Just imagine how different the Internet would look like today if receiving payments would’ve been as easy as receiving email from the beginning. That it is not trivial for a single person on the Internet to receive payments without a third-party involved, in my mind, leads directly to an Internet that is based on ads and on monopolies: You can’t make a living posting stuff online on your own private website. Because…
> if receiving payments would’ve been as easy as receiving email from the beginning. In Germany, every business (and some individuals) has published their account number for ages (on the letterhead, website, etc.), typically right next to their address and email address (or fax number, for that matter). And with that account number, you can just transfer money to the recipient. It really is as easy as email.
Re: Ask HN: Do we need to pay billions in fees to Stripe, Block, PayPal and Visa/MC?
#371Well, it really doesn’t suit itself for automation, much less for real-time transactions. Say, you want to sell access to an article on your website. It would be cumbersome for the customer to have to switch over to their online banking and typing in all details (ok, today we have QR codes, but you still need to jump through many hoops, much more than with, say, a credit card or PayPal payment). Then it takes time until the money shows up in your account - sometimes several days. And, finally, there was no API access available from the banks for small sellers that would have allowed them to build an integration, even if they had the resources to write custom software.