6 ms·

wheres the disruptive fintech for these underbanked? Sounds like a gold mine for the right marketing team.

by basch 7y ago

hn_throwaway_99 7y ago
There are other payment platforms that still work here. The problem with most of these alternative platforms is their fraud rates are absolutely through the roof. For example, Green Dot and NetSpend are companies that provide pre-paid, secured credit cards online, and as someone who worked at a consumer fintech company, one of these cards coming through automatically raised the fraud score because we had so many issues with payments from these cards.
kfichter 7y ago
SpankChain
m-p-3 7y ago
That fintech will get blacklisted by the other, bigger players. Not sure what else can be done to disrupt fintech to that point.
- im3w1l 7y ago
  In the worst case, you could set up brick and mortar shops for getting dollar bills in and out.
  - vanniv 7y ago
    I think you've just stumbled on the reason that folks are so determined to move us to a "cashless society" In a cashless society, once the folks in charge deplatform you, you cease to be able to engage in any transactions of any kind, and you basically cease to exist.
    - im3w1l 7y ago
      I agree that that is a consequence. But I don't think it's the primary motivation. When I talk to people around me about cash vs cards everyone agrees that paying with card is so much more convenient, especially when you just have to gently tap the reader with your card. I know many people who have the phone case with space for a few cards. They don't even carry a wallet anymore. They have nowhere to put bulky coins or even bills. Everything else: Decreased risk of being pick-pocketed, decreased risk of money vans being robbed, increased surveillance, increased control. All those are just secondary concerns.
      - vanniv 7y ago
        Oh, individuals who enjoy using credit cards absolutely have convenience as the primary goal. Regimes working on creating cash-free societies, where there are no legal anonymous payment schemes, on the other hand, simply want to use the threat of turning off your access to the economy as a means of control.
        asjw 7y ago
        There will always be money around, even if it's not cash dollars You're talking about people on the edge of society, rightfully so or more they already have many ways of making deals Meanwhile cashless in a country like Italy could expose the 30% of tax evasion that erodes our freedom as honest and "paying for everybody who's not doing it" citizens
cpach 7y ago
In Sweden, the central bank is investigating the possibility of issuing an official digital currency. Quite interesting project IMHO. https://www.riksbank.se/en-gb/payments--cash/e-krona/e-krona-reports/e-krona-project-report-2/ https://www.riksbank.se/en-gb/payments--cash/e-krona/e-krona...
r00fus 7y ago
It's supposed to be called government. Public banking (like what California has recently approved) should be the answer for legal and under-banked.
- Alex63 7y ago
  But what do you do when the government is trying to shut down your access to banking (as in the case of gun sellers)?
  - anoncake 7y ago
    The government doesn't need tricks to ban something...
    - micaeked 7y ago
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Choke_Point https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Choke_Point
- usr1106 7y ago
  Banking is a citizen right. Well, at least it should be. In Germany every bank is obliged to offer everyone (including homeless, overindebted, asylum seekers, etc.) a so-called base account, which offers a way to receive payments and pay the bills and get a basic debit card. However, the law has a mistake: The price of the base account is not regulated. And many banks charge more than for a "normal" account. Germany is still a cash country in many aspects. It's worse in Sweden in Finland, where you often cannot buy a train ticket without a debit (or credit) card, cash is no longer accepted.
  - mysterypie 7y ago
    > In Germany every bank is obliged to offer everyone a so-called base account That's very commendable; I wish more countries had such a regulation. Does it extend to non-citizens living in Germany? What about to visitors to Germany? Could someone open an account (by right) while there on a holiday?
listenallyall 7y ago
greendot.com

wheres the disruptive fintech for these underbanked? Sounds like a gold mine for the right marketing team.

by basch 7y ago

wheres the disruptive fintech for these underbanked? Sounds like a gold mine for the right marketing team.

There are other payment platforms that still work here. The problem with most of these alternative platforms is their fraud rates are absolutely through the roof. For example, Green Dot and NetSpend are companies that provide pre-paid, secured credit cards online, and as someone who worked at a consumer fintech company, one of these cards coming through automatically raised the fraud score because we had so many issues with payments from these cards.

kfichter 7y ago

SpankChain

m-p-3 7y ago

That fintech will get blacklisted by the other, bigger players. Not sure what else can be done to disrupt fintech to that point.

im3w1l 7y ago
In the worst case, you could set up brick and mortar shops for getting dollar bills in and out.
- vanniv 7y ago
  I think you've just stumbled on the reason that folks are so determined to move us to a "cashless society" In a cashless society, once the folks in charge deplatform you, you cease to be able to engage in any transactions of any kind, and you basically cease to exist.
  - im3w1l 7y ago
    I agree that that is a consequence. But I don't think it's the primary motivation. When I talk to people around me about cash vs cards everyone agrees that paying with card is so much more convenient, especially when you just have to gently tap the reader with your card. I know many people who have the phone case with space for a few cards. They don't even carry a wallet anymore. They have nowhere to put bulky coins or even bills. Everything else: Decreased risk of being pick-pocketed, decreased risk of money vans being robbed, increased surveillance, increased control. All those are just secondary concerns.
    - vanniv 7y ago
      Oh, individuals who enjoy using credit cards absolutely have convenience as the primary goal. Regimes working on creating cash-free societies, where there are no legal anonymous payment schemes, on the other hand, simply want to use the threat of turning off your access to the economy as a means of control.
      - asjw 7y ago
        There will always be money around, even if it's not cash dollars You're talking about people on the edge of society, rightfully so or more they already have many ways of making deals Meanwhile cashless in a country like Italy could expose the 30% of tax evasion that erodes our freedom as honest and "paying for everybody who's not doing it" citizens

cpach 7y ago

In Sweden, the central bank is investigating the possibility of issuing an official digital currency. Quite interesting project IMHO. https://www.riksbank.se/en-gb/payments--cash/e-krona/e-krona-reports/e-krona-project-report-2/ https://www.riksbank.se/en-gb/payments--cash/e-krona/e-krona...

r00fus 7y ago

It's supposed to be called government. Public banking (like what California has recently approved) should be the answer for legal and under-banked.

Alex63 7y ago
But what do you do when the government is trying to shut down your access to banking (as in the case of gun sellers)?
- anoncake 7y ago
  The government doesn't need tricks to ban something...
  - micaeked 7y ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Choke_Point https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Choke_Point
usr1106 7y ago
Banking is a citizen right. Well, at least it should be. In Germany every bank is obliged to offer everyone (including homeless, overindebted, asylum seekers, etc.) a so-called base account, which offers a way to receive payments and pay the bills and get a basic debit card. However, the law has a mistake: The price of the base account is not regulated. And many banks charge more than for a "normal" account. Germany is still a cash country in many aspects. It's worse in Sweden in Finland, where you often cannot buy a train ticket without a debit (or credit) card, cash is no longer accepted.
- mysterypie 7y ago
  > In Germany every bank is obliged to offer everyone a so-called base account That's very commendable; I wish more countries had such a regulation. Does it extend to non-citizens living in Germany? What about to visitors to Germany? Could someone open an account (by right) while there on a holiday?

listenallyall 7y ago

greendot.com