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Thanks to Venmo, We Now All Know How Cheap Our Friends Are

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Re: Thanks to Venmo, We Now All Know How Cheap Our Friends Are

#331

Post by OJFord »

egypturnash wrote: post #223
OJFord wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good for you? Maybe try one sometime: as it turns out, old things are not de facto bad.

if you enjoy keeping a running tally of how much is in your account, and love knowing that what you see when you check your balance at the bank is never up-to-date, checks are great! man i quit doing that as soon as i could check my balance on the internet and just use a credit/debit card, just make sure you turn off 'overdraft protection' before doing this or you can dig a very deep hole of compound interest. - sign…

Cards still don't mean your balance is up to date though - did your credit card payment get taken yet, are there any pending transactions? Okay, that's the balance, but what bills are still due to be taken by direct debit, and are there any standing orders?

Using a card isn't some magic solution for someone struggling to manage their personal finances.

Re: Thanks to Venmo, We Now All Know How Cheap Our Friends Are

#332

Post by wastedhours »

gonehome wrote: post #191
thanksgiving wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm 19 and most people I know use Venmo. I'm curious - around what age are your friends? My parents don't know what Venmo is, and I don't think many of their friends (most in the age range of 40-60) do either. Made in 1987 here. I have Paypal as well but I prefer Google Wallet. Google Wallet is directly connected to my bank account. I don't trust Paypal to connect it to my bank account. Why would you trust Venmo wi…

Venmo was bought by Braintree which was bought by PayPal so venmo is basically PayPal now anyway. Everyone I know also uses venmo (Bay Area tech employees in their twenties). I prefer square cash, but this entire app ecosystem only exists because American banks don't allow free wires for some reason. The only people I know who use google wallet are google employees. As far as trust there's pretty limited risk, lots o…

> I prefer square cash, but this entire app ecosystem only exists because American banks don't allow free wires for some reason.

Ah - I kept wondering what the main hook for these services was, appreciate efficiency and social effects are the USP, but wondered what the main reason was over and above just a direct transfer from your mobile banking app (how most people I know here in the UK do this).

Re: Thanks to Venmo, We Now All Know How Cheap Our Friends Are

#333

Post by wastedhours »

nindalf wrote: post #322
abritinthebay wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, the UK has so much contactless payment and cheap or free transfers that it has, somewhat ironically, limited competition in this sector. Even things like Google Wallet & Apple Pay seem to be treated with a “but... why?” attitude.

From my experience in the UK, those apps allow you to leave your card at home. Not much of a difference if you're carrying a wallet anyway, but if you carry just a phone and a card + ID in the phone case, you can now ditch the card. Otherwise I don't see the benefit.

Had my phone's NFC fail me (especially at tube barriers) enough times to recommend perhaps not relying solely on a phone for payments.

Re: Thanks to Venmo, We Now All Know How Cheap Our Friends Are

#334

Post by lawnchair_larry »

sethrin wrote: post #242
FireBeyond wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, this sounds horrible. The day my friends think I'll bill them for splitting a case of beer is the day I've failed as a friend.

Sigh. This reminds me of an ex-roommate. So I worked at a factory and he was a notary or some such function connected with real estate, working from home. One day I was running late for work, which was maybe fifteen minutes away by bicycle, and asked if he didn't mind giving me a lift. About halfway there he mentioned casually, "Oh, just so you know, I'll be billing you at my normal rate ($60/hr) for this ride." Than…

That's a weird comment on his part, but I think there is often a large mismatch between the cost that a carless person assigns to "bumming a ride" and the cost that the car owner assigns to that. If you are not a car owner, you may not realize how much of a pain in the ass it is to stop whatever you are doing and play taxi.

Re: Thanks to Venmo, We Now All Know How Cheap Our Friends Are

#335

Post by gnicholas »

abritinthebay wrote: post #237
EliRivers wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Far other end of what often gets labelled "millenial". Hadn't heard of Venmo until this HN thread. I do live in the UK where interbank transfer of cash is almost instant and free of charge, so the need for it is rather less, I suspect.

Yeah, the UK has so much contactless payment and cheap or free transfers that it has, somewhat ironically, limited competition in this sector. Even things like Google Wallet & Apple Pay seem to be treated with a “but... why?” attitude.

Surprising that this is the first mention of Apple Pay in the thread, given the upcoming release in iOS 11. I wonder how they'll resolve these issues. Will commercial transactions be technically forbidden? For how long, and for what reasons, will transactions be able to be reversed? When can we feel comfortable that the money is "really there"?

Re: Thanks to Venmo, We Now All Know How Cheap Our Friends Are

#336

Post by AstralStorm »

joncrocks wrote: post #326
mirimir wrote: post #315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not having the car jerk forward if your foot slips off the clutch.

Which it may well do if you get rear-ended. One 'accident' can become two.

Technically you're supposed to hold on brakes or a hand brake while idle, which makes both points moot. Especially important in clutchless cars or other auto transmissions.

The brakes will hold a slipped clutch and a rear end.

The clutch has an added benefit of you get rear ended and drop it - engine braking is a thing. Not good for the engine, potentially good for your forward bumper when you get reared.

Re: Thanks to Venmo, We Now All Know How Cheap Our Friends Are

#337

Post by icebraining »

uiri wrote: post #317
Sir_Substance wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>That kennitala system sounds really cool, especially if people are conditioned to pass around their account number. >I just found that when I would try to send electronic checks here, people got weird about handing over their routing and account numbers. I think that uncertainty is definitely part of the problem. The criticality of keeping an SSN secret whilst paradoxically sometimes having to have it on hand to giv…

I don't know if US bank account numbers need to be kept secret. Yeah, they kind of should be since the number is basically all that someone needs in order to print cheques that take money out of a given account. The US has a "pull" system instead of the more secure "push" system in Europe where giving out a bank account number is totally normal (and was back in the day before electronic banking too).

The EU now has a pull system too, thanks to SEPA Direct Debits. The receiver only has to send an XML file to the bank claiming that the client signed a mandate authorizing them. The client does have 13 months to make a claim and get the money back, but it means that one has to carefully read the statements, rather than trust that every transaction was initiated by us.

Re: Thanks to Venmo, We Now All Know How Cheap Our Friends Are

#338

Post by lawnchair_larry »

Swizec wrote: post #170
bogomipz wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>"In my experience, many restaurants have a limit on how many ways they can split the bill," That limit is artificially imposed though isn't? I also think this is mostly an American thing because its perceived as a "hassle" which is ironic because they're being tipped for their "service" in the US. In Sweden I noticed for instance instance you can get a meal with a group of 10 people and at the end of the meal the se…

A lot of restaurants are won't split bills too many ways because it takes time and impacts table turnover. When you have a line out the door, turnover matters. Back in Slovenia bill splitting doesn't exist. To me it's a completely American thing. The best they can do in Slovenia is charge everyone individually for their items, but that's not really bill splitting.

That is literally what bill splitting is

Re: Thanks to Venmo, We Now All Know How Cheap Our Friends Are

#339

Post by BHSPitMonkey »

z1mm32m4n wrote: post #151
thanksgiving wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm 19 and most people I know use Venmo. I'm curious - around what age are your friends? My parents don't know what Venmo is, and I don't think many of their friends (most in the age range of 40-60) do either. Made in 1987 here. I have Paypal as well but I prefer Google Wallet. Google Wallet is directly connected to my bank account. I don't trust Paypal to connect it to my bank account. Why would you trust Venmo wi…

I have a separate bank account for Venmo that I keep capped at a few hundred dollars. Getting robbed a few hundred is much better than a few thousand, and for the convenience of Venmo (especially on a college campus) it's a fine risk for me.

Serious question: We all know PayPal has a penchant for freezing/seizing PayPal balances, but is there actually a single known case of them actually initiating an unwanted bank account transfer without the user initiating it (or someone otherwise losing money via Venmo)? Is this fear even rational?

I can understand not wanting to support the company as a matter of principle, but I'm not sure I buy the risk angle.

Re: Thanks to Venmo, We Now All Know How Cheap Our Friends Are

#340

Post by AstralStorm »

Moru wrote: post #325
webignition wrote: post #318

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a UK driver, I was taught to shift to neutral and apply the parking brake when stopped for long enough to do so. The reasoning given by my driving instructor was that this secures the vehicle and makes things just a little more safe for everyone. If I am stopped in traffic with my parking brake on and sometime lightly rear-ends me, my vehicle may not move at all. If my parking brake were not applied, the probabili…

And many newer cars will stop the engine if you stop the car with the clutch up. And also can activate the parking break at the same time.

Many newer cars don't have a manual clutch anymore, so the brake is the only reasonable way. Idle only will typically coast in those. Parking gear/brake will work but is annoying to use - and it is better to use the foot brake anyway most of the time.
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