Building the Neobank

Money feels instant on your phone, but behind every tap is a maze of ledgers, payment rails, partners, and regulations that can make or break a digital bank. Building the Neobank answers the question founders, product leaders, and engineers quietly ask: how do you build a bank-like experience people trust without getting crushed by complexity? If you’re launching a neobank, joining a fintech, or advising one, this book is your practical field guide.
You’ll follow the full journey: choosing the right business model (charter, sponsor bank, EMI/PI) and understanding the real economics behind interchange, fraud losses, and compliance overhead. You’ll learn how money actually moves—authorization, clearing, settlement, reconciliation—and why “available balance” isn’t the same as “ledger truth.” And you’ll see how AML, KYC, consumer protection, and privacy shape product decisions, from onboarding screens to dispute workflows and data reporting.
What makes this book different is its plain-English, street-level approach: relatable analogies, real-world tradeoffs, and actionable checklists you can use immediately. It treats compliance and architecture as one system, and growth as something you earn by building trust, resilience, and operational discipline from day one.