4 ms·

Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but what's wrong with using a bank to send money? Not in US, so I don't even know if that's another one of those things you can't do li

Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but what's wrong with using a bank to send money? Not in US, so I don't even know if that's another one of those things you can't do like having to still use cheques

jasonv 6y ago
My ex- asks me for $$ to cover a child expense and in Apple Cash she can have it a few seconds later, transferred right in Messages. Banks can do this, and they have integrations with Zelle and Venmo, but it isn’t as seamless, not by a mile (or a few km).
- tcbasche 6y ago
  Yikes, interesting that banks don't try and facilitate it easily. Is it an issue of scale? Or just that they can get away without it ... or relegate the job of 'consumer' banking to other corporations e.g. Google or Apple
  - kingbirdy 6y ago
    There's very little incentive for US banks to implement these features due to a combination of regulatory burden, technology, and most US bank users aren't even aware things could be more convenient, it's just a given that banking sucks and that's how it is.
    - fennecfoxen 6y ago
      It's not just that, either. US banks have been slowly working on faster payments system (RTP, run by Clearing House Payments Co since 2017) and then in late 2019 their regulator, the Federal Reserve, told them "hey, we're going to make a competitor to this new system." There is some merit to the idea of Fed-operated system here, but, well, let's just say that investing money into a system only to end up competing with your regulator doesn't really help banks feel like they're in a stable regulatory environment where they'll be rewarded for doing the right thing and making investments in the future.
  - maurys 6y ago
    Interestingly, Visa and MasterCard have huge incentive to facilitate easier payments. UPI has become so easy that I see people using it over credit/debit cards all the time. In India, Visa and MasterCard responded with no-pin-code swipes for small transactions. So it has (probably) caused some changes.
- Angostura 6y ago
  Still waiting for Apple Cash in the UK. Is it available anywhere other than in the US?
jedberg 6y ago
> Not in US, so I don't even know if that's another one of those things you can't do like having to still use cheques Yup. We can't just send money to each other via the bank, unless your bank happens to participate in the Zelle network, and you want to send less than $5,000 or so (it depends on the bank and your standing with said bank). It's another super backwards part of US banking.
- pndy 6y ago
  That sounds ridiculous. The most annoying part here in Poland is to get charged by your bank by not making enough transactions or not reaching the required specified amount of money or making ATM withdraw below the set threshold. If you managed to do so, you avoided paying monthly fees; that's the only things debit accounts owners should bother themselves about. We can send money between different banks w/o issues and operations are booked IIRC twice in a day; these are instant if it's between same bank accounts, or you can pay an extra if you want money being delivered instantly and recipient belongs to a different bank. We can also send money on registered phone number via apps and the recipient can pick it up via ATM (kind of check that is slowly being adapted around; it replaced previously shortly running system as it was prone to scams); each bank participates in local cash-less payments system called Blik. Of course Apple and Google systems works as well but Blik is more popular anyway. Most of the time operations are being processed instantly online but there are rare situations where these are being queued offline up until terminal (speaking about stores) gets online. Btw, are you still required to confirm operations via handwritten signature?
  - mszcz 6y ago
    Yep, besides the stupid name, the BLIK system is surprisingly nifty and practical.
    - artpi 6y ago
      They are expanding internationally - if you can read Polish: https://www.forbes.pl/biznes/blik-w-zjednoczonych-emiratach-arabskich-psp-sprzedalo-polska-technologie-za-granice/jmdxd6r https://www.forbes.pl/biznes/blik-w-zjednoczonych-emiratach-...
sudhirkhanger 6y ago
At least in India, you would have to add account details which include account number and Indian Financial System Code and then it takes a couple of hours to get it approved. Once you have completed this one time process then you can send money in a relatively easy way. Google Pay which is a UPI client in India is just an interface over bank-to-bank transfer which takes way the above process. You can use an id or your mobile number to transfer money from bank to bank without any intermediary. It's a revolutionary step in money transfer. There are several clients which use this UPI or Unified Payment Interface and that is the great thing about it.
VLM 6y ago
It was a couple year fad where all social apps had to support sending money or they were not "real" social apps anymore. Fads do not have to make sense.

Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but what's wrong with using a bank to send money? Not in US, so I don't even know if that's another one of those things you can't do like having to still use cheques

jasonv 6y ago

My ex- asks me for $$ to cover a child expense and in Apple Cash she can have it a few seconds later, transferred right in Messages. Banks can do this, and they have integrations with Zelle and Venmo, but it isn’t as seamless, not by a mile (or a few km).

tcbasche 6y ago
Yikes, interesting that banks don't try and facilitate it easily. Is it an issue of scale? Or just that they can get away without it ... or relegate the job of 'consumer' banking to other corporations e.g. Google or Apple
- kingbirdy 6y ago
  There's very little incentive for US banks to implement these features due to a combination of regulatory burden, technology, and most US bank users aren't even aware things could be more convenient, it's just a given that banking sucks and that's how it is.
  - fennecfoxen 6y ago
    It's not just that, either. US banks have been slowly working on faster payments system (RTP, run by Clearing House Payments Co since 2017) and then in late 2019 their regulator, the Federal Reserve, told them "hey, we're going to make a competitor to this new system." There is some merit to the idea of Fed-operated system here, but, well, let's just say that investing money into a system only to end up competing with your regulator doesn't really help banks feel like they're in a stable regulatory environment where they'll be rewarded for doing the right thing and making investments in the future.
- maurys 6y ago
  Interestingly, Visa and MasterCard have huge incentive to facilitate easier payments. UPI has become so easy that I see people using it over credit/debit cards all the time. In India, Visa and MasterCard responded with no-pin-code swipes for small transactions. So it has (probably) caused some changes.
Angostura 6y ago
Still waiting for Apple Cash in the UK. Is it available anywhere other than in the US?

jedberg 6y ago

> Not in US, so I don't even know if that's another one of those things you can't do like having to still use cheques Yup. We can't just send money to each other via the bank, unless your bank happens to participate in the Zelle network, and you want to send less than $5,000 or so (it depends on the bank and your standing with said bank). It's another super backwards part of US banking.

pndy 6y ago
That sounds ridiculous. The most annoying part here in Poland is to get charged by your bank by not making enough transactions or not reaching the required specified amount of money or making ATM withdraw below the set threshold. If you managed to do so, you avoided paying monthly fees; that's the only things debit accounts owners should bother themselves about. We can send money between different banks w/o issues and operations are booked IIRC twice in a day; these are instant if it's between same bank accounts, or you can pay an extra if you want money being delivered instantly and recipient belongs to a different bank. We can also send money on registered phone number via apps and the recipient can pick it up via ATM (kind of check that is slowly being adapted around; it replaced previously shortly running system as it was prone to scams); each bank participates in local cash-less payments system called Blik. Of course Apple and Google systems works as well but Blik is more popular anyway. Most of the time operations are being processed instantly online but there are rare situations where these are being queued offline up until terminal (speaking about stores) gets online. Btw, are you still required to confirm operations via handwritten signature?
- mszcz 6y ago
  Yep, besides the stupid name, the BLIK system is surprisingly nifty and practical.
  - artpi 6y ago
    They are expanding internationally - if you can read Polish: https://www.forbes.pl/biznes/blik-w-zjednoczonych-emiratach-arabskich-psp-sprzedalo-polska-technologie-za-granice/jmdxd6r https://www.forbes.pl/biznes/blik-w-zjednoczonych-emiratach-...

sudhirkhanger 6y ago

At least in India, you would have to add account details which include account number and Indian Financial System Code and then it takes a couple of hours to get it approved. Once you have completed this one time process then you can send money in a relatively easy way. Google Pay which is a UPI client in India is just an interface over bank-to-bank transfer which takes way the above process. You can use an id or your mobile number to transfer money from bank to bank without any intermediary. It's a revolutionary step in money transfer. There are several clients which use this UPI or Unified Payment Interface and that is the great thing about it.

VLM 6y ago

It was a couple year fad where all social apps had to support sending money or they were not "real" social apps anymore. Fads do not have to make sense.