7 ms·

I just found a major limitation with this thing. It blocks payment from any prepaid Visa/Mastercard - even reloadable cards attached to virtual checking accoun

I just found a major limitation with this thing. It blocks payment from any prepaid Visa/Mastercard - even reloadable cards attached to virtual checking accounts that support ACH (payroll cards, Netspend, etc). That eliminates payments from a huge section of the population. http://prntscr.com/1xm5le http://prntscr.com/1xm5le Another issue: if you make a mistake on the initial email, and want to send a different amount, you're out of luck. When you send a corrected email from the same address and go to the payment page, it adds any previously unfinished transactions from your email to the amount being sent, with no way to cancel the mistaken one. So just never make a mistake, and never do a test transaction you don't intend to finish, or you'll be required to finish and pay for all of it when you finally do have the correct amount and want to send a transaction (which you can only send with a small subset of the debit cards in existence). These payment companies are always introducing interesting new things and then they hobble them with basic oversights and fundamentally flawed policies. In the last hour I've gone from excitement to disappointment with this service. It had promise based on the description, but this particular service (probably not Square itself) will fail very quickly.

bcx 13y ago
Sounds like this is probably more of a security feature. Prepaid cards are harder to track, and would be more suspect to fraud.
- thaumasiotes 13y ago
  You know what's at least as hard to track and prone to fraud? Actual cash. I really dislike the idea that e.g. children shouldn't be able to pay for things over the internet because their identity can't be verified. Let's see some more support for prepaid cards.
  - judk 13y ago
    Actual cash is nearly impossible to fraud/counterfeit. Are you a parent? I do not have want to my kid buying products unfettered.
    - thaumasiotes 13y ago
      I hate to break this to you, but they can already buy things in physical stores. And if you legitimately have a $20 bill, I can walk into a store, represent that it's mine, and buy things with it, never encountering an obstacle along the way. That's the same fraud you're worried about in prepaid cards.
      - yajoe 13y ago
        I also wish the limitations would disappear, but there are two reasons keeping them in place: 1) Government wants to ensure it can track all digital transfers (many pre-paid cards require activating with SSN) 2) Failing to approve certain transactions is the equivalent of a financial firewall because banks and payment processors know they haven't hardened their servers enough to prevent another one of these: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/10/nyregion/eight-charged-in-45-million-global-cyber-bank-thefts.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/10/nyregion/eight-charged-in-... Now, if policy-makers were convinced the online-children-purchases market were bigger than the drive-by-ATM fraud, we would see the rules changed tomorrow.
      - neolefty 13y ago
        Of course they can, but as a parent, I find it easier to supervise their store purchases than their online purchases, because they have to physically go there, and I can notice it.
        thaumasiotes 13y ago
        Frankly, if you're that interested in tracking what your children have and haven't bought, online purchases are likely to be easier, in that they come to your home through the mail. The general categories of things that children are commonly restricted from buying: - Drugs. These are all black market, so availability of prepaid cards is unlikely to change how they're bought. - Alcohol. I've never tried to buy this online; I know eBay Now wanted to sell it and concluded that the cost of legal compliance was too high. Even assuming they could find mail-order booze, it would arrive in the mail, easily detectible. - Pornography. This can be consumed directly on the computer, raising possible detection issues. However, if you're afraid of children buying it over the internet, I've got some very bad news for you... - Birth control pills? I'm running out of ideas. Are you afraid they'll buy digital goods? Why?
  - ZoFreX 13y ago
    Are pre-paid cards the only option for children in the states? I'm in the UK and I've had a debit card (attached to a bank account) since I was a young teenager.
    - evacuationdrill 13y ago
      I had a checking account under my Dad with a debit card when I was a minor. When I turned 18, I just called them, and they made it my current checking account. I'm not sure what the difference was.
delackner 13y ago
It also doesn't work with pure ATM cards that lack a Visa/Mastercard logo. Maybe I am a bit over-paranoid, but I don't like the idea of staring at a zero bank balance while some fraud department promises to fix things up real quick now if I just stay on hold.
- abraham 13y ago
  If you don't trust your bank to fix fraud, than you need a better bank.
  - lostlogin 13y ago
    I actually laughed at that. Every bank here is the same and we supposedly have some of the safest banks in the world. Im limited to an 8 character password, and the other banks here are little better. New Zealand.
    - deleted 13y ago
      [deleted]
    - foundlogin 13y ago
      It's safe in NZ because even with access to your internet banking, a thief can only transfer money to another NZ account and they're fairly reliable at verifying the identities of account holders.
    - ezzaf 13y ago
      Really? I've been impressed with Kiwibank's balancing security and usability. Rabobank NZ have two factor authentication too. Of course if you're with one of the four majors, well... they're owned by Australians, what did you expect?
    - 3Pi 13y ago
      Which bank are you with? Having had accounts with 4 major banks here (Kiwibank, ANZ, Westpac, ASB), I can confirm that you are allowed passwords more than 8 characters. Also, several of them offer a second protection level for logging in.
acchow 13y ago
> with no way to cancel the mistaken one. I see a "cancel" link in the email Square Cash sends me.
- downandout 13y ago
  I did notice that there is a cancel link in the original email - a very small link at the bottom - but they should make it possible to remove any of the transactions it tries to compile together on the sending screen. Having to go back, find the email, and hit the cancel link after you realize that they are including transactions that you had no intention of completing isn't exactly intuitive. There is also nothing anywhere that says that this is the procedure required.
  - roel_v 13y ago
    " and hit the cancel link after you realize that they are including transactions that you had no intention of completing" Why are you starting transactions you don't intend on completing anyway? I haven't tried it, but from what I've read so far the workflow seems perfectly reasonable for the vast majority of transactions. It's not like when I pay a friend the 10$ back he fronted me last week in the bar when I forgot my wallet, that I give it to another friend first and say 'hold on to this for a bit while I ponder whether to actually go through with this 'transaction''.
foundlogin 13y ago
I didn't even bother trying. I knew it wouldn't do what it said because I'm not in America. I've sent cash to other countries before but this isn't cash so it can't possibly work. IT would be nice if they clearly listed who can't use it to save people's time.
- bloopletech 13y ago
  Just a note, for most countries, the best non-cash way to send money is an international wire transfer (sometimes called a telegraphic transfer). This is _not_ western union. which is ludicrously expensive, it's done bank to bank.
  - jsumrall 13y ago
    Every international wire transfer I've seen offered by my banks has costs at least $15 - $25. Here in NL, its so much each to use send someone money: They tell you their IBAN, you grab your Random Reader and enter you pin and get a secure code to authorize the payment, and it's done. There's not even a market for companies like Square, since the banking system is designed to handle these typical situations. People here look at me like I'm crazy when I say that if I want to give someone money I either have to use PayPal/Square or just cash.
anoncowherd 13y ago
>> I just found a major limitation with this thing. It blocks payment from any prepaid Visa/Mastercard - even reloadable cards attached to virtual checking accounts that support ACH (payroll cards, Netspend, etc). That eliminates payments from a huge section of the population. .. Aaand it's not an accident either.
- 3825 13y ago
  Is that to meet the money laundering/auditing requirements?
ignostic 13y ago
>" It blocks payment from any prepaid Visa/Mastercard - even reloadable cards" This is to prevent money laundering and tax fraud.

bcx 13y ago

Sounds like this is probably more of a security feature. Prepaid cards are harder to track, and would be more suspect to fraud.

thaumasiotes 13y ago
You know what's at least as hard to track and prone to fraud? Actual cash. I really dislike the idea that e.g. children shouldn't be able to pay for things over the internet because their identity can't be verified. Let's see some more support for prepaid cards.
- judk 13y ago
  Actual cash is nearly impossible to fraud/counterfeit. Are you a parent? I do not have want to my kid buying products unfettered.
  - thaumasiotes 13y ago
    I hate to break this to you, but they can already buy things in physical stores. And if you legitimately have a $20 bill, I can walk into a store, represent that it's mine, and buy things with it, never encountering an obstacle along the way. That's the same fraud you're worried about in prepaid cards.
    - yajoe 13y ago
      I also wish the limitations would disappear, but there are two reasons keeping them in place: 1) Government wants to ensure it can track all digital transfers (many pre-paid cards require activating with SSN) 2) Failing to approve certain transactions is the equivalent of a financial firewall because banks and payment processors know they haven't hardened their servers enough to prevent another one of these: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/10/nyregion/eight-charged-in-45-million-global-cyber-bank-thefts.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/10/nyregion/eight-charged-in-... Now, if policy-makers were convinced the online-children-purchases market were bigger than the drive-by-ATM fraud, we would see the rules changed tomorrow.
    - neolefty 13y ago
      Of course they can, but as a parent, I find it easier to supervise their store purchases than their online purchases, because they have to physically go there, and I can notice it.
      - thaumasiotes 13y ago
        Frankly, if you're that interested in tracking what your children have and haven't bought, online purchases are likely to be easier, in that they come to your home through the mail. The general categories of things that children are commonly restricted from buying: - Drugs. These are all black market, so availability of prepaid cards is unlikely to change how they're bought. - Alcohol. I've never tried to buy this online; I know eBay Now wanted to sell it and concluded that the cost of legal compliance was too high. Even assuming they could find mail-order booze, it would arrive in the mail, easily detectible. - Pornography. This can be consumed directly on the computer, raising possible detection issues. However, if you're afraid of children buying it over the internet, I've got some very bad news for you... - Birth control pills? I'm running out of ideas. Are you afraid they'll buy digital goods? Why?
- ZoFreX 13y ago
  Are pre-paid cards the only option for children in the states? I'm in the UK and I've had a debit card (attached to a bank account) since I was a young teenager.
  - evacuationdrill 13y ago
    I had a checking account under my Dad with a debit card when I was a minor. When I turned 18, I just called them, and they made it my current checking account. I'm not sure what the difference was.

delackner 13y ago

It also doesn't work with pure ATM cards that lack a Visa/Mastercard logo. Maybe I am a bit over-paranoid, but I don't like the idea of staring at a zero bank balance while some fraud department promises to fix things up real quick now if I just stay on hold.

abraham 13y ago
If you don't trust your bank to fix fraud, than you need a better bank.
- lostlogin 13y ago
  I actually laughed at that. Every bank here is the same and we supposedly have some of the safest banks in the world. Im limited to an 8 character password, and the other banks here are little better. New Zealand.
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]
  - foundlogin 13y ago
    It's safe in NZ because even with access to your internet banking, a thief can only transfer money to another NZ account and they're fairly reliable at verifying the identities of account holders.
  - ezzaf 13y ago
    Really? I've been impressed with Kiwibank's balancing security and usability. Rabobank NZ have two factor authentication too. Of course if you're with one of the four majors, well... they're owned by Australians, what did you expect?
  - 3Pi 13y ago
    Which bank are you with? Having had accounts with 4 major banks here (Kiwibank, ANZ, Westpac, ASB), I can confirm that you are allowed passwords more than 8 characters. Also, several of them offer a second protection level for logging in.

acchow 13y ago

> with no way to cancel the mistaken one. I see a "cancel" link in the email Square Cash sends me.

downandout 13y ago
I did notice that there is a cancel link in the original email - a very small link at the bottom - but they should make it possible to remove any of the transactions it tries to compile together on the sending screen. Having to go back, find the email, and hit the cancel link after you realize that they are including transactions that you had no intention of completing isn't exactly intuitive. There is also nothing anywhere that says that this is the procedure required.
- roel_v 13y ago
  " and hit the cancel link after you realize that they are including transactions that you had no intention of completing" Why are you starting transactions you don't intend on completing anyway? I haven't tried it, but from what I've read so far the workflow seems perfectly reasonable for the vast majority of transactions. It's not like when I pay a friend the 10$ back he fronted me last week in the bar when I forgot my wallet, that I give it to another friend first and say 'hold on to this for a bit while I ponder whether to actually go through with this 'transaction''.

foundlogin 13y ago

I didn't even bother trying. I knew it wouldn't do what it said because I'm not in America. I've sent cash to other countries before but this isn't cash so it can't possibly work. IT would be nice if they clearly listed who can't use it to save people's time.

bloopletech 13y ago
Just a note, for most countries, the best non-cash way to send money is an international wire transfer (sometimes called a telegraphic transfer). This is _not_ western union. which is ludicrously expensive, it's done bank to bank.
- jsumrall 13y ago
  Every international wire transfer I've seen offered by my banks has costs at least $15 - $25. Here in NL, its so much each to use send someone money: They tell you their IBAN, you grab your Random Reader and enter you pin and get a secure code to authorize the payment, and it's done. There's not even a market for companies like Square, since the banking system is designed to handle these typical situations. People here look at me like I'm crazy when I say that if I want to give someone money I either have to use PayPal/Square or just cash.

anoncowherd 13y ago

>> I just found a major limitation with this thing. It blocks payment from any prepaid Visa/Mastercard - even reloadable cards attached to virtual checking accounts that support ACH (payroll cards, Netspend, etc). That eliminates payments from a huge section of the population. .. Aaand it's not an accident either.

3825 13y ago
Is that to meet the money laundering/auditing requirements?

ignostic 13y ago

>" It blocks payment from any prepaid Visa/Mastercard - even reloadable cards" This is to prevent money laundering and tax fraud.