5 ms·

Stupid American question - how does someone get your bank account information from your wallet in the UK?

by astura 7y ago

chrisseaton 7y ago
You bank account information is written on your bank cards, which are in your wallet.
- astura 7y ago
  Follow-up stupid American question - what's "bank cards"? Is it like a business cards with your banking information on it that you give to someone so they can send you money?
  - scarejunba 7y ago
    It's an ATM card.
  - chrisseaton 7y ago
    ...it's a card that you use to pay for things in store, taking money from your bank and giving it to the store, and to get money from ATMs, taking money from your bank and giving it to you in cash. I know for a fact you have them in the US. A 'debit card' maybe? It uses the Visa or Mastercard payment networks, supports chip, contactless, swipe, or you can enter the numbers online, and also has useful information like your bank account number and routing number on. If you give other people that information they can pay you money even though you're not a store. Which is what happened here.
    - astura 7y ago
      Yeah, debit card or ATM card. I didn't know that bank account number was writen on it in Europe, thanks for the info.
      - chrisseaton 7y ago
        Yes it's like a debit card, and ATM card, and helpful reminder of your bank account details, all in one. And it's supported by Mastercard and Visa, so you can use it anywhere you can use a creditcard, even though it's not a creditcard.
- chrisweekly 7y ago
  Not always! My debit card # is not the same as the checking account # with which it's associated.
  - chrisseaton 7y ago
    We don't really do checking accounts in the UK anymore, so I don't know about them.
  - tialaramex 7y ago
    That makes sense, the debit card will be EMV compatible so it'll need a number that's about 16 digits long, because that number needs to be unique compared to all the world's payment cards. However most such (debit) cards in the UK have the associated account number and "sort code" in smaller type on them too. Certainly all the ones I've ever had are like this.
beefalo 7y ago
The bank account number is written on the card. European bank accounts make a lot more sense than in the US, your account number is a public number that can be used to receive money only and there is a transfer number for making payments.
- ValentineC 7y ago
  > European bank accounts make a lot more sense than in the US, your account number is a public number that can be used to receive money only and there is a transfer number for making payments. For the benefit of the non-US folk (including myself): it wouldn't be a good idea to reveal one's bank account number in the US because people can just pull money out from it with an account number?

Stupid American question - how does someone get your bank account information from your wallet in the UK?

by astura 7y ago

Stupid American question - how does someone get your bank account information from your wallet in the UK?

chrisseaton 7y ago

You bank account information is written on your bank cards, which are in your wallet.

astura 7y ago
Follow-up stupid American question - what's "bank cards"? Is it like a business cards with your banking information on it that you give to someone so they can send you money?
- scarejunba 7y ago
  It's an ATM card.
- chrisseaton 7y ago
  ...it's a card that you use to pay for things in store, taking money from your bank and giving it to the store, and to get money from ATMs, taking money from your bank and giving it to you in cash. I know for a fact you have them in the US. A 'debit card' maybe? It uses the Visa or Mastercard payment networks, supports chip, contactless, swipe, or you can enter the numbers online, and also has useful information like your bank account number and routing number on. If you give other people that information they can pay you money even though you're not a store. Which is what happened here.
  - astura 7y ago
    Yeah, debit card or ATM card. I didn't know that bank account number was writen on it in Europe, thanks for the info.
    - chrisseaton 7y ago
      Yes it's like a debit card, and ATM card, and helpful reminder of your bank account details, all in one. And it's supported by Mastercard and Visa, so you can use it anywhere you can use a creditcard, even though it's not a creditcard.
chrisweekly 7y ago
Not always! My debit card # is not the same as the checking account # with which it's associated.
- chrisseaton 7y ago
  We don't really do checking accounts in the UK anymore, so I don't know about them.
- tialaramex 7y ago
  That makes sense, the debit card will be EMV compatible so it'll need a number that's about 16 digits long, because that number needs to be unique compared to all the world's payment cards. However most such (debit) cards in the UK have the associated account number and "sort code" in smaller type on them too. Certainly all the ones I've ever had are like this.

beefalo 7y ago

The bank account number is written on the card. European bank accounts make a lot more sense than in the US, your account number is a public number that can be used to receive money only and there is a transfer number for making payments.

ValentineC 7y ago
> European bank accounts make a lot more sense than in the US, your account number is a public number that can be used to receive money only and there is a transfer number for making payments. For the benefit of the non-US folk (including myself): it wouldn't be a good idea to reveal one's bank account number in the US because people can just pull money out from it with an account number?