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So many comments asking why people don't use credit cards. The easy answer, already told, is that many Brazilian people don't have bank accounts or credit card.
by aylons 12y ago
So many comments asking why people don't use credit cards. The easy answer, already told, is that many Brazilian people don't have bank accounts or credit card.
This is only half truth and probably not relevant to the case here, as the malware in question will only affect people accessing their bank accounts through the internet.
The "boleto" system is actually a very nice way to handle payments. The boleto mostly substitutes mailing checks: the company I owe send me the bill with a numeric code (and a corresponding bar code for convenience), and I can use this code to pay the bill at a bank, supermarket, lottery houses or, of course, directly from my bank account through the internet or ATM.
A boleto is different from a account deposit because each boleto is unique: the code identifies who that specific boleto was sent to, so payment processing is done automatically. No out-of-band bank codes or check handling involved.
Boletos are used in several contexts where a credit card is not appropriate, such as paying the credit card bill. However, it may substitute credit cards sometimes: an online commerce outlet will happily generate a boleto for you to pay instead of paying with credit card. You can then pay for you purchase without revealing personal information, having a credit card or sending checks by mail.
Actually, paper checks are very, very rare in Brazil nowadays, even in business contexts. Most retail business won't accept them anymore.
Also, when you pay a boleto, you get an timestamped authentication code proving you paid it. The company can't allege the check was incorrect, for example. The code may also carry the amount to be paid and/or expiration date, preventing payment of the wrong value of after the due date.
This is actually a very functional system that credit cards cannot completely substitute, even if everyone had a bank account or credit card.
EDIT: clarity and a bit of extra info
- cesarb 12y agoTo help people from other countries visualize how it works, here is the technical specification for boletos from a major bank: http://www.bb.com.br/docs/pub/emp/empl/dwn/Doc5175Bloqueto.pdf http://www.bb.com.br/docs/pub/emp/empl/dwn/Doc5175Bloqueto.p... (in Portuguese). The banks can make available to the retailer a machine-readable file containing all the boletos received in the last day (using Febraban's CNAB 240 format, or the older CNAB 400 format). This allows the payment confirmation to be automated.
- gcb0 12y agothe "don't have credit cards" is simplistic. we have a government that listened a little to the people and didn't allowed for banks to own all money like in the US. in the US you're forced to pay credit card fees (usually on the vendor side, so it's included in the price for everyone, even non cc users, as to not tarnish the reputation of the cc operator charging the fee). there's no way to buy online in the us without paying that. in Brazil and other civilized counties you can use a payment number, which is like a temporary deposit account number that identify the person providing the funds. and it can't cost extra.
- rahimnathwani 12y agoThe closest equivalent to boletos in the UK are payment agents: https://www.paypoint.com/en-gb https://www.paypoint.com/en-gb http://www.payzone.co.uk/ http://www.payzone.co.uk/ I don't believe the numbering is unique to specific bill, but to a specific account, e.g. I'd use the same identifier each time I paid by gas bill.
- aylons 12y agoHaving a numbering for a specific account is also possible with Brazilian boleto system, but it is common only for credit cards, which can be paid at any time and at a wide range of values. Gas and phone codes are always bill-specific. However, if you pay a boleto like this twice, the provider will be informed and generally will give you the chargeback in the next bill. I have already used this as a trick to pay a bill when I was travelling and wouldn't get the most recent bill.