Payments, Advanced: PSP Architecture and Ecosystem

What a PSP provides: one balance core connected to local pay-in and payout endpoints, each with licensing and engineering requirements. See how acquiring, local payment methods and issuing extend this architecture, where stablecoins fit, and what changes when AI agents initiate payments.

Assumes familiarity with the foundational material in Payment Systems. Read Chapters 1–5 in order. Chapters 6–8 (acquiring, local payment methods and issuing) can be read independently. Chapters 9–10 cover stablecoins, and Chapters 11–12 cover Agentic Pay; read each pair together. The fictional company StarMap connects the examples throughout. Each main chapter ends with self-check questions and answers.

0. Payments, Advanced: PSP Architecture and Ecosystem · Course Map
1. The PSP Model: One Balance, Local Endpoints at Both Ends
2. The Balance Core: Who Owes the Customer, and How Is Ownership Proven?
3. Pay-in Endpoints: Identifying Incoming Money
4. Payout Endpoints: Turning a Balance into Money Received
5. Putting It Together: A Cross-Border Payment from Start to Finish
6. Acquiring: From a Collection Account to Merchant Transactions
7. Local Payment Methods: Why Integrate a Hundred Ways to Pay?
8. The Issuing Ecosystem: Turning a Balance into a Card
9. Stablecoins: Customer Balances, On-Chain Endpoints or a Treasury Bridge?
10. Stablecoin Use Cases: Who Uses Them, and for What?
11. Agentic Pay: What Problem Does It Solve?
12. The Agentic Pay Ecosystem: Where Each Player Fits