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Bank transfers as a payment method (2021)

bitsaboutmoney.com

51–60 of 185 posts

Re: Bank transfers as a payment method (2021)

#51
He says that SEPA has a pull model. But when someone gives me their IBAN, and I go to my bank's website (or phone app), type in that IBAN and tell it to send X amount of money, that feels like a push model to me. (I can also include a payment reference, which will probably have to be manually checked, much as he describes for the Japanese model.)

I've used this method for paying back friends for minor loans, or suchlike, and also for paying my rent. And once for buying physical goods from a website: they gave me an invoice with a payment reference number and an IBAN, and I sent the amount requested to that IBAN with the reference number supplied, after which they shipped the goods.

Maybe SEPA has both push and pull models, and this article neglected to mention the push one? (I do have direct debits on my account, for a few charities, which are a pull transaction. And standing orders, which I think are also a push transaction.)

Re: Bank transfers as a payment method (2021)

#53

Would be interesting to know how Canada's Interac e-transfers[1] compare to the Indian or Japanese systems. Probably the biggest inconvenience of Canada's system it the need to use an email address as the destination. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interac_e-Transfer

For all of Canada's chartered banking bureaucracy and lack of customer empathy ... I have to say that our e-transfer system is pretty amazing. For business or personal, one-off or regular transfers. It just works.

Re: Bank transfers as a payment method (2021)

#54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Interesting that crypto hasn't made inroads here A funny thing happened, 10 years ago crypto transfers were free, and bank transfers cost $15 or more. Today the opposite is true, many bank transfers are free, but sending crypto costs about $10.

That's not really true of crypto if you consider any chain but Bitcoin and Ethereum. You can send USDC on Arbitrum (an Ethereum L2) for Also, as the article points out, international transfers are still painful. Paying $10 to transfer money internationally is probably still a very good deal for most people.

I don't know why this is downvoted; I understand that there's a lot to dislike about crypto, but "international transfers" is no longer even a question. A lot of people today literally use crypto for that.

Re: Bank transfers as a payment method (2021)

#55
post #35

Didn't get a mention in the article but Singapore's PayNow is magical. Direct bank-to-bank transfers that operate instantly 24/7, and for free. QR code-based so it's not uncommon to pay at retail outlets with this method; some shops will only accept PayNow or cash, because they're free. You can also pay directly to someone's NRIC (national ID number) or mobile number so you don't have to tack in their bank details or…

Canada has that too, it's great!

Re: Bank transfers as a payment method (2021)

#56
post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Plenty of banks are competing with Venmo and Cashapp. They use Zelle[1], it's zero-fee and included in most bank apps already. But it's not intended for business payments like Stripe or PayPal, or Venmo for business. [1] https://www.zellepay.com/get-started

Correct me if this is wrong, but I've read somewhere that Zelle gives you no recourse in the event of fraudulent transfers. This makes me extremely reticent to use it, or even use a bank that provides access to it without a signup process.

Yes, it's basically easy bank transfers and only should be used with people you know as an alternative to cash or Venmo.

Re: Bank transfers as a payment method (2021)

#58
post #14

As someone who's not entirely opposed to crypto, this was an interesting read. Mostly in terms of the following: I sort of assumed that one of the factors (among many, for sure) limiting widespread adoption of crypto was that the thing we (in the US) already have was probably pretty smooth? And reading this, seems like it really ain't. Interesting that crypto hasn't made inroads here. I mostly get why, incumbents don…

> I mostly get why, incumbents don't like change, but still. Or most likely, poor KYC/Fraud controls, lack of a central counterparty clearing house, limited performance, terrible UX...

These are all things that a theoretical crypto-based competitor could work on.

Re: Bank transfers as a payment method (2021)

#59
post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Plenty of banks are competing with Venmo and Cashapp. They use Zelle[1], it's zero-fee and included in most bank apps already. But it's not intended for business payments like Stripe or PayPal, or Venmo for business. [1] https://www.zellepay.com/get-started

Correct me if this is wrong, but I've read somewhere that Zelle gives you no recourse in the event of fraudulent transfers. This makes me extremely reticent to use it, or even use a bank that provides access to it without a signup process.

Prey tell, if you use cash, what recourse do you have in the event of fraudulent transfers? Does that also mean you refuse to use banks that provide cash ?

Re: Bank transfers as a payment method (2021)

#60

One major issue nobody has mentioned: privacy. Do we really want every payment we make in database where it can be passed around and used to analyze, market, and persecute us? I was a big fan of MobileCoin the privacy token in Signal because as far is I can tell it’s the best solution out there. They have gotten much traction largely because the feds and banks haven’t let them, however I hope some day some how I can…

> I hope some day some how I can buy groceries without my location and purchase details being sold to every data broker in the world.

Nothing about which type of payment system you use can possibly help with this— doesn't matter if it's cash, credit card, crypto, or something else— because regardless of how you choose to pay, the grocery store knows which items you bought and where, and (laws permitting) can sell that data to whomever they want. And the credit card companies already don't have that data: they just see a single dollar amount, not an itemized receipt.

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