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Stripe Financial Connections

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Re: Stripe Financial Connections

#151
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In the US your public bank account number is effectively a password to debit your account! There’s literally no authorisation at all! Don't you also need the routing number? How does this differ in other countries or anywhere that checks are used?

The routing number of each bank is public :-)

Yes but banks can have several routing numbers.

Re: Stripe Financial Connections

#152
post #81
post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know that Charles Schwab has some sort of OAuth flow which I used when connecting my account to TurboTax this year.

So, I got very excited about this, but it seems that banks are expecting "bank integrator" aka companies, and not giving access to end users :( If any knows of a bank that has API access in the US do share!

You might find luck using companies targeting algo trading. A lot of companies allow use of the account more like a checking account (eg interactive brokers). They have an API and also allow different logins to have different authorizations.

Re: Stripe Financial Connections

#153
post #76
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In the US your public bank account number is effectively a password to debit your account! There’s literally no authorisation at all! Don't you also need the routing number? How does this differ in other countries or anywhere that checks are used?

A check needs a signature and has some security feature built-in. You might argue that it's not sufficient, but it's the same deal as paper money for example. The cost/benefit ratio is too low for counterfeiting checks to be useful, most of the time.

[deleted]

Re: Stripe Financial Connections

#154
post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> your land lord reaches into your account using your bank account number and debits it, without you having to approve. This is how many people pay for rent in Germany (and I strongly suspect elsewhere) as well. If they take too much, you can get it back with a single click in your bank account.

Quite interesting. In Poland a lot of places have their bank number just on their website if you want to donate something, I don't think you can place a debit like that.

Bank accounts like that often have outgoing direct debits blocked to prevent fraud, as far as I know.

(I don't think there is a registry – this would simply be a bank-side setting to auto-decline all requested direct debits.)

Re: Stripe Financial Connections

#155

I have been an advocate of Stripe but today I am quite disappointed with Stripe. Is this what happens when a company becomes big with thousands of employees? Copying smaller companies' product(s) while having a "partnership" with them? I wish they released an actual competing product, not a copy. This discourages SO MANY startups.

an actual competing product, not a copy

How many ways are there to do this?

Re: Stripe Financial Connections

#158
post #57

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It's interesting to compare this comment with one of the other top comments on HN right now, an explanation of how Google's culture of promoting users for solving "hard problems" is ultimately a terrible, terrible strategy for their users and their company. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31262428

As engineers, we should to step away from our egos and our desire to do something "interesting" and focus on where our solutions actually solve real problems, like Stripe's products (often, not always!) do. Whether something is "middleware" or "not interesting" has nothing to do with how useful or valuable it is.

I'm sure there are plenty of people working at Plaid who are really interested and dedicated in working on the kind of middleware that their co-founder is denigrating here. It's a shame they have to work for a company where that kind of polish is pushed aside in favor of ambiguous "innovation". As an engineer and a customer, I know which kinds of companies and engineers I want on the other side of the table when considering business partners, and—going solely from your comment—it sounds like Plaid isn't one of those companies.

Re: Stripe Financial Connections

#159

See also: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31263288 "Stripe releases Plaid-like project, Plaid CEO objects to process" Different day, same old stripe. Beware.

not a different day. that post is from 3 hours ago.

I meant that today is a different day from yesterday, and the day before..

It's a common English idiom.

I don't have the reference links handy but the TL;DR is that Stripe has played dirty lots of times before. The formula is:

1. Pretend they want to acquire a company with a product they like

2. Then, once they waste enough of the competitors time (buying buffer enabling them to figure out the secret sauce)

3. Clone stamp the competitors product, fucking them over royally. Also leverage the tremendous public reach, visibility, and clout of Stripe itself to promote their clone.

It's a very ugly and distasteful way of doing business. It aligns with the values of the Farenghi on Star Trek.

It's naiive on the victims part, sure, but Stripe is dishonest and shan't be trusted.

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