anonymity. I even had a memorable discussion about it while getting my hair cut – thanks, Ali! It’s the most personal payments method, it’s the most integrated into our societies and its old
Cheque or checks? – writing letters to the bank
Welcome Dear listener to Bitesize Payments where we talk about their history how they work and who does what. In this episode we are going back in time to 1659, we are going to talk about a method of payments that goes back literally centuries, we still use them today and in some countries are really popular and more efficient than you might think. Yes, today we are going to discuss Cheques or C
The Magic of Cards and their 4 corners
Welcome back, dear listeners, to 'Bitesize Payments.' In this podcast, we delve into the fascinating history of payments, exploring how they function, and the key players involved. Today, our focus is on cards. Once considered a status symbol, today nearly everyone possesses one, with many owning multiple cards. While most of us use them in our daily lives, have you ever wondered about t
Citizens - the super user - its all about us (baby)!
Today's episode is all about you, the citizen, and your role in the payment's ecosystem.With so much of what happens in payments, terminology and brand names often occluding what's really happening. No more so when it comes to us and what we do and how we use payments. So, I'm going to try and explain payments as they relate to us as Stakeholders and explain how this payments
Immediate Payments - the new kid on the block......
today we are going to discuss one of the newer payment rails – real time payments or immediate payments. But wait aren’t all payments real time well turns out no so much. However, they are probably going to be one of the unifying payment rails. Right now Immediate payments are growing compound, 30 % in Spain , 37% of all transaction is the UK are now Faster Payments and 61 countries and 72% of t
We're off to the mall - Merchants
How many purchases have you made today, coffee, lunch, food shopping? Is so common for us that we don’t think about these purchases as payments…. This is something that we all do, we buy stuff, but do we understand it and who are the actors involved. But they make up approximately 80 % of all the payments made…. Lets just let that sink in for a minute!! 80%This episode is about Merchants a little
ACHs - Forward into the 60s
Welcome back to Bitesize Payments. In the last episode we discussed the key stakeholders, Corporates, Governments and of course ourselves. I this episode we are going to discuss ACH’s – Automated Clearing Houses. ACHs are important for us as by and large that how we get paid. We are going back to relatively modern history late 60s early 70s. This one is close to my heart as preparing a payroll fi
Episode 4 Who's who in the Payments Zoo
In our previous episodes, we delved into the early history of payments, explored the concepts of money and currency, and examined the influence of networks on payment evolution. Today, we're going to navigate the Payments Zoo, identifying and understanding the various actors in this complex ecosystem. In my previous roles delivering training courses, I found that it was quite rare for people
Networks - From The Silk Road, Knights Templar to Wires
In our first two episodes, we traced the evolution from the barter system to commodity money, and from coins to paper currency. We also demystified the foundational aspects of payments, clarifying terms like currency, legal tender, and the concept of money itself.Today's episode takes a slightly different route. We're shiftingour focus from coins and traditional money to concentrate on t
Introducing Bitesize Payment
Hi and welcome to Bite Size Payments. My name is Paul Thomalla and literally years I've been saying I'd like to record a series of podcast about payments. Well guess what? I finally gone and done it. So, thank you for listening to my trailer for my Podcast Bitesize payments. I hope this trailer whets your appetite.Payments are everyday activity, but few of us know or frankly even care ho
Shells, Beads, Coins and Money
Welcome to Bitsesize Payments where I try and explain the history of payments, how they work and who does what. In this, the first episode, I walk through 8,000 years of payments history in 20 mins... taking us for Bartering to shells, to beads to coins to Money...Buckle up....Any question please contact me @ bitesizepayments@gmail.comEnjoy!Paul ThomallaSend us Fan MailPayments Industry InsightsHi
What's money anyway?
Welcome to Bitesize payments where I try to explain the history of payments, how they work and whos does what. In these episode I try and explain some fo the key terms that we use around payments and where they come from, terms such as money, currency, payments and legal tender. Hopefully this will provide key context for later episodes as well as being interesting.... If you want to know what
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