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Everyone knows it’s broken

tiltthewindmill.com

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Re: Everyone knows it’s broken

#11

Post by drivingmenuts »

One of the things about modern electronic payment systems that weirds me out is how easy it is to lose everything.

If the government takes my money, there's process. Not always transparent, but supposedly hewing to some legal process.

If the bank goes under then, in theory, I get back some portion of my deposits thanks to insurance (not always the case, some banks for rich people don't have insurance, but presumably the rich can have people killed or something to make up for it).

But if Paypal takes my money by force or by bankruptcy ... well, so long money. It's just gone and I'm probably not going to see it ever again.

In all cases, I probably signed some sort of contract about the deal. But banks are offering the better contract.

The above is a gross oversimplification, but I don't think its wrong in that. If so, please elucidate.

Re: Everyone knows it’s broken

#12

Post by acroll »

drivingmenuts wrote: post #11

One of the things about modern electronic payment systems that weirds me out is how easy it is to lose everything. If the government takes my money, there's process. Not always transparent, but supposedly hewing to some legal process. If the bank goes under then, in theory, I get back some portion of my deposits thanks to insurance (not always the case, some banks for rich people don't have insurance, but presumably…

Agree. I think one way retail banks could reinvent themselves is as a trusted escrow and analytics platform for your money across all other tools: Venmo, Paypal, etc. They already do this for Visa (which they don't own, but work with.)

Re: Everyone knows it’s broken

#13

Post by aestra »

peteretep wrote: post #3

You've probably all read it already, but the best thing about this article was the link to the venmo discussion: http://qz.com/277509/read-what-happens-when-a-bunch-of-over-...

Wow, that's the first time I've heard of Venmo!

Personally, I prefer to keep my phone and my banking completely separate. Actually, the only "important" account I log into on my phone is my email. Anything else? I'll just wait until I get home or go to work.

I personally enjoy this comment the best:

> venmo is great also because it is sort of a social network too, like you have to put in a sort of “memo” field and so you see a news feed of what your friends paid each other for

Um... WHY? I don't see why I should care? I guess that's just part of an over sharing culture.

Here comes the old fogie... If I owe someone money I just give them cash. What's wrong with cash? I hope cash isn't going the way of the personal check... (which, hilariously, I still use personal checks)

Perhaps it has to do with individualism? My friends and I operate on a more informal method. If Joe bought the cab then John pays for the beers. Then Jake pays at the next place or the next time. This isn't stated or organized in advance, just everyone seems to go by it by default.

Re: Everyone knows it’s broken

#14

Post by grayarea »

Also keep in mind that this is clearly American banking which is often quite behind the rest of the world(this is due to the fragmented nature of the banking industry in the US compared to other countries). I mean checking account? I have never had one of those. Paper statements? I haven't seen one of those in I dont know how long... 10 years?

Re: Everyone knows it’s broken

#15

Post by lmm »

drivingmenuts wrote: post #11

One of the things about modern electronic payment systems that weirds me out is how easy it is to lose everything. If the government takes my money, there's process. Not always transparent, but supposedly hewing to some legal process. If the bank goes under then, in theory, I get back some portion of my deposits thanks to insurance (not always the case, some banks for rich people don't have insurance, but presumably…

In Europe Paypal is a bank, and bound by banking regulations. But as the article says, there's a tradeoff with that: a company bound by the regulations can't move as fast as one that ignores them. If your bank offers better terms than PayPal, stick with them. But for many small businesses, the gains of using PayPal to accept payments outweigh the risks.

Re: Everyone knows it’s broken

#16

Post by nitid_name »

grayarea wrote: post #14

Also keep in mind that this is clearly American banking which is often quite behind the rest of the world(this is due to the fragmented nature of the banking industry in the US compared to other countries). I mean checking account? I have never had one of those. Paper statements? I haven't seen one of those in I dont know how long... 10 years?

There are some strange regulations on savings accounts in the US. You're only allowed a set number of transactions on them per month. Checking accounts don't have these limits.

Re: Everyone knows it’s broken

#17

Post by sachingulaya »

In regards to monthly statements...yes, I e those all the time for getting financing, accounting, proof of residency, etc. I need them. Others need them. Most web portals offer "all transactions" or "since last statement views". Just because months are arbitrary doesn't make them useless.

Re: Everyone knows it’s broken

#18

Post by tjbiddle »

aestra wrote: post #13
peteretep wrote: post #3

You've probably all read it already, but the best thing about this article was the link to the venmo discussion: http://qz.com/277509/read-what-happens-when-a-bunch-of-over-...

Wow, that's the first time I've heard of Venmo! Personally, I prefer to keep my phone and my banking completely separate. Actually, the only "important" account I log into on my phone is my email. Anything else? I'll just wait until I get home or go to work. I personally enjoy this comment the best: > venmo is great also because it is sort of a social network too, like you have to put in a sort of “memo” field and so…

I personally set all my Venmo payments to private - but it does offer a very slight form of entertainment giving the news feed a quick scroll whenever I make a payment. It's certainly not something I check unless I'm already using the app though. Funny to see "John paid Christy for 'Moldy cheeseburgers'" or whatever your friends come up with.

The actual use of it is absolutely amazing though. When I needed to pay my sister for my share of our parents anniversary gift I was out backpacking in Europe, it took all of 5 seconds to send her the money across seas from my bank account and for her to receive it.

Re: Everyone knows it’s broken

#19

Post by salgernon »

sachingulaya wrote: post #17

In regards to monthly statements...yes, I e those all the time for getting financing, accounting, proof of residency, etc. I need them. Others need them. Most web portals offer "all transactions" or "since last statement views". Just because months are arbitrary doesn't make them useless.

Purchasing a house recently, I offered a CSV of 6 months banking transactions, but they would only accept a paper statement from the bank - clearly showing fees charged in order determine if I had any insufficient funds charges. The bank provides explicit PDF images of statements, even though they don't send them, so I was ably to comply (actually sending the pdfs to the mortgage broker to print for the underwriter.)

Re: Everyone knows it’s broken

#20

Post by a_c_s »

rthomas6 wrote: post #5
peteretep wrote: post #3

You've probably all read it already, but the best thing about this article was the link to the venmo discussion: http://qz.com/277509/read-what-happens-when-a-bunch-of-over-...

I'm 27 and identify more with the over-30s. Then again I've never really grokked the new wave of smartphone-based social media. I never use Twitter, I deactivated my Facebook, and I consume 99% of my internet time at a desktop computer. I feel like an old fogie and like I'm missing out on something. I like text messages and wish everyone would go back to using AIM -- it worked better than most social communication ap…

I agree with you there: AIM was great and more solid than many of the new services.

I'm still a bit puzzled as to how re-inventing instant messaging (WhatsApp) can be the hot new thing worth billions of dollars.

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