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It’s difficult for criminal transactions. There are tons of banking solutions in every country for transferring money. But they typically have low limits and r

It’s difficult for criminal transactions. There are tons of banking solutions in every country for transferring money. But they typically have low limits and require appropriate documentation.

mjfl 8y ago
It’s difficult for non-personal transactions in general. If you have a business that delivers some digital product, it is very difficult to serve an international client base without running afoul of anti money laundering compliance issues at banks and such. Cryptocurrencies can get around that. And I’m not saying there isn’t good reason for those rules for being there, but that they are stagnant and good candidates for “disruption” provided the attempts are made in good faith.
- TheSpiceIsLife 8y ago
  > very difficult How can this be? I’ve purchased many digital products from business outside my country of residence. I usually use PayPal or Visa / MasterCard.
  - mjfl 8y ago
    But you didn’t set up the business. Whatever business was behind the transaction either had or hired a transaction processor with a legal team experienced with international payments like Stripe or PayPal. And in general, they are doing something that’s very difficult.
    - TheSpiceIsLife 8y ago
      I don't understand what you are saying. You wrote: > If you have a business that delivers some digital product, it is very difficult to serve an international client base without running afoul of anti money laundering compliance issues at banks and such. And yet I use a whole bunch of services not based in my country of residence that deliver a digital product to my home. Mostly paid through either PayPal or Via / Mastercard. How can something be very difficult yet extremely common? Unless you mean receiving payments of large sums of money, in which case you're going to want to engage a transaction processor and legal team anyway. And for even larger sums of money, on an ongoing basis, it's not uncommon for an organisation to setup a local headquarters. And anyway, the point of anti-money laundering legislation isn't to run afoul of such legislation, it's to decrease the likelihood a business is used by people who have a need to launder money, and to more easily identify and track laundered money, etc. Or did you mean to imply that setting up a business like PayPal, Stripe, Visa, or Mastercard isn't easy. That's probably most certainly true. You've got to be really dedicated. Is there something I've missed?
      - themagician 8y ago
        It’s difficuly to do outside of the US and some European countries. Most companies will just incorporate in the US and use a US payment processor and operate as a US company. If, for example, you have a business in Brazil and you want to sell digital goods it’s not so easy to accept payments at all, let alone international payments. And incorporating in the US can be a hurdle if you don’t live here or have somone who can help you navigate getting set up with things like a US bank account.
        TheSpiceIsLife 8y ago
        Right. I meant to encompass this in my sentence "And for even larger sums of money, on an ongoing basis, it's not uncommon for an organisation to setup a local headquarters." PayPal claims¹ to be available in more than 200 countries/regions and support 25 currencies. Does PayPal in Brazil not accept payments from PayPal users in The USA? I'm not saying some people aren't underserved by money services, though. 1. https://www.paypal.com/en/webapps/mpp/country-worldwide https://www.paypal.com/en/webapps/mpp/country-worldwide

It’s difficult for criminal transactions. There are tons of banking solutions in every country for transferring money. But they typically have low limits and require appropriate documentation.

mjfl 8y ago

It’s difficult for non-personal transactions in general. If you have a business that delivers some digital product, it is very difficult to serve an international client base without running afoul of anti money laundering compliance issues at banks and such. Cryptocurrencies can get around that. And I’m not saying there isn’t good reason for those rules for being there, but that they are stagnant and good candidates for “disruption” provided the attempts are made in good faith.

TheSpiceIsLife 8y ago
> very difficult How can this be? I’ve purchased many digital products from business outside my country of residence. I usually use PayPal or Visa / MasterCard.
- mjfl 8y ago
  But you didn’t set up the business. Whatever business was behind the transaction either had or hired a transaction processor with a legal team experienced with international payments like Stripe or PayPal. And in general, they are doing something that’s very difficult.
  - TheSpiceIsLife 8y ago
    I don't understand what you are saying. You wrote: > If you have a business that delivers some digital product, it is very difficult to serve an international client base without running afoul of anti money laundering compliance issues at banks and such. And yet I use a whole bunch of services not based in my country of residence that deliver a digital product to my home. Mostly paid through either PayPal or Via / Mastercard. How can something be very difficult yet extremely common? Unless you mean receiving payments of large sums of money, in which case you're going to want to engage a transaction processor and legal team anyway. And for even larger sums of money, on an ongoing basis, it's not uncommon for an organisation to setup a local headquarters. And anyway, the point of anti-money laundering legislation isn't to run afoul of such legislation, it's to decrease the likelihood a business is used by people who have a need to launder money, and to more easily identify and track laundered money, etc. Or did you mean to imply that setting up a business like PayPal, Stripe, Visa, or Mastercard isn't easy. That's probably most certainly true. You've got to be really dedicated. Is there something I've missed?
    - themagician 8y ago
      It’s difficuly to do outside of the US and some European countries. Most companies will just incorporate in the US and use a US payment processor and operate as a US company. If, for example, you have a business in Brazil and you want to sell digital goods it’s not so easy to accept payments at all, let alone international payments. And incorporating in the US can be a hurdle if you don’t live here or have somone who can help you navigate getting set up with things like a US bank account.
      - TheSpiceIsLife 8y ago
        Right. I meant to encompass this in my sentence "And for even larger sums of money, on an ongoing basis, it's not uncommon for an organisation to setup a local headquarters." PayPal claims¹ to be available in more than 200 countries/regions and support 25 currencies. Does PayPal in Brazil not accept payments from PayPal users in The USA? I'm not saying some people aren't underserved by money services, though. 1. https://www.paypal.com/en/webapps/mpp/country-worldwide https://www.paypal.com/en/webapps/mpp/country-worldwide