181–190 of 238 posts
Even before this, Australia still had direct person-to-person transfers. They'd just take a day, and required an account number and name. I've written about this before, but American is terribly far behind on this: https://penguindreams.org/blog/the-american-banking-system-i... The closest thing we have in the US is Zelle, which is not a government mandated standard (like ACH) but a private standard created by banks…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It just seems absurd that it should be so complicated and expensive to build a system which on a basic level is just about maintaining a large table of numbers (the ledger of bank account balances) and doing simple arithmetic on it. And I say this as someone who develops banking systems for a living. I think/hope the banking and financial sector in the future will be much more lean and optimized, both in terms of sys…
> on a basic level is just about maintaining a large table The most dangerous word in software development.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Credit and debit card acceptance could definitely be better (even though I was doing all right in Berlin), but I don't agree about opening bank accounts: - N26: it took me literally 10 minutes. Identification via video chat. - comdirect: as far as I remember, I mailed them one 4-page form, dropped by the post office for the PostIdent and that was it. - Postbank (I needed an IBAN quickly while waiting for comdirect ;)…
N26 is the only one that has semi useful applications and web interface. My main problem with them is that they're first and foremost a startup, not a bank. Some issues I've had with them include double transactions, failed scheduled transactions, horrible 9-5 support, unable to unlock card because their web page was down for 24h. On top of that their security practices are horrible[0] >I mailed them one 4-page form,…
N26 has a full banking license.
https://techcrunch.com/2016/07/21/number26-is-now-a-true-ban...
Even before this, Australia still had direct person-to-person transfers. They'd just take a day, and required an account number and name. I've written about this before, but American is terribly far behind on this: https://penguindreams.org/blog/the-american-banking-system-i... The closest thing we have in the US is Zelle, which is not a government mandated standard (like ACH) but a private standard created by banks…
Even before this, Australia still had direct person-to-person transfers. They'd just take a day, and required an account number and name. I've written about this before, but American is terribly far behind on this: https://penguindreams.org/blog/the-american-banking-system-i... The closest thing we have in the US is Zelle, which is not a government mandated standard (like ACH) but a private standard created by banks…
Although from what I understand on March 16th, 2018 the US will at least get same-day ACH. However, it will still be batch processed only two times each day--During banking hours no less! https://www.nacha.org/rules/same-day-ach-moving-payments-fas...
There is a NPR planet money on why the US has such an archaic system: https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2013/10/04/229224964/epis...
Their hypothesis? Unsurprisingly, perverse incentives. Wire transfers in the US, which usually carry a high fee ($30) are very lucrative for banks so they don't have much interest in eliminating the need for wire transfers at the moment, but it appeared that there was growing interest in moving to real-time eventually.
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It would be interesting to see a line item breakdown of that bill. I'd wager Oracle got a good $50 mill out of it (multi year).
It's SWIFT based.
Even before this, Australia still had direct person-to-person transfers. They'd just take a day, and required an account number and name. I've written about this before, but American is terribly far behind on this: https://penguindreams.org/blog/the-american-banking-system-i... The closest thing we have in the US is Zelle, which is not a government mandated standard (like ACH) but a private standard created by banks…
This sounds like the swedish product "swish" which is immensely popular. Nobody does bank transfers between people, everybody transfers to your mobile number. So far I think there are no fees for personal use, either, although they said it would come later a few years ago. Transfers are of course instant and you can see the recipients name before you send the money, which is a great pro compared to a bank transfer to…
Don't tell them about Swish' absolutely brilliant QR codes, let them think they've caught up! :-D
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Too bad everything else is abysmal when it comes to technology and payments in Germany. Most places don't accept anything besides cash for payments. Opening a bank account still involves a ton of paperwork. Official mobile apps, if they even exist, are horrible. Waiting for 2 days for SEPA transfer, even though it's usually technically done within hours. No realtime transactions for card transactions (even though the…
Credit and debit card acceptance could definitely be better (even though I was doing all right in Berlin), but I don't agree about opening bank accounts: - N26: it took me literally 10 minutes. Identification via video chat. - comdirect: as far as I remember, I mailed them one 4-page form, dropped by the post office for the PostIdent and that was it. - Postbank (I needed an IBAN quickly while waiting for comdirect ;)…
I was able to open a bank account and get a card in 15 minutes. A few days later, I had a NZ tax number.
Since then this is my benchmark for ease :)
Can anyone post a rough breakdown on how $1B can be spent to build such a system?