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Root – Programmable bank account for software developers

root.co.za

211–220 of 427 posts

Re: Root – Programmable bank account for software developers

#211

Founder here :) Feel free to ask me any questions

Random question but it really bugs me that FNB and I think most other South African banks still use SMS/Email based secondary authentication OTPs. Are you guys planning on using TOTP by any chance?

Hey spookyuser, yeah we do, i.e. Authy/Google Authenticator supported :)

Re: Root – Programmable bank account for software developers

#214

This is the sort of thing American banks just can't do at scale. Which is probably a good thing, to be honest.

see: that article from a few weeks ago chronicling that guy's 10 year journey exposing a serious bug in his bank's website where no CSRF is implemented.

spoiler: it still exists, and their solution was to have him sign his soul away and shut up about it.

one day (!!!)

Re: Root – Programmable bank account for software developers

#215
At first I was wondering what I could possibly use this for, but as I sat and thought about it, I realized the possibilities are enormous. I'd like to know if the following are possible:

1. Forcing me to stay on budget, unless there's an emergency (perhaps allow purchases over budget after the third attempt).

2. Automatically distribute paychecks or other income into different accounts (some to retirement, some to savings, some to checking, w/e...); this behavior could change based on the current distribution of your money too, so if your "emergency fund" got really low you could automatically spend more of your income replenishing it.

3. Deny unwanted transactions and tightly control your own fraud detection (SMS confirmation for every purchase out of your zip code, confirmations for purchases from new places, you name it...).

4. Automate the creation and destruction of virtual cards to minimize danger of online purchases or to make sure that "free trial" never starts charging you.

I'm sure there's tons of other awesome ideas, but I want all of these quite badly.

Re: Root – Programmable bank account for software developers

#216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What I basically want, is to have more control. I want a similar amount of control as to what I have with paper money, or even virtual in game currencies. Right now, the scale is not tipped in my favor. I would be happy to pay for it. I understand that banks have reasons for things to be arraigned the way they are. I would love to have a "personal firewall" level of control over my money. I'd like to see that Widget…

This screenshot from the front page seems to be offering something like what you want? [1] And they clearly support virtual cards so why wouldn't automating that work through their API? [2] [1] https://root.co.za/images/rootcode.svg [2] https://root.co.za/images/mobile-desktop-mockup.jpg EDITS: added 2nd part and formatting

True, although I wonder whether the transaction can be asynchronous. For example, if you don't approve or deny within a few seconds, I'd be willing to bet that the transaction times out.

This would be fine for in-person transactions, where you can approve it on your phone, but for transactions you aren't expecting (e.g. recurring monthly subscriptions) it seems like you'd need some notice -- or a long timeout period.

Re: Root – Programmable bank account for software developers

#217
post #172

This is the sort of thing American banks just can't do at scale. Which is probably a good thing, to be honest.

Don't bet on that.

I mean, I did and I got a lot of money from betting on that. I'm post exit on precisely that bet, and were I not so incredibly tired of fintech I'd bet again.

Many national American banks are toxically opposed to actual modernization, for a variety of reasons. Their classical "enterprise" beliefs on security put all the banks I've talked to well behind the curve.

But also, I want to avoid a scenario where the US is a principle innovator in technology and also in finance.

Re: Root – Programmable bank account for software developers

#218
post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

China is cashless. Stores don't accept your cash much. And you have to show a government id to buy anything. And they track you. But it gets worse than that. If the government wants to punish you, they can just cut you off. Can't buy food, can't pay rent. Oh you think your friends can help you? China has that covered too, with its shiny new credit system. Being associated with - let alone helping - people cut off fro…

Thankfully, there is a good amount of space between money under mattresses and a government controlled economy. Your comment is a giant straw man. Canadian and EU systems are private ones and the government has little or no power to directly intervene, short of law enforcement. The idea that eliminating paper is some sort of boogeyman from Revelations is about as silly as the idea that holding on to your Glock allows…

Were there any facts in your answer? Where did the parent mention Revelations?

Re: Root – Programmable bank account for software developers

#219

When can I have direct control of recurring payments? I want to be able to "push" money instead of having it "pulled" from my account. This is a totally reasonable feature. If a merchant wants assurance that they will be paid, they should charge a deposit. The closest I've had is Entropay, but I don't really trust them for large payments. Recurring payments are so abused, I can't count how many times I have been misl…

In the UK this is known as a "standing order". The account holder is fully in control of how much money goes out and when. Is this not the case in other places?

In South Africa we have stop orders and debit orders. Stop orders are for an amount agreed in advance. Debit orders allow the payee to debit your account for whatever amount they choose, obviously with the proviso that they have to produce evidence that you agreed to this, and that they can justify the charge. I've heard some stories about people having issues with unscrupulous payees abusing this, but I believe that's rare. I, for example, pay for my mortgage, credit card, cellphone, satellite TV, etc. via debit order.

Re: Root – Programmable bank account for software developers

#220
post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1. Sweeping funds from one account to another based on business events. 2. Fraud detection. 3. Real-time reporting.

Why would you be able to build a better fraud system as an end-user as opposed to card issuers and processors?

No reason they can't do it too, but I'd like to be able to do it as well. I'd like to be more aggressive in assuming a transaction is fraudulent.
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