bokohut

Oh yes I have noticed the "middlemen" given my background and experience as I have formerly been one multiple times since the mid 90s. My efforts are currently undercutting the middlemen and their proliferation as the number of payments companies alone in the last few years has exploded as has fees which are crushing even established brands which have little to no understanding when it comes to payments.

If one did not already know online payments originated and was perfected from adult content consumption just as many technologies were but history shuns the stigma - the stories I have. Worth the watch > en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Men_(film)

Maybe we just go back to trading farm animals? j/k

As technology propagates into everything one would be wise to comprehend the management of such devices that are connected regardless of the function. Significant home automation adoption is coming and some have decades of experience in building those changes. Where there is smoke usually fire leads.

My first exposure to computers and writing code was on an Apple in the mid 1980s, I was hooked at a very young age. Since that time I have obtained a higher education degree in software development as well as architected, coded and managed entire enterprise platforms for multiple businesses I have founded. As an entrepreneurial software development loser I stand proud and sm:)e.

"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery"

Welcome to the club. As one that has been building entire enterprise platforms and adding unique features and functions for decades my vast experiences reflect that there will never be a shortage of people looking to claim others work as their own, even steal it to start another company as this happens very frequently yet just does not get as much attention as it should I believe. I have experienced this at every level even down to one claiming to have built and architected an entire company's systems which was entirely my own effort. I also have direct experience with developers stealing I.P. and starting "new" companies, being discovered, sued, losing the suit and then having their wages garnished for millions in restitution. This is sure to happen more and more as technology is built into all devices needed or not and thus business opportunities increase allowing others to apply those stolen ideas. There are A LOT of narcissist egotists out there and I would encourage everyone to avoid them at all costs as they are toxic to business.

As an American entrepreneur who has been architecting and managing FinTech for more than two decades the face value of this title is incorrect. As far as the contents of the article suggests it too is incorrect as many businesses, "undiscovered" of course, have had such functionality for years and it is just now that attention is being brought to these techniques since the start of this FinTech craze. Fun times none the less for those with the experience and a proven solution during this FINsanity!

THIS but I sit and ponder. I make it a point to sit outside every night for hours all year around, only restricted by rain or snow, and it has changed me for the better. I highly encourage investment in oneself to do the same without any human produced content distractions as the minds creativity is endless.

If one does not take the time needed to review ALL copied code which is to be included in a project then is that particular individual held responsible for the entirety of an impacting negative result should that code be the source of said impact? The individual was tasked with 'complete this portion of the project' and instead of writing the code and bettering their understanding of said project, of which they will very likely be a source of knowledge to support, the individual saved themselves the mental effort and included copied code. I have also seen the exact same “corner cutting” in the M$ world where developers submit an expense report in which they purchased a component library without ANY consideration of the licensing or the production costs around that components production architectural deployment. As to my latter point you will find the Payment Card Industry (PCI) planning or soon requiring third party assertions on black box code components used in a system but as a multi decade payments entrepreneur/architect/developer this is pure foolishness because if you do not own all the code AND understand it there is no way to know what it may do in the future.

Would you consume candy from a stranger? Would you pick up a piece of candy off the ground which appears unaltered and consume it? When one applies logic to other life safety situations hopefully some can see the analogous similarities to just picking up code off the ground and putting it into one's mouth.

This sh!t storm is just getting started as more and more “no code” businesses are introduced and industries adopt the “easy way” in fear of missing out on “exponential” income. Most are taught at a very young age that fire is hot but until one gets burned the concept of hot is not personally comprehended. The majority of people are lazy and will always take the easy route but as the world comes to learn from more and more catastrophic global breaches, easy is very often not secure.

Now consider critical to life medical device companies that copy code without review.

Trust but verify.

As one that has experienced a project in the research phase being figuratively knee-capped by this money grab one would be led to believe that the ISO organization themselves would clearly and quite obviously see the lack of standards adoptions sourced from their very own actions. Catch-22 anyone?

Code intake technique aside, in this case "typosquatting", the root of the problem is developers that are tasked with writing code choose instead just use others existing work without EVER reviewing nor understanding every line of that 'copied' code. While this code reuse technique has existed in many forms since the very first software languages were created the internet has just exacerbated the code sharing problem. As the world is coming to learn day after day that easy is not secure and if you copy code one better "trust but verify" however most people are just lazy. Here is a post I made 11 years ago and rest assured this "people are lazy" security compromise technique has been around a lot longer and will continue to prevail well into the future.

https://www.codeproject.com/Articles/30803/A-R-Live-Support-...

My time spent in architecting and coding a fraud system was for employment and income which is not particularly representative of my views about personal privacy per say that we seem to share. I can pay cash for burner phones in stores with no point of purchase surveillance coverage or I can go into a big box and pay with credit and be all kinds of recorded. All about understanding the long game objective as the execution is the easy part.

There are those of us with extensive experience in payments with plenty of stories that would touch exactly on this, so yes, but these stories are not public information.

I no AML/KYC expert but I have written software systems for fraud purposes before and with that in mind such systems, founded in data collection, are used every hour of every day to link people to activities, legal or not. Given the prolific prosecutorial proof available online as it relates to the value of "who took the money", "who was paid", "who has the money" in such legal cases clearly the institutions tasked with 'security' see a great threat in not being able to follow it.

Correct however in that "different era" the proprietors of Questar cared about what they built which seems to be lost in the many products manufactured today in this more "modern era". And yes, I do greatly appreciate quality when I spend my hard earned income but to each their own.

I concur that it is built with quality above all else which in this day and age is a rarity to find AND they are still in business maintaining that quality. Certainly in this forum of technologists anyone visiting their website would balk at what they see and likely snicker too. However those of us that own a Questar are not using it to look at websites but we are known to occasionally sleep in late from 'spacing' out. ;)

At this very moment the U.S. Financial Service Committee is holding a hearing on 'terrorism' and one would not be surprised to learn that 'cryptocurrency' is the main discussion. What is sacrificed when one is no longer able to "Follow the money."?

edit

If you are just getting started my suggestion is likely outside of your budget considerations however I wanted to make you aware and share this option should your interest expand in the future. I consider this entry "Looking back I wish someone would have told me that sooner." With that stated I can highly suggest "Questar" as a product to research and consider both from the multiple decades of proven quality, they have been involved in manufacturing optics for the U.S. government for a very long time, as well as the 'investment' in a premium product which accrues in value. Having bought many scopes in my day Questar was the last scope I bought many years ago. Ymmv however as I have personal experience in visiting their facility in New Hope PA and meeting multiple people there which exude quality above all else. They serviced and modernized my previous single owner scope which they still held the full manufacturing and maintenance records on which preceded even my existence. I welcome you in joining those of us that find extreme value and relaxation in watching the original reality show without commercials that has been on 24/7 even before life as we know it existed. Stay Healthy!

As stated by another herein the "news" is just another business existing for profit. When you realize this you may reconsider the sources you digest as this partisanship received significant attention during the political escalation in the last years. What you consider news another in charge of publishing that content may not as how it relates to the business and their objectives. A very personal experience recently occurred where a local person was missing for over a week and the news covered the "missing" part. I participated in the search party and later that afternoon after searching a body washed up behind my house and of course such an event would be local front page news one would be led to believe correct? No, the "news" was not updated that a body was recovered for nearly one weeks time which to me should have been "news" the day of given that so many were aware and searching. Suspense sells and at the conclusion everyone loses interest.

As an original software developer of the FBI NICS system this will involve massive technology changes. One point that stands out is the "public access database" of this proposed system which all reading this likely can formulate an opinion around the government and cybersecurity. Is this a timing play? -The NRA in shambles and looking to physically restructure while the Congress proposes new bills to thwart the gun violence. Creative none the less, sure you have the right to bear arms per the U.S. constitution but those arms are of no use if you cannot obtain ammunition.

"Absolute power corrupts absolutely." Sir John Dalberg-Acton

The beauty of the internet is that it does not forget and all the proof one needs it out there if one knows where to look. Many people lack morals and ethics and seek only to better themselves using their ‘power’ and some law enforcement entities are “absolutely” no different. One may believe the law enforcement as well as government is always correct and infallible yet everyone reading this at this very moment in time likely recognizes this fallacy. Each reader can likely provide their own unique individual point of proof as evidence, see my link and provide your own. In my past business endeavors I have personally witnessed a ‘fall from power’ event around someone's pure egotistical narcissistic greed so from my personal experience I would encourage everyone to ALWAYS get it in writing and save EVERY form of communication. You NEVER know when you will need it NOR the value it will make/save you in that future.

To prove my point from my words above bringing all this together in the topic at hand you may find great interest in this yt link.

youtube.com/watch?v=Qm4LHak5WZY

Be honest, be kind, be true, be you! All others will be discovered.

Stay Healthy!

Regardless of the topic is this not how interest in any such time duration based event works on the human level? Given everything in the world is now perceived as "real-time" most can only consume so much before having no more interest for any such topic. Foregoing listing other time duration based current events here, of which globally there are many, could it also be stated that people are showing 'fatigue' for several other major issues as well? A separate topic which comes to my mind and is applicable to what I stated above is that of cybersecurity.

"to think about a problem in a broader context" << this

For those exposed to this industry for quite some time this change has been coming for years, take back control and reduce costs. One not need look far, the stock exchanges for example, to see all the payments companies going public and there are significantly more private entities "in the game" with more popping up every week. "Fee'd to death" I call it as I have been one of those middlemen several times. With so many middlemen in the mix it should come as ZERO surprise as it relates to all the cyber breaches since PCI is nothing more than reactionary to an exponentially growing issue now encompassing all other industries and the most impactful with be the health field, one CANNOT change their health records. PCI 4 is currently in RFC and slated to go live in 2024, yes 2024. Anyone think the crims are gonna hold off until "everyone that is compliant" can implement the new requirements?

Having personally attended meetings in which banks and the US Federal Reverse were present I can reasonably inform you through direct knowledge of the matter that the US Federal Reserve is telling banks they MUST adopt technology to stay not only relevant but to even exist. Should anyone find it of interest just look at the small town bank buyouts and local branches closing up as this has been happening well before the current global situation and will only accelerate as the Old Boy network continues to resist. Everything changes in time, one just needs to have enough to wait.

I am building an new way to conduct a technology business end to end in entirety, hardware through software, THE BIG PICTURE. Obviously these are my words and likely further explanation could be redefined in other terms based on ones understanding however I have done this several times before with extreme security and efficiency in mind at every decision made, AUTOMATION because PEOPLE ARE THE PROBLEM. My background is payments, finance and banking which I need not elaborate the security that has been in this arena alone for quite some time but anyone nowadays, even a 7 year old, can use any search engine and find a recent breach referencing lost financial information and EVERYONE reading this has likely been issued multiple new credit cards or worse. There are several people and companies working towards unikernels and the like but my jam, and always has been, is to apply the new way of thinking to a business, a serial puzzle master if you will.

In short you are correct in using ONLY GO for absolutely EVERYTHING to reduce technical debt, ZERO TRUST architecture, automated everything and much much more. Might sound like hogwash to some but once more, if my past is an indication of my future as I love a challenge.

It is what you cannot see that matters most.

Superb points made by /hyperman1 and while everyone may like to believe that JSON or other formats will take over but in the core financial world, aside from all the Fintech popups using JSON, XML is here to stay. Having personally created many APIs around XML the benefits are vast inclusive of the points made above but human readability is key in speed resolution when needing to understand and issue when someone's money is involved.

While the original authors dislike for XML appears apparent in a personal memory throw back read which I enjoyed, if he consults with core finance he will continue to use XML well into the foreseeable future. ISO20022 is coming to core payments everywhere in the approaching future such as with FedNow real-time payments and yes, it is XML.

Not yet but planning and executing towards it.

To add to others points and your own which may not be as obvious to some but my background stems from the financial world and security has always been a problem, breach du jour. The way things are done now are nothing short of broken, PCI and more, and all the glue holding the shattered "window" panes together certainly doesn't lead to anything secure or even a "window" you can see through. I'm certain there are millions that will disagree, job security of course, but when one has maintained critical uptime services on M$ as long as I have one begins to question there must be a better way. Solve your own problems first I always say as I am currently architecting that path, the sixth time of my career actually but this occurrence is different entirely.

This too.

As a serial entrepreneur that is the brains in building the entire hardware and software of several acquired systems I have been the recipient of multiple such certified delivery cease and desists. While my case does not match that of this topics point mine was threating to inform me to stay out of the industry which clearly I did not, just a scare tactic without grounds because they knew of my talents. My most recent exit I secured a legally binding document with the new owner that states I cannot be pursued for anything by either the parent company or any future subsidiary. It has been crickets.

As others say your best option is to read and understand your situation since you lived it as no one will care more about it than you, not even a lawyer you are paying but they will gladly take your money, again from experience.

The payments landscape is under great flux for those of us that live it and know extremely well first hand. As a serial entrepayneur having been in this "game" for many decades more and more business' are coming to realize they need to own and control the process from customer to bank in order to offer better support in this now nearly complete digital online world. The middlemen are jockeying for position through value added service functions and customer lock in through such technologies as tokenization while the card brands and competing FinTechs continue to buy up all up and coming payments companies globally. If you want control you need to own it yet very few seem to understand this thinking as most believe payments is more than just ones and zeros which it is not.

As a serial fintech entrepreneur speaking from direct experience it should come as no surprise that major technology organizations are moving to control all payments as this is one function that all need to make money. All large brands own and operate their own payments systems as this is a direct factor of controlling expenses and therefore increasing revenue not to mention customer service which is growing increasing more important in this virtual faceless world. Many companies large, medium and small are now actively looking to bring payments in house as a factor of increasing asset value while simultaneously reducing expenses. If your payments volume and expenses justifies owning the process you too should consider owning it otherwise you will be at the mercy of the layers of middle men who will continue the nickel-and-diming activity.

So many entrepreneurs "drinking the kool aid" building their great idea that depends on others platforms of which on the surface appears warm and receptive however welcome to the real world which is cold and shunning. If you do not own your hardware and software systems your weakest links are the 3rd party providers which do not even know your name.

Interesting again to see that "fees" started the core battle fight. Visa and MasterCard, along with other brands, are acutely aware of the coming payments swing and continue on buying sprees to protect their toll road. Whether it be crypto, RTP, FedNow or remains to be credit card is yet to be known however these events and more will continue to push businesses to bring payments in house cutting out more and more middlemen. This is long overdue.