Start here

A card tap looks instant, but at least four organisations take part and the money moves later than the approval. Here is the whole journey in plain English.

For decades a bank transfer meant waiting until the next working day. Instant payment systems now move money between banks in seconds, at any hour, and that speed changes both convenience and risk.

In the US, money moves between bank accounts on three main kinds of rails. They differ in speed, opening hours, size limits and how hard it is to undo a payment.

Sending money to another country still costs far more and takes longer than paying someone at home. The reasons are a chain of banks, two currencies and a lot of checks.

A digital wallet can be two very different things: a secure holder for your existing bank card, or an app that keeps a balance of your money. Knowing which one you use tells you how safe your money is.

Your bank account looks free, so where does the bank's profit come from? Mostly from interest, partly from fees, and always by taking risks that it must manage carefully.

A money app can look exactly like a bank and still be something else. The legal status behind it decides whether your balance is an insured deposit or something weaker. Here is how to tell.

If your bank fails, a government-backed scheme repays your deposits up to a set limit. Knowing that limit, and what does not count as a deposit, is one of the most useful money facts you can learn.

Open banking turns your bank account into something other apps can read or pay from, but only when you say yes. Here is what that means, who controls it and what can go wrong.

The obvious difference is branches versus an app. The differences that matter more are hidden: the licence behind the brand, how your money is protected and how much depends on a partner company.

In an APP scam nobody steals your password. You are tricked into sending the money yourself, which is why the rules on getting it back are different.

In account takeover, a criminal logs in as you. The way they get your login, and how fast you report it, decides how much you can lose.

SCA is the reason your bank app pops up a fingerprint check before an online purchase. Here is what the rule requires, when it can be skipped and what it cannot stop.

A passkey lets you sign in with the same fingerprint, face or PIN that unlocks your phone, without a password or a code a scammer can steal. Here is how it works.

Signing up for a neobank or payment app starts with a passport photo and a selfie. What that step checks, why a new account can start with limits, and why the app may ask again later.