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In theory I like the idea of an instant-settlement irreversible payment service, but realistically I don't think such a thing can exist for long. Pretty much by

In theory I like the idea of an instant-settlement irreversible payment service, but realistically I don't think such a thing can exist for long. Pretty much by its nature, it will attract more and more scams until anger and political pressure build up enough that it is forced to implement protections and clawbacks. "Delayed settlement with clawbacks" is a stable equilibrium in a way "instant settlement with no protection" is not.

wmf 3y ago
Yep, we already saw this years ago with Dwolla (which was much worse than Zelle because it was crypto-adjacent).
TulliusCicero 3y ago
I kind of agree, though to be fair, "instant settlement with no protection" is how cash works. There is no mechanism with physical cash transference itself to claw back the money from a scam. You can go talk to the police and they might be able to help, but nobody can go talk to the Lords of Cash and convince them to magically teleport the currency back into your hands.
- brigade 3y ago
  That mechanism for cash is called "civil court" Yeah you're SOL if you give cash to someone whose identity you don't know, but that's hard to do unintentionally with cash. Whereas Zelle will shield scammers' identities so your recovery options begin and end with Zelle.
  - akira2501 3y ago
    The civil court will give you an order. You still have to get it enforced.
    - brigade 3y ago
      Yes, that is indeed the next step in the legal process of clawing back cash you were scammed out of.
- bradleyjg 3y ago
  Cash scams don’t scale well, though. Someone has to be physically next to you and when the numbers start getting big cash is both unwieldy and not that easy to get.