Send Money to Friends in Messenger • Hacker News Board

Re: Send Money to Friends in Messenger

#211

Post by ethanbond » Tue, Mar 17, 2015, 10:04 PM UTC

gonehome wrote: post #170

macNchz wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At least for my demographic in NYC it feels like Venmo has enough traction that there isn't much friction if you ask to be paid/pay with Venmo. Enough people have it that the odd one out who doesn't feels compelled to sign up, and the onboarding is also fast enough that people can sign up while waiting for the check at a restaurant, for example.

I used Venmo for a while and it works well. Square Cash I've found is even better since it skips the unnecessary social part, doesn't hold funds (directly transfers to bank) and somehow people can sign up without having to do the mini deposit account verify dance with their bank. I'm not sure how this is possible since doesn't that mean that anyone can just input a debit card and start withdrawing money? It is nice t…

I've never understood how the hell Square does it. It's an awesome experience though.

Re: Send Money to Friends in Messenger

#212

Post by Mister_Snuggles » Tue, Mar 17, 2015, 10:05 PM UTC

aianus wrote: post #198

Mister_Snuggles wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here in Canada, I can do an email money transfer to virtually any financial institution. All the recipient needs to do is bank with one that supports it and use online banking. I don't know how innovative it is, but it works relatively well. https://www.interac.ca/en/interac-etransfer/etransfer-detail

Yet it's still slower and more expensive than sending a friend a photo of a physical filled-out cheque. Ridiculous. edit: s/screenshot/photo/

I've found that email transfers take about 5 minutes, it's not terribly slow at all. The expense bothers me though.

Re: Send Money to Friends in Messenger

#213

Post by stream_fusion » Tue, Mar 17, 2015, 10:06 PM UTC

puranjay wrote: post #89

andrepd wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't forget about Bitcoin.

Almost no one outside of my techie friends know about Bitcoin. Even fewer understand how it works, so that's a no go.

Not knowing the technical, or legal arrangements of SWIFT doesn't prevent one from making a traditional international wire-transfer.

Re: Send Money to Friends in Messenger

#214

Post by foobarqux » Tue, Mar 17, 2015, 10:09 PM UTC

guelo wrote: post #37

dvcc wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How often do international transactions actually occur though (for small payments between friends)? I feel like it is such a small market it probably is not worth the extra hassle from a legal/fraud standpoint. As for outside the US, I was under the impression that most banks provide a free service for these transactions.

Remittances are one of the largest capital flows to developing countries totaling $400 billion in 2014. As they say, if you could capture 1% of that market ...

... then you still wouldn't make much money because the margins are so low.

Re: Send Money to Friends in Messenger

#215

Post by voltagex_ » Tue, Mar 17, 2015, 10:11 PM UTC

fapjacks wrote: post #193

chishaku wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Check out transferwise.com.

Definitely second transferwise. I use it all the time, and it's fast and easy without seeming skeevy like Western Union or whatever.

What's the catch?

Re: Send Money to Friends in Messenger

#216

Post by spydum » Tue, Mar 17, 2015, 10:13 PM UTC

r00fus wrote: post #111

bluetidepro wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Oh wait, that's not my bank's ATM. I don't want to be charged a $4 fee. Oh well, I'll get you next time." ATM's are not a good solution. I don't want to pay $24 to give someone $20 because of ATM fees. Or wait in a long line (assuming you are at a busy location/area) to get the money.

Or - here's this "checkbook" thing I have sitting in my bag, I'll write you a $20 check, and you open up your banking app and deposit it immediately, and keep the paper check just for a receipt.

People walk around with checks? I cringe on the rare occasions I have to write one to the local water utility (they refuse to provide any recurring payment solution - I suspect because low margins, and they like the late payment fees).

Re: Send Money to Friends in Messenger

#217

Post by BrainInAJar » Tue, Mar 17, 2015, 10:21 PM UTC

cek wrote: post #115

6stringmerc wrote: post #26

"Hey RELATIVE it's me here on Facebook I had to get a new account because I'm in trouble here in FOREIGN COUNTRY so please send me money. It's really easy and I need it bad! Just enter your credit card and I will be saved!" I know, I know, it's not the tool...but I am reminded of a certain scene from The Fifth Element... "I hate warriors, too narrow-minded. I'll tell you what I do like though: a killer, a dyed-in-the…

Kindel's Law: "Every new payment system rapidly transforms into an anti-fraud system."

except bitcoin

Re: Send Money to Friends in Messenger

#218

Post by ojbyrne » Tue, Mar 17, 2015, 10:22 PM UTC

josho wrote: post #160

Mister_Snuggles wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here in Canada, I can do an email money transfer to virtually any financial institution. All the recipient needs to do is bank with one that supports it and use online banking. I don't know how innovative it is, but it works relatively well. https://www.interac.ca/en/interac-etransfer/etransfer-detail

Yes, Canada is ahead. On the other hand that email money transfer incurs a transaction fee from most banks. What pisses me off is that we have a nearly ubiquitous way to send money in the physical world--a cheque. Yet, in the digital world we stumble to achieve the same. I blame the profit driven corporations as each solution incurs a transaction fee and/or a proprietary solution with no interop with other systems. M…

I (bank at B of A) just did this with my wife (Wells-Fargo). No transaction fees that I see.

Re: Send Money to Friends in Messenger

#219

Post by BrainInAJar » Tue, Mar 17, 2015, 10:24 PM UTC

gonehome wrote: post #170

macNchz wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At least for my demographic in NYC it feels like Venmo has enough traction that there isn't much friction if you ask to be paid/pay with Venmo. Enough people have it that the odd one out who doesn't feels compelled to sign up, and the onboarding is also fast enough that people can sign up while waiting for the check at a restaurant, for example.

I used Venmo for a while and it works well. Square Cash I've found is even better since it skips the unnecessary social part, doesn't hold funds (directly transfers to bank) and somehow people can sign up without having to do the mini deposit account verify dance with their bank. I'm not sure how this is possible since doesn't that mean that anyone can just input a debit card and start withdrawing money? It is nice t…

It comes out of your bank account, that sounds awful. In that they don't have the security requirements of banks, or the fraud protection of credit cards. So Venmo gets hacked, and everyone's (non-refundable) money gets transferred to Russia. Great.

Re: Send Money to Friends in Messenger

#220

Post by robryan » Tue, Mar 17, 2015, 10:24 PM UTC

astazangasta wrote: post #117

zacharypinter wrote: post #6

At this point, I just want one of these pay-with-your-phone solutions to win and be ubiquitous. The current situation is almost comical. "Do you have Venmo? Haven't set that up yet, can you send over Paypal?. No, what about Square Wallet? Nope, what about Gmail?"

It's bizzare that our financial sector is the largest area of the economy and yet has not managed to produce any innovation in this regard. Shouldn't banks be giving us easy ways to transfer money? Isn't this their function? Financial services?

Yep, we don't even think about this in Australia. All the banks have web/mobile apps with solid transfer tools. Same bank transfers are instant and to other banks are 1-2 business days.