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> to do something that was free and instant with cash and free and only mildly less instant with paper checks. Running down to the bank to cash a check is pret

> to do something that was free and instant with cash and free and only mildly less instant with paper checks. Running down to the bank to cash a check is pretty damn far away from "free and instant."

closeparen 9y ago
No, but “write out a paper check and have the other person photograph it with their bank’s app” is still the only universal and free peer to peer electronic payment method in the US. (Cash requires trips to the teller window during banking hours if your transactions are not all multiples of $20).
- jedberg 9y ago
  Yeah but if you do that usually you're only limited to about $100 of that check being available until it clears three days later.
  - austenallred 9y ago
    Finance is mostly a security problem. It's always (and continues to be) a security problem.
    - vertex-four 9y ago
      No, finance is an interoperability problem. If it were a security problem, there'd be much clearer solutions.
- otakucode 9y ago
  Will most banks actually allow that? Taking a picture of a personal check and cashing it instantly? In my experience banks treat personal checks like radioactive waste and getting a bank to cash a check as an individual takes some doing. Last time I had a $2600 check I found out that for any check over $2500, I had to physically take it to the bank and they wanted to know why I was receiving the money. Anything that cuts payment processors out of the loop is absolutely essential in my book. The current scenario is that the majority of our economy flows through a few payment processor companies who do nothing of value beyond moving numbers down a wire, and they charge a percentage cut for that (because apparently it costs them more to move larger numbers?). That amounts to them being a taxing body. It gives them tremendous control over our entire economy. If we don't tear them out of that position, they will counter-act any actions taken by the government to control the money supply if the government ever dares to do anything which would not maximize the payment processors profit.
  - tonyarkles 9y ago
    In Canada they certainly didn't mind for me. When clients were sending me cheques, I don't think I ever ran into any problems cashing them using the RBC "Photo of a cheque" thing. I ran into way more difficulties with Quickbooks Payments accepting large credit card transactions. There were invisible thresholds that seemed to trigger Know-Your-Customer (KYC) rules, and the fact that those had been triggered seemed to be opaque to Tier 1 support. As far as everyone I talked to (at both QB and at RBC) the money had vanished into the aether, until a couple days later I got a call from someone in the QB Compliance department who had a few questions.
  - ender341341 9y ago
    Will most banks actually allow that? Taking a picture of a personal check and cashing it instantly? My small credit union does this. I imagine there's corner cases & limits to how much they'll do instantly without review but it's worked instantly for me so far with several hundred dollars on a check.

closeparen 9y ago

No, but “write out a paper check and have the other person photograph it with their bank’s app” is still the only universal and free peer to peer electronic payment method in the US. (Cash requires trips to the teller window during banking hours if your transactions are not all multiples of $20).

jedberg 9y ago
Yeah but if you do that usually you're only limited to about $100 of that check being available until it clears three days later.
- austenallred 9y ago
  Finance is mostly a security problem. It's always (and continues to be) a security problem.
  - vertex-four 9y ago
    No, finance is an interoperability problem. If it were a security problem, there'd be much clearer solutions.
otakucode 9y ago
Will most banks actually allow that? Taking a picture of a personal check and cashing it instantly? In my experience banks treat personal checks like radioactive waste and getting a bank to cash a check as an individual takes some doing. Last time I had a $2600 check I found out that for any check over $2500, I had to physically take it to the bank and they wanted to know why I was receiving the money. Anything that cuts payment processors out of the loop is absolutely essential in my book. The current scenario is that the majority of our economy flows through a few payment processor companies who do nothing of value beyond moving numbers down a wire, and they charge a percentage cut for that (because apparently it costs them more to move larger numbers?). That amounts to them being a taxing body. It gives them tremendous control over our entire economy. If we don't tear them out of that position, they will counter-act any actions taken by the government to control the money supply if the government ever dares to do anything which would not maximize the payment processors profit.
- tonyarkles 9y ago
  In Canada they certainly didn't mind for me. When clients were sending me cheques, I don't think I ever ran into any problems cashing them using the RBC "Photo of a cheque" thing. I ran into way more difficulties with Quickbooks Payments accepting large credit card transactions. There were invisible thresholds that seemed to trigger Know-Your-Customer (KYC) rules, and the fact that those had been triggered seemed to be opaque to Tier 1 support. As far as everyone I talked to (at both QB and at RBC) the money had vanished into the aether, until a couple days later I got a call from someone in the QB Compliance department who had a few questions.
- ender341341 9y ago
  Will most banks actually allow that? Taking a picture of a personal check and cashing it instantly? My small credit union does this. I imagine there's corner cases & limits to how much they'll do instantly without review but it's worked instantly for me so far with several hundred dollars on a check.