4 ms·

> What we need is instant clearing, 24/7/365. Nobody cares that it's Sunday. Nobody cares that it's Presidents Day. UK has had near-real-time transfers for a w

by zkms 9y ago

> What we need is instant clearing, 24/7/365. Nobody cares that it's Sunday. Nobody cares that it's Presidents Day. UK has had near-real-time transfers for a while, it's called "Faster Payments" and there's no fees for end-users. It's also a "push" system (and not a "pull" system like ACH) which has serious advantages -- you can send money to anyone given their sort code and account number, and those numbers do not need to be kept private. With ACH if you have someone's routing number and account number you can pull money from their account without them needing to authorise it. Same-day ACH is just ACH with more batches, it's the same old shit cooked a little faster.

hackerboos 9y ago
Faster payments is one of the best systems I've used having lived in several countries. Paypal funds to a UK bank usually takes a few minutes. Here in Canada they have the Interac E-Transfer which is money by email and not usually free $1-$2 per transfer. It also has a question/answer security component which can be annoying if you simply want to send someone money.
- neospice 9y ago
  RBC and TD now waive the e money transfer fee.
- vidarh 9y ago
  It also allows for things like one of the UK Bitcoin trading sites that offers payment by bank transfer where it generally takes less time for the bank transfer to reach them than it takes for the BTC transfer to confirm.
  - skolsuper 9y ago
    Which site is that? Last two times I tried to buy bitcoin in the UK, I had to send Euros to some Polish bank.
    - vidarh 9y ago
      https://bittylicious.com/ https://bittylicious.com/ Caveat: It's been probably a year at least since I used them last, but the times I've used them before it worked very well.
cuchoi 9y ago
In Chile we have that. Instant payments with shareable information.
jackweirdy 9y ago
The only reason you do want to keep your account details secret is that people can set up direct debits on your account. This happened to Jeremy Clarkson after he posted his account number and sort code in a newspaper column and challenged people to take some money [0] [0] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7174760.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7174760.stm
- lumisota 9y ago
  Anyone doing so would also require the name and address of the account holder.
  - girvo 9y ago
    Or a dodgy enough place willing to look the other way when setting up the direct debit, because at least as of 9 years ago it was possible to do so when I was selling mobile contracts. Some would do so, and one of those is in jail now; so I guess it's not worth it, but the "validation" definitely wasn't foolproof then
  - sah2ed 9y ago
    The linked BBC article says the victim hinted at how the public could find his address, so someone who knew how the system works called Clarkson's bluff with a £500 monthly debit to a UK charity. Apparently, the UK system was designed to support push and pull transfer modes.
    - lozenge 9y ago
      At least with a direct debit, my bank has a list of companies authorized to pull money from my account (they are all supposed to have a signed direct debit agreement on file) and I can revoke from my bank's website. Is there something similar in the US?
      - benmanns 9y ago
        Not even close :( With my bank (known for its great service) you can call to place an ACH freeze but you have to know the vendor's identification or rough amount but you may end up with collateral damage (stopping a payment you do want to go through).
Havoc 9y ago
>With ACH if you have someone's routing number and account number you can pull money from their account without them needing to authorise it. I still don't get how anyone thought that's a good idea.
- an_account 9y ago
  When you understand that it’s based on checks, it makes perfect sense. Not that checks are a good system, but if the alternative is a check then it’s the same downside.
  - Havoc 9y ago
    >When you understand that it’s based on checks, it makes perfect sense. That just explains how the USA got into this mess. Nothing about any of this "makes perfect sense". I guess it's a bit like the imperial vs metric system thing. The US system is obviously inferior but they're too invested in it to change it.

by zkms 9y ago

hackerboos 9y ago

Faster payments is one of the best systems I've used having lived in several countries. Paypal funds to a UK bank usually takes a few minutes. Here in Canada they have the Interac E-Transfer which is money by email and not usually free $1-$2 per transfer. It also has a question/answer security component which can be annoying if you simply want to send someone money.

neospice 9y ago
RBC and TD now waive the e money transfer fee.
vidarh 9y ago
It also allows for things like one of the UK Bitcoin trading sites that offers payment by bank transfer where it generally takes less time for the bank transfer to reach them than it takes for the BTC transfer to confirm.
- skolsuper 9y ago
  Which site is that? Last two times I tried to buy bitcoin in the UK, I had to send Euros to some Polish bank.
  - vidarh 9y ago
    https://bittylicious.com/ https://bittylicious.com/ Caveat: It's been probably a year at least since I used them last, but the times I've used them before it worked very well.

cuchoi 9y ago

In Chile we have that. Instant payments with shareable information.

jackweirdy 9y ago

The only reason you do want to keep your account details secret is that people can set up direct debits on your account. This happened to Jeremy Clarkson after he posted his account number and sort code in a newspaper column and challenged people to take some money [0] [0] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7174760.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7174760.stm

lumisota 9y ago
Anyone doing so would also require the name and address of the account holder.
- girvo 9y ago
  Or a dodgy enough place willing to look the other way when setting up the direct debit, because at least as of 9 years ago it was possible to do so when I was selling mobile contracts. Some would do so, and one of those is in jail now; so I guess it's not worth it, but the "validation" definitely wasn't foolproof then
- sah2ed 9y ago
  The linked BBC article says the victim hinted at how the public could find his address, so someone who knew how the system works called Clarkson's bluff with a £500 monthly debit to a UK charity. Apparently, the UK system was designed to support push and pull transfer modes.
  - lozenge 9y ago
    At least with a direct debit, my bank has a list of companies authorized to pull money from my account (they are all supposed to have a signed direct debit agreement on file) and I can revoke from my bank's website. Is there something similar in the US?
    - benmanns 9y ago
      Not even close :( With my bank (known for its great service) you can call to place an ACH freeze but you have to know the vendor's identification or rough amount but you may end up with collateral damage (stopping a payment you do want to go through).

Havoc 9y ago

>With ACH if you have someone's routing number and account number you can pull money from their account without them needing to authorise it. I still don't get how anyone thought that's a good idea.

an_account 9y ago
When you understand that it’s based on checks, it makes perfect sense. Not that checks are a good system, but if the alternative is a check then it’s the same downside.
- Havoc 9y ago
  >When you understand that it’s based on checks, it makes perfect sense. That just explains how the USA got into this mess. Nothing about any of this "makes perfect sense". I guess it's a bit like the imperial vs metric system thing. The US system is obviously inferior but they're too invested in it to change it.