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Can the Visa-Mastercard duopoly be broken?

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Re: Can the Visa-Mastercard duopoly be broken?

#381

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is no solution. The limits are so low you can't do serious transactions with it. I think it's 1000$ instant daily transfer max, then 2500$ daily non-instant transfer.

It’s up to your bank. My max limits are $5k for known parties, $2k for new/unseasoned contacts (Chase).

So even you can't pay a rent deposit, pay university tuition or let alone large items like a car

Re: Can the Visa-Mastercard duopoly be broken?

#382

Fraud protection of credit cards is the root of modern e-commerce. In some ways, Visa and Mastercard are the privatized court systems of the internet. If I end up on a random, self-hosted ecommerce site and decide to make a purchase - what guarantee do I have that the item will show up or be as-described? If I bought something through a bank transfer, reversing that purchase would be incredibly difficult. And, suing…

> If consumers had to push payment every month or year to continue subscriptions (instead of having it automatically debited), then churn rates would skyrocket and modern SaaS multiples would crash - taking company valuations with it.

Reeeeally now. You don't say?

What a wonderful world that would be.

Re: Can the Visa-Mastercard duopoly be broken?

#383
post #147

This is the best, and in my opinion, only use case for Ethereum

Can we get through even one finance-related HN post without a content-free comment claiming cryptocurrencies will solve this problem? (Spoiler: they won't.)

The question posed is can the visa-mastercard duopoly be broken. The answer is no.

Like all entrenched systems, the only way beyond them is to circumvent them. Circumventing the financial system is what bitcoin did.

So no, you can't solve it, but you don't need to.

Re: Can the Visa-Mastercard duopoly be broken?

#384

Fraud protection of credit cards is the root of modern e-commerce. In some ways, Visa and Mastercard are the privatized court systems of the internet. If I end up on a random, self-hosted ecommerce site and decide to make a purchase - what guarantee do I have that the item will show up or be as-described? If I bought something through a bank transfer, reversing that purchase would be incredibly difficult. And, suing…

> If consumers had to push payment every month or year to continue subscriptions (instead of having it automatically debited), then churn rates would skyrocket and modern SaaS multiples would crash - taking company valuations with it.

Disliking wallet-draining, hard-to-cancel subscriptions, I'm not entirely opposed to this scenario.

Re: Can the Visa-Mastercard duopoly be broken?

#386

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The benefit of credit cards is no one can literally drain your bank account via fraudulent access to a payment card directly tied to your bank (i.e. debit card in US nomenclature This difference is a consequence of law, not payment technology. It's entirely possible for someone to make fraudulent charges on a card up to its limit (which would be the analogue of draining a bank account), but CC companies are require…

There's an important difference here: bank accounts are not credit. If my card is stolen and charges are racked up, I'm no poorer until the fraud is detected and resolved. You don't spend cash when you use a credit card, you spend credit. There isn't a legal remedy for this.

So a credit card is doable, but a credit account is beyong the capabilities of human civilisation. Its like breaking the light barrier

Re: Can the Visa-Mastercard duopoly be broken?

#387

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s up to your bank. My max limits are $5k for known parties, $2k for new/unseasoned contacts (Chase).

So even you can't pay a rent deposit, pay university tuition or let alone large items like a car

At the moment. FedNow (new instant payment rails) limits will be $25k to start, negating the issue of low Zelle limits. Progress will arrive.

Re: Can the Visa-Mastercard duopoly be broken?

#388

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Woah, I did not know about India's UPI. And it serves more than India! Check it out: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Payments_Interface Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is an instant real-time payment system developed by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). The interface facilitates inter-bank peer-to-peer (P2P) and person-to-merchant (P2M) transactions.[1][2] UPI is an open source application program…

"Markets" here means some limited ability to transfer to/from India, but nobody uses UPI for domestic transactions in these places. Singapore has an equivalent system called PayNow, which is equally instant and ubiquitous.

PayNow (NETS) works with ~5 banks and is effective within a place as large as major city. Hardly an analog.

Re: Can the Visa-Mastercard duopoly be broken?

#389

Fraud protection of credit cards is the root of modern e-commerce. In some ways, Visa and Mastercard are the privatized court systems of the internet. If I end up on a random, self-hosted ecommerce site and decide to make a purchase - what guarantee do I have that the item will show up or be as-described? If I bought something through a bank transfer, reversing that purchase would be incredibly difficult. And, suing…

Just for the record, as an attorney who somewhat specializes in this field, or at least has a concentrate and practice in this field, reversing a bank transfer is actually quite easy. You don’t have the same dispute rights as credit, but there is a dispute mechanism.

I was under the impression that the non-reversible nature of wire transfers, especially to banks in other countries, is why they are a preferred payment method for scammers.

Re: Can the Visa-Mastercard duopoly be broken?

#390
post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This does not negate the parent post at all. You're just describing another deficiency of the US banking system.

Out of curiosity, how do European banks avoid this issue? If my debit card or ACH info is compromised and someone drains my checking account, is there a way to use the stolen funds before the bank/court finishes their investigation?

Its called Direct Debit guarantee, UK had it for decades:

"Immediate refunds. You can get a full and immediate refund from your bank (also known as an “indemnity claim”) for any payment taken in error."

https://gocardless.com/guides/posts/dd-guarantee-in-plain-en...

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