4 ms·

>The only problem I see with this specific business model: As soon as enough people use it, this method of transfer will be the norm and all the big banks will

>The only problem I see with this specific business model: As soon as enough people use it, this method of transfer will be the norm and all the big banks will offer it too, thereby invalidating the justification for the existence of the new players. Yes exactly what I was thinking. But by that time Transferwise could be a reputable brand with lots of customers so they could pivot to offer other financial services.

RangerScience 10y ago
And almost certainly better tech. You ever check out the OS your bank is running?
- jlg23 10y ago
  Honestly, I don't care whether I am driven over by a Porsche Cayenne or a Willys MB. And while I have not worked in the banking sector myself, lots of my friends did - and it was not cobol. They are catching up and they all know that their mainframe sw is dated and act upon it. I don't think the "quality" of the tech is of any relevance here. EDIT: Well, I actually know some guys who bit the bullet and learned cobol when they were just turning 20. By the time they turned 30, they did not have to work anymore.
  - mastazi 10y ago
    > and it was not cobol And if it was, personally, I wouldn't have a problem as a customer.
  - bloopalert 10y ago
    It's cobol.
  - jomkr 10y ago
    I'd have 100% more trust in a system written in COBOL than node.js.
    - joe563323 10y ago
      But it is currently maintained by the new nodejs devs who figured maintaining COBOL pays greater.
  - saiya-jin 10y ago
    Banks run all kinds of stuff - never seen AS400 mainframe at the bank (but some for example in Renault), but plenty of 15-20 year old systems. I consider SAP a legacy system that should be avoided/pushed out at all costs, but that's personal opinion. And guess what - in many cases those old systems work extremely well. if you can integrate with it via Java or similar, then there is no good enough reason to upgrade. I've seen plenty of projects pitched as salvation to customers, when at the end the customer needed 3x the amount of people to support it, wasted ton if time and money putting new 'cool' tech in, which just brought its own set of problems. True added long-term value for customer was minimal.
- toomuchtodo 10y ago
  > You ever check out the OS your bank is running? Does it matter? I don't care what Fidelity, Vanguard, etc run under the hood, I have no loyalty nor switching costs. Vanguard's interface is garbage, plain and simple, but they have the lowest cost index funds; I'd use paper and pen to correspond with them if necessary. I moved from Betterment, who has a very delightful iOS app and web interface, because the fees were lower at Vanguard.

RangerScience 10y ago

And almost certainly better tech. You ever check out the OS your bank is running?

jlg23 10y ago
Honestly, I don't care whether I am driven over by a Porsche Cayenne or a Willys MB. And while I have not worked in the banking sector myself, lots of my friends did - and it was not cobol. They are catching up and they all know that their mainframe sw is dated and act upon it. I don't think the "quality" of the tech is of any relevance here. EDIT: Well, I actually know some guys who bit the bullet and learned cobol when they were just turning 20. By the time they turned 30, they did not have to work anymore.
- mastazi 10y ago
  > and it was not cobol And if it was, personally, I wouldn't have a problem as a customer.
- bloopalert 10y ago
  It's cobol.
- jomkr 10y ago
  I'd have 100% more trust in a system written in COBOL than node.js.
  - joe563323 10y ago
    But it is currently maintained by the new nodejs devs who figured maintaining COBOL pays greater.
- saiya-jin 10y ago
  Banks run all kinds of stuff - never seen AS400 mainframe at the bank (but some for example in Renault), but plenty of 15-20 year old systems. I consider SAP a legacy system that should be avoided/pushed out at all costs, but that's personal opinion. And guess what - in many cases those old systems work extremely well. if you can integrate with it via Java or similar, then there is no good enough reason to upgrade. I've seen plenty of projects pitched as salvation to customers, when at the end the customer needed 3x the amount of people to support it, wasted ton if time and money putting new 'cool' tech in, which just brought its own set of problems. True added long-term value for customer was minimal.
toomuchtodo 10y ago
> You ever check out the OS your bank is running? Does it matter? I don't care what Fidelity, Vanguard, etc run under the hood, I have no loyalty nor switching costs. Vanguard's interface is garbage, plain and simple, but they have the lowest cost index funds; I'd use paper and pen to correspond with them if necessary. I moved from Betterment, who has a very delightful iOS app and web interface, because the fees were lower at Vanguard.