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Why is everyone a bank?

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Re: Why is everyone a bank?

#41
>Why is everyone a bank?

Seems to me that sensible ones would have more capital than they really need, and it would be so poorly-performing that they can loan it out for better returns than they would get using it for their own growth purposes.

Re: Why is everyone a bank?

#42
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have had to come up with a dollar amount worth several months of expenses on very short notice (same day, life is unpredictable). YMMV, but there's no reason I shouldn't be able to get those funds within seconds (if I'm adequately authenticated). With a wire, I can get it same day (if executed by ~3pm eastern). I shouldn't need to pay for a wire, or talk to a human unless a fraud signal was detected. I'm not a hedg…

> I have had to come up with a dollar amount worth several months of expenses on very short notice (same day, life is unpredictable). That seems like a perfect use case for using a credit card to cover the expense and then pay yourself back when your money moves out of the savings account. I have trouble imagining a case outside of a hostage situation where you would need access to your emergency fund same day.

Two examples: Auto purchase where there was an issue with the banking partner of the vehicle manufacturer. Another is a real estate transaction. Bailing friends out of jail is always cheap (~$500), but not everyone takes credit cards (no chance for the first two scenarios).

Fundamentally, I should not have to explain why I would desire immediate access to my own cash reserves at a moment's notice to excuse broken financial infrastructure.

Re: Why is everyone a bank?

#43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have had to come up with a dollar amount worth several months of expenses on very short notice (same day, life is unpredictable). YMMV, but there's no reason I shouldn't be able to get those funds within seconds (if I'm adequately authenticated). With a wire, I can get it same day (if executed by ~3pm eastern). I shouldn't need to pay for a wire, or talk to a human unless a fraud signal was detected. I'm not a hedg…

You should see how easy it is to do these things in the Netherlands. No charge to wire money to an individual or business. No transaction cost for paying by card. Pay online with ideal for 0%, just scan qr code with bank app. Simple and easy.

Europe in general would be my example for how banking should be done.

Re: Why is everyone a bank?

#44
post #9

The points make well enough sense, but the author is also the professed founder of this: https://betterbank.app/

does that make the points less valid? I felt it added to the credibility of the piece? Looking forward to your criticism on that

It makes the points worthy of scrutiny.

Re: Why is everyone a bank?

#45
post #4

Another answer: because regular banks are awful to deal with. They don't have nice APIs to just move money around. They apply velocity limits at surprising times. They can terminate your account suddenly for opaque reasons. They charge high regular fees and even higher "gotcha" fees if you make a mistake. They can take back money sent to you for up to 90 days, but often can't get back money you sent to crooks even if…

This 100%. I work at a fintech that's not a bank. Instead, we integrate with people who integrate with banks--we've basically got one middleman per continent (except a few).

It's awful. Rather than having to figure out the regulatory details of each jurisdiction so that we can be compliant, we instead have to figure out the regulatory details of each jurisdiction so that we can trick whichever middleman into being compliant on our behalf.

The waste is incredible. It's all promises of "we'll handle that" but never any actual contact with somebody who can code and you know... handle it. I'm beginning to think it's just parasites all the way down. And if that's how it's gonna be, why not cut out the middlemen and be the only parasite in the loop?

Re: Why is everyone a bank?

#47
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have had to come up with a dollar amount worth several months of expenses on very short notice (same day, life is unpredictable). YMMV, but there's no reason I shouldn't be able to get those funds within seconds (if I'm adequately authenticated). With a wire, I can get it same day (if executed by ~3pm eastern). I shouldn't need to pay for a wire, or talk to a human unless a fraud signal was detected. I'm not a hedg…

> I have had to come up with a dollar amount worth several months of expenses on very short notice (same day, life is unpredictable). That seems like a perfect use case for using a credit card to cover the expense and then pay yourself back when your money moves out of the savings account. I have trouble imagining a case outside of a hostage situation where you would need access to your emergency fund same day.

I wouldn't expect Shelby, Mercedes, and their sisters to be held for cash every day myself, but if you really want to bring them home one of the most worthwhile options is cashthedayofthesaleasiswhereisnowarrantiesofany kind.

http://www.classic-carauction.com/featured-cars?auctionid=10...

Re: Why is everyone a bank?

#48

When you're a bank you get rent from many economic transactions without providing anything of value except being rich to start. And even better, if you're a real bank, then you can create money out of thin air as debt on your balance sheet via fractional reserve banking. There's effectively a universal basic income for banks. What company wouldn't want to get in on that?

Thin air? What are all the employees doing then?

Yup, thin air. When people borrow money, the bank just creates the money out of nowhere. That money doesn't actually exist until the debt is paid. Banks are ultimately responsible for the extreme inflation of virtually all currencies currently in use.

Re: Why is everyone a bank?

#49
Is this going to be the sort of phenomenon that we will eventually look back as a signifier of the dumb money economic bubble we're in, similar to past trends like the wild access to credit in the Roaring Twenties, the run up to the S&L crisis in the '80s, the worthless tech IPOs of the Dot-Com Bubble, the liar's loans of the 2000s, and another examples of rampant finacialization?

If the environment is one in which non-financial institutions can easily create banks, easily find customers for their banks, and not invite regulator scrutiny, does that mean behind the scenes something is going horribly wrong?

Re: Why is everyone a bank?

#50
post #4

Another answer: because regular banks are awful to deal with. They don't have nice APIs to just move money around. They apply velocity limits at surprising times. They can terminate your account suddenly for opaque reasons. They charge high regular fees and even higher "gotcha" fees if you make a mistake. They can take back money sent to you for up to 90 days, but often can't get back money you sent to crooks even if…

Is that American banking? In the UK I can't say I've ever experienced such issues. I do bank to bank transfers fairly frequently.
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