6 ms·

America is very backwards in tech for daily life. About 2 years ago I was blown away when I arrived at the San Francisco airport and had to buy a train card wit

America is very backwards in tech for daily life. About 2 years ago I was blown away when I arrived at the San Francisco airport and had to buy a train card with a Visa card; the customer service guy got flustered and pulled an old carbon paper swiper thing out from under the desk, and asked for my signature. In Australia it's all wireless payWave or PayPass. My Chinese GF uses her phone to pay for things and considers me old fashioned for using a card.

puranjay 7y ago
America's banking system is the best example. My clients still pay me via ACH that takes 2-3 days to clear. Meanwhile in my local market, I can send/receive money instantly for either zero or a fee capped at less than $0.10/transaction.
- kombucha11 7y ago
  Seems like FedNow was created to ease some of these pain points. https://multichannelmerchant.com/blog/fednow-service-will-offer-efficient-faster-secure-payments/ https://multichannelmerchant.com/blog/fednow-service-will-of...
mattmanser 7y ago
Yes, very forward thinking paying with your phone, letting Google have access to your purchase history. Very generous to them.
vonmoltke 7y ago
> America is very backwards in tech for daily life. About 2 years ago I was blown away when I arrived at the San Francisco airport and had to buy a train card with a Visa card; the customer service guy got flustered and pulled an old carbon paper swiper thing out from under the desk, and asked for my signature. America is very backwards because of one thing that happened to you that has literally never happened to me in the 21+ years I have been an adult here? How did you even find a human to pay? I have always used a ticket vending machine at SFO.
- rorykoehler 7y ago
  Cheques haven't even existed for 15+ years here in Ireland. America is quite slow on the uptake of tech considering they are arguably the most disruptive innovators in the world as a country.
  - vonmoltke 7y ago
    Checks have lived on beyond their useful life, unfortunately. I think the only reason they still exist is the arthritic ACH system and the desire by some receipients to avoid credit card processing fees. Still, while checks may still be a thing they're pretty rare and rarely required. Mobile and contactless payment is pretty common (outside the food service industry, but I blame the food service industry for that).
    - mailslot 7y ago
      Transaction & processing fees are no joke. Big or small, 3% of your revenue before profit, is a big deal. It made sense as a convenience fee, until it became ubiquitous. Now it’s a tax that people are blindly opting in to.
  - seanmcdirmid 7y ago
    I haven’t used checks routinely for the last 20 years in the states. I’m always really annoyed when some random niche activity requires it and can’t accept an online transfer. Then I have to go to the bank and get a temporary one.
    - Scoundreller 7y ago
      You might want to bite the bullet and buy the 200 for $10. At least they don't expire.
      - seanmcdirmid 7y ago
        It is annoying. I can get certified checks for free at the bank.
TulliusCicero 7y ago
I've found Germany is even more backwards for consumer-facing tech. I frequently have to pay with cash at businesses here, and of course make sure to always have a coin on you for the shopping cart at the grocery store! Additionally, websites for German institutions are markedly behind what I was used to in the states (e.g. elementary schools), they all still rely heavily on phone calls and letters, and I still had people giving me photos burned on CD's, or emailing them to me one photo at a time. Software/internet UX in general just seems very behind, too. That's not to say that Germany is less advanced than the US as a whole, but when it comes to consumer-facing software stuff, it feels substantially behind.
- distances 7y ago
  Note that a big reason for cash use in Germany is privacy (no trace of your purchases) and thriftiness (stores avoiding card payment fees). But yes, Germany is quite slow to adopt new technology.
  - TulliusCicero 7y ago
    > Note that a big reason for cash use in Germany is privacy (no trace of your purchases) Well, no. That explains why consumers might pay with cash, but not why businesses would only take cash. > thriftiness (stores avoiding card payment fees). This one, yeah makes sense. Although it has less explanatory power for EC cards than credit cards imo. Aren't EC card payment fees quite low? Plus IIRC studies show people being more willing to spend more with 'plastic' than cash, so it may actually be a false savings for the business. And it's not like Germany is collectively taking some principled position against digital payments, they're just slower on the adoption curve; it IS still happening. To me this points more to the general conservatism on digital things that you can see elsewhere as well (e.g. uptake of digital books, downloaded vs physical video games, downloaded/streamed music, etc.) rather than something specific to payments themselves.
wil421 7y ago
We use trains in America? I had a similar experience in Germany with cash. Many of the cafes in Munich did not accept cards. A Finnish student I met shared awkward stories about forgetting to carry cash. I had to walk across the Munich airport to find an ATM to pay my expensive cab with cash. His credit card app could not connect to its services.
seanmcdirmid 7y ago
How did you not find an automated kiosk to by a train ticket or pass? Many of these even have the same tap to pay that you are familiar with in Australia. Since moving back to the states from China 3 years ago, I’ve gone to the ATM twice, and I no longer have to fumble with a phone to align QR codes. To each their own, I guess.
ahodges22 7y ago
Umm when did you go to San Francisco? They've had BART ticket vending machines there that take credit cards for as long as I can remember.
anthonybsd 7y ago
I think your experience is a complete outlier. I literally only go the ATM when I need to give cash to a friend or something weird like that. I spend most of my life in NYC / Financial District. I can't recall the last time I even had to use a physical credit card - everything is either Apple Pay or Level Up, i.e. pay with the phone. Even the subway lines I use have been converted to touchless entry. It's pretty marvelous.

puranjay 7y ago

America's banking system is the best example. My clients still pay me via ACH that takes 2-3 days to clear. Meanwhile in my local market, I can send/receive money instantly for either zero or a fee capped at less than $0.10/transaction.

kombucha11 7y ago
Seems like FedNow was created to ease some of these pain points. https://multichannelmerchant.com/blog/fednow-service-will-offer-efficient-faster-secure-payments/ https://multichannelmerchant.com/blog/fednow-service-will-of...

mattmanser 7y ago

Yes, very forward thinking paying with your phone, letting Google have access to your purchase history. Very generous to them.

vonmoltke 7y ago

> America is very backwards in tech for daily life. About 2 years ago I was blown away when I arrived at the San Francisco airport and had to buy a train card with a Visa card; the customer service guy got flustered and pulled an old carbon paper swiper thing out from under the desk, and asked for my signature. America is very backwards because of one thing that happened to you that has literally never happened to me in the 21+ years I have been an adult here? How did you even find a human to pay? I have always used a ticket vending machine at SFO.

rorykoehler 7y ago
Cheques haven't even existed for 15+ years here in Ireland. America is quite slow on the uptake of tech considering they are arguably the most disruptive innovators in the world as a country.
- vonmoltke 7y ago
  Checks have lived on beyond their useful life, unfortunately. I think the only reason they still exist is the arthritic ACH system and the desire by some receipients to avoid credit card processing fees. Still, while checks may still be a thing they're pretty rare and rarely required. Mobile and contactless payment is pretty common (outside the food service industry, but I blame the food service industry for that).
  - mailslot 7y ago
    Transaction & processing fees are no joke. Big or small, 3% of your revenue before profit, is a big deal. It made sense as a convenience fee, until it became ubiquitous. Now it’s a tax that people are blindly opting in to.
- seanmcdirmid 7y ago
  I haven’t used checks routinely for the last 20 years in the states. I’m always really annoyed when some random niche activity requires it and can’t accept an online transfer. Then I have to go to the bank and get a temporary one.
  - Scoundreller 7y ago
    You might want to bite the bullet and buy the 200 for $10. At least they don't expire.
    - seanmcdirmid 7y ago
      It is annoying. I can get certified checks for free at the bank.

TulliusCicero 7y ago

I've found Germany is even more backwards for consumer-facing tech. I frequently have to pay with cash at businesses here, and of course make sure to always have a coin on you for the shopping cart at the grocery store! Additionally, websites for German institutions are markedly behind what I was used to in the states (e.g. elementary schools), they all still rely heavily on phone calls and letters, and I still had people giving me photos burned on CD's, or emailing them to me one photo at a time. Software/internet UX in general just seems very behind, too. That's not to say that Germany is less advanced than the US as a whole, but when it comes to consumer-facing software stuff, it feels substantially behind.

distances 7y ago
Note that a big reason for cash use in Germany is privacy (no trace of your purchases) and thriftiness (stores avoiding card payment fees). But yes, Germany is quite slow to adopt new technology.
- TulliusCicero 7y ago
  > Note that a big reason for cash use in Germany is privacy (no trace of your purchases) Well, no. That explains why consumers might pay with cash, but not why businesses would only take cash. > thriftiness (stores avoiding card payment fees). This one, yeah makes sense. Although it has less explanatory power for EC cards than credit cards imo. Aren't EC card payment fees quite low? Plus IIRC studies show people being more willing to spend more with 'plastic' than cash, so it may actually be a false savings for the business. And it's not like Germany is collectively taking some principled position against digital payments, they're just slower on the adoption curve; it IS still happening. To me this points more to the general conservatism on digital things that you can see elsewhere as well (e.g. uptake of digital books, downloaded vs physical video games, downloaded/streamed music, etc.) rather than something specific to payments themselves.

wil421 7y ago

We use trains in America? I had a similar experience in Germany with cash. Many of the cafes in Munich did not accept cards. A Finnish student I met shared awkward stories about forgetting to carry cash. I had to walk across the Munich airport to find an ATM to pay my expensive cab with cash. His credit card app could not connect to its services.

seanmcdirmid 7y ago

How did you not find an automated kiosk to by a train ticket or pass? Many of these even have the same tap to pay that you are familiar with in Australia. Since moving back to the states from China 3 years ago, I’ve gone to the ATM twice, and I no longer have to fumble with a phone to align QR codes. To each their own, I guess.

ahodges22 7y ago

Umm when did you go to San Francisco? They've had BART ticket vending machines there that take credit cards for as long as I can remember.

anthonybsd 7y ago

I think your experience is a complete outlier. I literally only go the ATM when I need to give cash to a friend or something weird like that. I spend most of my life in NYC / Financial District. I can't recall the last time I even had to use a physical credit card - everything is either Apple Pay or Level Up, i.e. pay with the phone. Even the subway lines I use have been converted to touchless entry. It's pretty marvelous.