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Direct peer-to-peer payments: Those are currently a nightmare when you regularly travel. US: Venmo, Europe: SEPA, China: Wechat, etc. If Facebook manages to sig

by gst 7y ago

Direct peer-to-peer payments: Those are currently a nightmare when you regularly travel. US: Venmo, Europe: SEPA, China: Wechat, etc. If Facebook manages to sign up enough stakeholders from different countries (that provide gateways between Libra and traditional bank accounts in their respective countries) Libra would provide a viable global alternative to the currently very fragmented market.

hrktb 7y ago
Can’t that be done through easily through Paypal ? (or Western Union, I just never tried)
- deif 7y ago
  You need a bank account with Paypal still. This is direct payment into your personal virtual wallet (supposedly not linked to your real identity) avoiding all banks.
  - hrktb 7y ago
    Depending on your country you don’t. Paypal needs a bank or a card, and for instance in France cards can be prepaid (supermaket chains can make their own). All of that will be tied to a real identity, but I am not sure Libra will also be completely free of these ties. There must be a point where to use your wallet you’ll have to justify your identity (i.e. above some amount or some kind of purchases you hit KYC requirements)
- gst 7y ago
  PayPal is not available in a lot of countries (Turkey would be one example). Western Union might work, but the fees are high and there's much more friction. In case you're based in the United States: Would you use Western Union over Venmo / Square Cash. If you're based in Europe: Would you use Western Union over SEPA? Libra has the potential to provide a low friction environment (like Venmo) supported by local companies that's available globally. And while Libra definitely isn't perfect I think the set of trade-offs they chose are pretty reasonable. Another advantage over Venmo, Western Union, etc. is that the Libra will be run by a multiple independent companies, instead of locking you into a single company which is the case with the currently existing solutions (with the exception of SEPA).
  - palunon 7y ago
    > If you're based in Europe: Would you use Western Union over SEPA ? At least in France, people actually use apps like Venmo for person to person transfers (or cash, or cheques, but they're on their way out). We mostly use SEPA for either automatic bill payment authorization, or big transfers. No one will start a bank transfer and ask for their friends IBAN to pay back two beers.
jayd16 7y ago
Fair enough. That's a hypothetical at this point though, isn't it?

by gst 7y ago

hrktb 7y ago

Can’t that be done through easily through Paypal ? (or Western Union, I just never tried)

deif 7y ago
You need a bank account with Paypal still. This is direct payment into your personal virtual wallet (supposedly not linked to your real identity) avoiding all banks.
- hrktb 7y ago
  Depending on your country you don’t. Paypal needs a bank or a card, and for instance in France cards can be prepaid (supermaket chains can make their own). All of that will be tied to a real identity, but I am not sure Libra will also be completely free of these ties. There must be a point where to use your wallet you’ll have to justify your identity (i.e. above some amount or some kind of purchases you hit KYC requirements)
gst 7y ago
PayPal is not available in a lot of countries (Turkey would be one example). Western Union might work, but the fees are high and there's much more friction. In case you're based in the United States: Would you use Western Union over Venmo / Square Cash. If you're based in Europe: Would you use Western Union over SEPA? Libra has the potential to provide a low friction environment (like Venmo) supported by local companies that's available globally. And while Libra definitely isn't perfect I think the set of trade-offs they chose are pretty reasonable. Another advantage over Venmo, Western Union, etc. is that the Libra will be run by a multiple independent companies, instead of locking you into a single company which is the case with the currently existing solutions (with the exception of SEPA).
- palunon 7y ago
  > If you're based in Europe: Would you use Western Union over SEPA ? At least in France, people actually use apps like Venmo for person to person transfers (or cash, or cheques, but they're on their way out). We mostly use SEPA for either automatic bill payment authorization, or big transfers. No one will start a bank transfer and ask for their friends IBAN to pay back two beers.

jayd16 7y ago

Fair enough. That's a hypothetical at this point though, isn't it?