Apple in Talks with US Banks to Develop Mobile Person-To-Person Payment Service • Hacker News Board

Re: Apple in Talks with US Banks to Develop Mobile Person-To-Person Payment Service

#71

Post by josephjrobison » Wed, Nov 11, 2015, 10:26 PM UTC

nhstanley wrote: post #42

LeoPanthera wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Square Cash? Facebook's... money thing? (What's it called?) Even PayPal itself!

I know this is anecdotal, but everyone I know uses Venmo. I have never met anyone who uses Square Cash or Messenger, and I have both apps. To be fair, I don't know anyone in the US that uses WhatsApp, but all my friends in Europe use it. So, maybe it's a regional thing? I would love to see real usage statistics on those.

I think it depends on the circles you run in. I think clusters of friends and family members probably use different services. My extended extended group of 100+ people all use Venmo (can tell by activity in Venmo feed).

That being said, I ran into someone recently who uses Square Cash with all her friends, but that's the first person I've hear using Square Cash (I downloaded it when it came out but no one else was using it.)

A very interesting real-world example of the network effect among second tier services. Second tier as is not FB, Pinterest, LinkedIn.

Re: Apple in Talks with US Banks to Develop Mobile Person-To-Person Payment Service

#72

Post by lanewinfield » Wed, Nov 11, 2015, 10:27 PM UTC

[deleted] wrote: post #67

[deleted]

Last time I checked (when I just unlocked my phone and verified), BTC wallets are allowed as of about a year ago.

Re: Apple in Talks with US Banks to Develop Mobile Person-To-Person Payment Service

#73

Post by amelius » Wed, Nov 11, 2015, 10:29 PM UTC

lordnacho wrote: post #63

The question is why it hasn't happened sooner. This thing in your pocket is not just your telephone, but also your watch, map, calendar, contact book, music player, library, and so on. It can't be long before it's also your passport and your wallet. These are things that had a life as separate items in days of yore and separate websites not long ago. They're also things that naturally lend themselves to the format of…

> The question is why it hasn't happened sooner.

I guess the hard part is that agreements need to be made to reach standards. And since everybody would like to be the "gatekeeper" of a payment service, this is particularly difficult.

By the way, I'm also still waiting for a password manager in my watch that seamlessly integrates with my desktop/laptop computer.

Re: Apple in Talks with US Banks to Develop Mobile Person-To-Person Payment Service

#74

Post by facetube » Wed, Nov 11, 2015, 10:30 PM UTC

eva1984 wrote: post #56

jjtheblunt wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you kidding? The ubiquity of very secure hardware in iPhone 6 and later phones does not present a uniquely trusted advantage, over the many clumsy-to-use earlier startups?

Venmo is quite easy to use IMO and I didn't feel it is particularly insecure because it is backed by PayPal. That being said, a lot of my friends just use Chase QuickPay to transfer money, which works really well. TBH, I don't know how a potentially device/OS restricted service is going to play here. Maybe they need better PR to educate Android users to install their app.

Paypal has a history of tying up their customers' funds for no good reason. They've done this to online fundraisers in the past, and even attempted to coerce a campaign benefitting the Red Cross into redirecting donations to the United Way in 2005. I refuse to do business with Paypal or Paypal-related companies whenever possible.

Re: Apple in Talks with US Banks to Develop Mobile Person-To-Person Payment Service

#75

Post by cmyr » Wed, Nov 11, 2015, 10:32 PM UTC

drakenot wrote: post #59

MBCook wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That article is a year old, and somewhat off. Apple's recent cloud stuff has all worked very well for me. The only spotty things are CoreData syncing (which may be deprecated, it's certainly not encouraged) and anything that touches iTunes (which is probably the oldest infrastructure they have). Stuff they've launched since then such as iCloud Photos has been working great. Heck Apple Pay works extremely well and tha…

If CoreData syncing is discouraged, what is offered as its replacement?

CloudKit? https://developer.apple.com/icloud/

Re: Apple in Talks with US Banks to Develop Mobile Person-To-Person Payment Service

#76

Post by toomuchtodo » Wed, Nov 11, 2015, 10:33 PM UTC

happyscrappy wrote: post #49

toomuchtodo wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If Apple Pay had UX to pick someone near you also in Apple Pay to transfer funds too.....oh my!

I assume that is exactly what they have in mind.

Can't wait!

Re: Apple in Talks with US Banks to Develop Mobile Person-To-Person Payment Service

#77

Post by untog » Wed, Nov 11, 2015, 10:33 PM UTC

sjg007 wrote: post #64

This will be apple pay via ACH basically. It will allow merchants to avoid the 1% charge on debit cards etc..

But it's describing a person-to-person service, not merchants.

Re: Apple in Talks with US Banks to Develop Mobile Person-To-Person Payment Service

#78

Post by vectorpush » Wed, Nov 11, 2015, 10:34 PM UTC

nnd wrote: post #36

Why do you need banks, when you can just transfer Bitcoin?

Bitcoin is not a very practical option for the general public because there are various scenarios where the user can permanently lose their money without the possibility of recovery. There are many techniques for keeping bitcoin secure, but even something as simple as sending money to the wrong address can cause a permanent loss of funds which is a serious problem in the context of social engineering attacks and technical issues related to preventing one's wallet from being stolen/lost/deleted/corrupted.

Another problem is that the plethora of online wallet services and mobile clients means that the user has to take responsibility for vetting the software or service they use to participate in the bitcoin economy. This ends up being very risky because developers are not legally responsible for loss of funds due to software errors, poor security or something more sinister.

On the other hand, the relatively strict and standardized operating procedures of the banks keeps customer money safe in practice and a trusted brand like Apple is held to a higher standard with regard to the trustworthiness of their software.

Re: Apple in Talks with US Banks to Develop Mobile Person-To-Person Payment Service

#79

Post by reportingsjr » Wed, Nov 11, 2015, 10:36 PM UTC

lordnacho wrote: post #63

The question is why it hasn't happened sooner. This thing in your pocket is not just your telephone, but also your watch, map, calendar, contact book, music player, library, and so on. It can't be long before it's also your passport and your wallet. These are things that had a life as separate items in days of yore and separate websites not long ago. They're also things that naturally lend themselves to the format of…

Because it already exists? Take a look at google wallet. Facebook has a money thing as well.

Re: Apple in Talks with US Banks to Develop Mobile Person-To-Person Payment Service

#80

Post by josephpmay » Wed, Nov 11, 2015, 10:38 PM UTC

lordnacho wrote: post #63

The question is why it hasn't happened sooner. This thing in your pocket is not just your telephone, but also your watch, map, calendar, contact book, music player, library, and so on. It can't be long before it's also your passport and your wallet. These are things that had a life as separate items in days of yore and separate websites not long ago. They're also things that naturally lend themselves to the format of…

It has already happened. College students don't pay each other back in cash. They do so in Venmo