Udemy - Payments - Essentials by Rian Chapman

Understand how payments really move - systems, processes, players, formats, and flows made simple.
What you'll learn
Explain the end-to-end flow of domestic and cross-border payments, including rails, players, and messaging standards.
Differentiate between key payment system types such as ACH, RTGS, SEPA, and instant payment networks like FedNow and NPP.
Decode payment messages including MT103, MT202, and ISO 20022 pacs.008 - understanding structure, purpose, and lifecycle.
Describe the role of banks, PSPs, EMIs, card schemes, and fintechs in the payments ecosystem with real-world context.
Recognize common causes of payment exceptions, breaks, and how they are handled using SWIFT and ISO 20022 messages.
Assess how wallets, embedded payments, and tokenization are reshaping payment user experiences and infrastructure.
Understand how structured ISO 20022 data improves automation, fraud detection, and regulatory compliance in payments.
Track the evolution of real-time payments and analyze systems like SEPA Instant, FedNow, and GPI from a strategic lens.
Build confidence in explaining core payment concepts in job interviews, onboarding sessions, or product discussions.
Identify where friction occurs in payments - and how fintechs, APIs, and smarter messaging are solving these challenges.
Prepare for payments interviews with job-ready terminology, insights, and practical knowledge.
Requirements
No prerequisites. Just an interest in learning more about payments, financial services and fintech.
Description
Think like a payments professional. Learn how money actually moves - across banks, card networks, fintech rails, and global corridors.What if you could walk into a payments-related role or interview - with a clear, practical understanding of how payments really work?In this course, you'll go beyond jargon and buzzwords and get a structured breakdown of the entire payments landscape - from card models and PSPs to instant rails, cross-border banking, messaging standards, and fraud-reducing data structures like ISO 20022.Whether you're new to the space, pivoting from another finance or tech role, or building onboarding content for new hires - this course delivers the essential knowledge you need to understand modern payments infrastructure.Payments - Essentials is a practical, industry-aligned course. It's designed to give you more than theory - it gives you real-world insight, explained simply.In this course, you'll learn how to:Understand the roles of issuers, acquirers, schemes, PSPs, EMIs, MSBs, and regulatorsFollow how money moves across card rails, domestic systems, and cross-border corridorsDecode legacy SWIFT MT formats and the new ISO 20022 messaging structureIdentify how reconciliation, exception handling, and STP play out in real operationsExplore fintech-led innovation in wallets, embedded commerce, tokenization, and real-time infrastructureConnect messaging formats to fraud detection, data integrity, and automation opportunitiesYou'll also get:Guided walkthroughs of real-world payment journeysSide-by-side breakdowns of MT103 vs pacs.008 messagesQuizzes, assignments, and flow diagrams to support deep learningIndustry-aligned content designed for immediate job-readinessAnd-this course is part of the Banking & Finance Guild's pathway program. That means you'll be building towards professional recognition in banking as you complete key foundational topics (details inside the course).By the end of this course, you won't just understand payments -you'll think and speak like a banking or fintech professional.I'm Rían Chapman, and I've worked across banking, financial crime, digital transformation, and strategy in global institutions. My courses have helped over 100,000 students around the world build job-ready skills and launch careers that matter.So whether you're looking to land your first banking role or deepen your expertise in payments, this is your starting point for mastering the essentials.Click Enroll Now to begin your journey into the world of modern payments.
Who this course is for
spiring payments professionals looking to break into banking, fintech, or financial operations roles.
Students and early-career talent preparing for roles in product, operations, compliance, or treasury teams.
Professionals in retail or corporate banking who want to expand their understanding of how payments really work.
Fintech employees or founders who want a solid grounding in the mechanics and infrastructure of payments.
New hires in banks, PSPs, or EMIs looking to build foundational knowledge across domestic and cross-border flows.
Team leads or managers building onboarding content for operations, reconciliation, or payment support teams.
Business, finance, or computer science students who want to understand the real-world flow of money and messaging.
Anyone pursuing a Banking & Finance Guild certification through the payments pathway program.
Regulators, auditors, or consultants who want a practical lens into payment systems, messaging, and exceptions.
Tech professionals building API or embedded payment experiences who need to understand the infrastructure behind the scenes.
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