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Seeing as this comes up every so often, what in your opinion are the elements missing in todays current banking system - either as a consumer or a developer - t

Seeing as this comes up every so often, what in your opinion are the elements missing in todays current banking system - either as a consumer or a developer - that you would like to see?

newman8r 8y ago
Cryptocurrency support would be nice. I understand why that's not going to happen, but if a local bank supported crypto, I might be tempted to open an account.
- karambahh 8y ago
  In Europe, Revolut do support crypto I guess N26 already does it or will soon as they and Revolut copy each other on features as fast as possible (to such minute details as the card design itself)
  - newman8r 8y ago
    I'm signing up for Revolut - they're offering a beta program in the United States, looks interesting.
  - Foivos 8y ago
    As far as I know, revolut does not offer full support for cryptocurrencies. When you buy a cryptocurrency from revolut, you get an IOU. In other words, you can use revolut to invest in a cryptocurrency, but you can not actually use the cryptocurrency you have in your wallet to buy something. Also, the exchange rate is a tiny bit worse than the major exchanges. The real service revolut offers here is an incredibly easy way to invest in cryptocurrencies, for people who do not want to deal with the friction of getting real cryptos.
- jstandard 8y ago
  I've often heard that problems with banks and private , centralized control of wealth is one of the fundamental reasons for cryptocurrency. I'm genuinely curious, what cryptocurrency related services would you want a bank to provide? And, related, what do you expect or hope to be using that cryptocurrency for?
  - newman8r 8y ago
    It would be nice if I could buy cryptocurrency with my account funds, and for it to be protected/insured while it was in the bank's wallet. The ability to transfer in and out, etc. The ability to make debits against a cryptocurrency balance, etc. I use robinhood at the moment. If robinhood was able to act more like a bank, and supported transferring cryptocurrency in and out, then it would basically be what I was looking for. In the past I've just used coinbase/poloniex, and I just transfer to my wallets. I currently use bitcoin to buy domains on namecheap, and I use purse.io to buy stuff from amazon - but I can see myself using it for a lot more in the future. There may not be a lot of demand for it, but like I said, if local banks started offering these services it would get my attention.
    - jstandard 8y ago
      It sounds like all the same protections and uses you get with USD. I get the impression Coinbase may be moving in that direction if they haven't already. What advantages over USD are there for using bitcoin to buy domains or items from amazon?
      - newman8r 8y ago
        Not sure if there's any specific advantages, but I still prefer to use bitcoin when I can - just feels good. It's nice to be able to buy stuff from amazon without an amazon account though, although that has more to do with purse.io than bitcoin.
jdhn 8y ago
A quality mobile app. So many smaller banks/credit unions have terrible desktop websites, and I guarantee that the mobile experience is just as bad, if not worse.
- umvi 8y ago
  Also sane password requirements. Every single bank I've ever created an account with has had asinine password requirements: 8-12 characters, no special characters, at least one lowercase/capital/number, etc.
- jachee 8y ago
  A notable exception, imho: AlaskaUSA FCU. Their iOS app is fantastic. I've been able to continue banking with them, even though I've been 3-4 timezones away for the last 5 years, exclusively through their app.
rgersten 8y ago
I'll bite :) * Quick and customizable bill pay for onetime or recurring payments * Integration with peer-to-peer transfer systems (Zelle, Venmo, Paypal, etc.) * Simple budgeting tools and analytics. Doesn't have to be mint, just have something. * No ATM fees * Easy and fast transfers to other banking institutions * API to allow for devs and other apps to integrate basic functions * Good customer service - let me talk to a real person * All the functionality available from an app. Don't make me log into a desktop browser to access certain features. * Clear descriptions of different types of accounts * Credit reporting That's all I can think of right now but there are probably a ton of other issues we hit daily that could be solved. Though I have no idea of the regulatory hurdles of implementing these and other solutions.
- stevekemp 8y ago
  Interesting how a lot of these problems don't seem to exist in Europe. (I lived in Scotland, then moved to Finland. Of course I appreciate "Europe" is full of diverse companies, regulations, and facilities. Still I think it would be wierd to find people in Europe paying rent by mailing physical checks, etc.) Specifically "ATM Fees" are something I've never had to deal with, fast transfers were the norm, simple analytics were common-place. (Things like pie-charts showing where your money had been spent from your "checking account".) The only thing that has always been missing from companies I've used has been easy-to-automate-exports of data. You could login and export manually to CSV, etc, but you couldn't easily script that. That seems to be changing at the moment, and EU-wide there are provisions being made for exporting and API-usage (though I suspect it'll all be terrible.) The Nordea bank I use in Finland has a very nice little mobile app for showing my my accounts, mortgages, and investments. It also lets me schedule appointments, or call customer-support. Customer service is hard though; much like delivery companies there are only so many banks to choose from. Name any name and ten people will say "Worst. Bank. Ever". I've used maybe five banks in my life-time, and none were terrible, even if some were better than average.
  - twic 8y ago
    > "ATM Fees" are something I've never had to deal with Really? There are lots of little independent ATMs around the UK that charge a fee, and if you use a UK card abroad, there's a fee. They're not huge, but they're not zero.
burkemw3 8y ago
- Login with (username/email, password, U2F) - mobile app check deposit I like many of rgersten's features too: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17752320 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17752320
gwking 8y ago
I used to pay my very old landlord with personal checks for a chase account. At some point somebody, (I suspect the part time janitor) got my account number and tried to commit check fraud nearby. This was unsophisticated, an inkjet printer sort of attempt, but nevertheless forced me to close the account, get new numbers, and update all of my direct deposit and bill pay settings on other accounts. It cost me many hours and at least one late fee. So the obvious feature I would like from a regular, boring checking account is one-time random numbers for everything. Every check should have a unique, completely opaque number. Every time anyone wants an account number for direct deposit, wire transfer, bill pay, or anything else, I should be able to instantly generate a new, disposable number that works until I chose to retire it.
arminiusreturns 8y ago
First, the return of the wall between the gambling (investing) side and traditional side Ala glass steagal. Second, enforcement of higher fractional reserve requirements (last I heard it's not even 10 percent anymore). Third, and most controversial, is a return of money making powers back to Congress and away from the unconstitutional Aldrich bill in disguise. Fourth, a reduction in abusing the imf to financially hold countries hostage for their wealth. Fifth, bankers in jail that have broken the law, and revocation of charter for repeat egregious offenders.

Seeing as this comes up every so often, what in your opinion are the elements missing in todays current banking system - either as a consumer or a developer - that you would like to see?

newman8r 8y ago

Cryptocurrency support would be nice. I understand why that's not going to happen, but if a local bank supported crypto, I might be tempted to open an account.

karambahh 8y ago
In Europe, Revolut do support crypto I guess N26 already does it or will soon as they and Revolut copy each other on features as fast as possible (to such minute details as the card design itself)
- newman8r 8y ago
  I'm signing up for Revolut - they're offering a beta program in the United States, looks interesting.
- Foivos 8y ago
  As far as I know, revolut does not offer full support for cryptocurrencies. When you buy a cryptocurrency from revolut, you get an IOU. In other words, you can use revolut to invest in a cryptocurrency, but you can not actually use the cryptocurrency you have in your wallet to buy something. Also, the exchange rate is a tiny bit worse than the major exchanges. The real service revolut offers here is an incredibly easy way to invest in cryptocurrencies, for people who do not want to deal with the friction of getting real cryptos.
jstandard 8y ago
I've often heard that problems with banks and private , centralized control of wealth is one of the fundamental reasons for cryptocurrency. I'm genuinely curious, what cryptocurrency related services would you want a bank to provide? And, related, what do you expect or hope to be using that cryptocurrency for?
- newman8r 8y ago
  It would be nice if I could buy cryptocurrency with my account funds, and for it to be protected/insured while it was in the bank's wallet. The ability to transfer in and out, etc. The ability to make debits against a cryptocurrency balance, etc. I use robinhood at the moment. If robinhood was able to act more like a bank, and supported transferring cryptocurrency in and out, then it would basically be what I was looking for. In the past I've just used coinbase/poloniex, and I just transfer to my wallets. I currently use bitcoin to buy domains on namecheap, and I use purse.io to buy stuff from amazon - but I can see myself using it for a lot more in the future. There may not be a lot of demand for it, but like I said, if local banks started offering these services it would get my attention.
  - jstandard 8y ago
    It sounds like all the same protections and uses you get with USD. I get the impression Coinbase may be moving in that direction if they haven't already. What advantages over USD are there for using bitcoin to buy domains or items from amazon?
    - newman8r 8y ago
      Not sure if there's any specific advantages, but I still prefer to use bitcoin when I can - just feels good. It's nice to be able to buy stuff from amazon without an amazon account though, although that has more to do with purse.io than bitcoin.

jdhn 8y ago

A quality mobile app. So many smaller banks/credit unions have terrible desktop websites, and I guarantee that the mobile experience is just as bad, if not worse.

umvi 8y ago
Also sane password requirements. Every single bank I've ever created an account with has had asinine password requirements: 8-12 characters, no special characters, at least one lowercase/capital/number, etc.
jachee 8y ago
A notable exception, imho: AlaskaUSA FCU. Their iOS app is fantastic. I've been able to continue banking with them, even though I've been 3-4 timezones away for the last 5 years, exclusively through their app.

rgersten 8y ago

I'll bite :) * Quick and customizable bill pay for onetime or recurring payments * Integration with peer-to-peer transfer systems (Zelle, Venmo, Paypal, etc.) * Simple budgeting tools and analytics. Doesn't have to be mint, just have something. * No ATM fees * Easy and fast transfers to other banking institutions * API to allow for devs and other apps to integrate basic functions * Good customer service - let me talk to a real person * All the functionality available from an app. Don't make me log into a desktop browser to access certain features. * Clear descriptions of different types of accounts * Credit reporting That's all I can think of right now but there are probably a ton of other issues we hit daily that could be solved. Though I have no idea of the regulatory hurdles of implementing these and other solutions.

stevekemp 8y ago
Interesting how a lot of these problems don't seem to exist in Europe. (I lived in Scotland, then moved to Finland. Of course I appreciate "Europe" is full of diverse companies, regulations, and facilities. Still I think it would be wierd to find people in Europe paying rent by mailing physical checks, etc.) Specifically "ATM Fees" are something I've never had to deal with, fast transfers were the norm, simple analytics were common-place. (Things like pie-charts showing where your money had been spent from your "checking account".) The only thing that has always been missing from companies I've used has been easy-to-automate-exports of data. You could login and export manually to CSV, etc, but you couldn't easily script that. That seems to be changing at the moment, and EU-wide there are provisions being made for exporting and API-usage (though I suspect it'll all be terrible.) The Nordea bank I use in Finland has a very nice little mobile app for showing my my accounts, mortgages, and investments. It also lets me schedule appointments, or call customer-support. Customer service is hard though; much like delivery companies there are only so many banks to choose from. Name any name and ten people will say "Worst. Bank. Ever". I've used maybe five banks in my life-time, and none were terrible, even if some were better than average.
- twic 8y ago
  > "ATM Fees" are something I've never had to deal with Really? There are lots of little independent ATMs around the UK that charge a fee, and if you use a UK card abroad, there's a fee. They're not huge, but they're not zero.

burkemw3 8y ago

- Login with (username/email, password, U2F) - mobile app check deposit I like many of rgersten's features too: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17752320 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17752320

gwking 8y ago

I used to pay my very old landlord with personal checks for a chase account. At some point somebody, (I suspect the part time janitor) got my account number and tried to commit check fraud nearby. This was unsophisticated, an inkjet printer sort of attempt, but nevertheless forced me to close the account, get new numbers, and update all of my direct deposit and bill pay settings on other accounts. It cost me many hours and at least one late fee. So the obvious feature I would like from a regular, boring checking account is one-time random numbers for everything. Every check should have a unique, completely opaque number. Every time anyone wants an account number for direct deposit, wire transfer, bill pay, or anything else, I should be able to instantly generate a new, disposable number that works until I chose to retire it.

arminiusreturns 8y ago

First, the return of the wall between the gambling (investing) side and traditional side Ala glass steagal. Second, enforcement of higher fractional reserve requirements (last I heard it's not even 10 percent anymore). Third, and most controversial, is a return of money making powers back to Congress and away from the unconstitutional Aldrich bill in disguise. Fourth, a reduction in abusing the imf to financially hold countries hostage for their wealth. Fifth, bankers in jail that have broken the law, and revocation of charter for repeat egregious offenders.