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Bank transfers as a payment method (2021)

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161–170 of 185 posts

Re: Bank transfers as a payment method (2021)

#161

I'm sorry SEPA is pull based? IDK in other countries but in Spain is pretty common to use it for push and pull operations. I certainly do, and everyone I know. The only nuisance is that requires an IBAN number and most Banks require a security ritual which is pretty boring. I didn't know that there's high fraud in SEPA either. Whoever tries to charge me, I can block em and contact my bank to make em know I didn't all…

> most Banks require a security ritual which is pretty boring

This varies significantly by country and bank. At my bank I can authorize transactions (up to a preconfigured amount) just with my fingerprint, and it takes like 5 seconds.

Re: Bank transfers as a payment method (2021)

#162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

India has done this for more than a decade at this point with IMPS and NEFT, and recently UPI. And I'm sure several other countries have them too, but for some reason the US chooses to remain backwards in this case.

The US has had multiple instant payment methods for years. Zelle is not the only one, debit cards are another.

If you ever use UPI, your opinion will definitely change, the scale of payment transactions UPI handles in a day, and how much penetration it has. And how easy it is to setup or use. Like I mentioned in another comment, I am from India but have been living in US for last 2 years, so my comments are not from ignorance of US payment methods.

Re: Bank transfers as a payment method (2021)

#163
post #145

Why Americans love credit cards so much is a mystery. In Europe debit cards have been the way to go for a long time. Most countries in Europe also have direct payments through mobile apps.

Why on earth would I use my money (and the risk of fraud) when I could use the banks money, interest free for a month? And if I have a dispute with a business, I can have the credit card company reverse the charge for me? If it's debit, that money is gone. I would never use debit if I could use a credit card. The US system is far superior for consumers.

> The US system is far superior for consumers.

Consumers are also forced to pay for it, though. The transaction fee in the US is routinely 2-3%, while in the EU it's capped at 0.3%. Because of borderline anti-competitive behaviour from VISA and Mastercard, that fee is also not charged separately to creditcard-using consumers but integrated in the price, so everyone pays for it.

Re: Bank transfers as a payment method (2021)

#164
post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's funny how so many non-Americans call our payments system "backwards", but I generally prefer it to bank-transfer-based payments: 1. When I pay with a credit card, I haven't actually spent any money. That money is still in my bank account, and I have the chance to dispute the transaction if it's fraudulent, without putting my own money on the line first. I've heard a few horror stories where a merchant/service ha…

I feel similarly. In these threads there are plenty of people to tell me how the US system sucks but then their examples are of things I’m glad we don’t do here. I’ve no problem moving money wherever I want, quickly, whether to a business or another person.

Good for you, but it's like saying, I rather travel by steam engine/someone else's car, while other countries are able to provide bullet trains. That how different payment methods in US vs few countries( I've only lived in the US and India, so I gave India as an example).

Re: Bank transfers as a payment method (2021)

#165

> The Single Europe Payment Area (SEPA) offers free, instant transactions between European banks. They’re pull based; a user communicates their banking information to a business, which debits the user’s account, rather than the business communicating their banking information to the user in order to send them money. I think this is something of a simplification since SEPA encompasses multiple types of payment. While…

I don’t understand why SEPA direct debit was started a few years ago. Push based methods were working great for decades, and SEPA had unified national payment methods to a european level. There were national pull based methods with built in fraud guard rails, and automatic recurring payments for e.g. monthly subscriptions. Then came direct debit, where giving out your IBAN now somehow became a fraud risk. Meanwhile,…

> Then came direct debit, where giving out your IBAN now somehow became a fraud risk.

I do not know about other EU countries, but here in CZ, i have to allow each counterparty and set a limit to maximum amount of direct debit to that counterparty in order to direct debit transfer be accepted.

It is useful for transactions like monthly phone payments, where exact sum is different each month.

If your bank accepts direct debit without you allowing it, then it is a problem with your bank, not with SEPA.

Re: Bank transfers as a payment method (2021)

#166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Both of those suck hugely vs Asian bank apps. You can just quickly and instantly send money by entering somebodies phone number. And it’s built into all the banking apps.

In the US I just iMessage money to people. Doesn’t work for Android, sure, but I know very few people still using Android and for them we just use Venmo.

Not the same.

Payments in Asia and other developed countries are instant - bank to bank. No crappy 3rd party app.

Re: Bank transfers as a payment method (2021)

#167
post #144

Most Americans don’t realize how atrocious the US banking system is when it comes to technology and transfers. It’s embarrassingly bad. Shameful, even.

I don't know. I was helping a Canadian friend with their bank account and TD's website looks like it's from the 90's. And getting an SMS message when your credit card is charged? Yeah, it used to be a separate website (why?) but no longer offered. It looked absolutely archaic compared to my US bank.

Now compare your US bank to Asian or others outside the West.

Actually, just check screenshots in the App Store for foreign non-Western banks.

Re: Bank transfers as a payment method (2021)

#168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

USDC is hardly what people think when they say crypto. For once it's not trustless, you need to trust that the backing dollars are in some bank account.

If you can't trust Deloitte and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants... https://www.circle.com/hubfs/USDCAttestationReports/2023/202...

I'm generally good with crypto, but no, you literally cannot trust Deloitte :)

Re: Bank transfers as a payment method (2021)

#170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel similarly. In these threads there are plenty of people to tell me how the US system sucks but then their examples are of things I’m glad we don’t do here. I’ve no problem moving money wherever I want, quickly, whether to a business or another person.

Good for you, but it's like saying, I rather travel by steam engine/someone else's car, while other countries are able to provide bullet trains. That how different payment methods in US vs few countries( I've only lived in the US and India, so I gave India as an example).

I can pay anyone instantly, and get paid instantly. What am I missing?
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