Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Twitter's Alex Payne quits, heads onto something new.

al3x.net

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

161–166 of 166 posts

Re: Twitter's Alex Payne quits, heads onto something new.

#161

Post by ErrantX »

al3x wrote: post #119
maxklein wrote: post #33

I'm sorry, but I want my bankers to be grave old men in suits. I also want my bank to have offices all over the world and I want to know that they are handling money many hundreds of times larger than whatever I have. I don't want a bank started by a guy called al3x, and who just left twitter. It sounds innovative, but it doesn't sound...dependable. And if there is one feature I want my bank to have, it's dependable.

Hi Max, I understand where you're coming from. The simplest answer is: if you don't want to bank with us, then don't. We don't imagine that we'll replace every bank ever. There are plenty of traditional banks that may be going bust left and right, but hey, you're free to do business with them. A more complicated answer is that BankSimple will have the backing of established, traditional financial entities who are ful…

> so the risk to you as a customer is quite low.

That's highly worrying. My understanding is that FDIC is a guarantee of last resort - i.e. a guarantee that ultimately a customer cannot lose his/her money.

i.e. there is no risk.

So are you saying there is no risk - or that there is some added risk to banking with yourself? I'm confused.

Re: Twitter's Alex Payne quits, heads onto something new.

#162

Post by dagw »

luckystrike wrote: post #134
sanswork wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a horrible response that doesn't exactly help you build trust or market your new banking product. It starts with a disingenuous comment and it barely addresses the most basic of concerns(FDIC) and does so in a snarky and somewhat rude manner. I would think you would have learned how to handle criticism and concern for a product of yours a lot better than this working at Twitter.

IMO, the response was right on the money (no pun intended). My first thought when I read maxklein's comment was that he is perhaps saying it half in jest. But in case he was serious, I don't think one can just deride a person/organization based on stereotypes. (Hey you programmer of some web application, what do you know about banking, where's your suit and your MBA, you'll do a shoddy job for sure ... etc) Let's see…

It's not is lack of suit and MBA people are worried about, it's his lack of experience. I wouldn't trust an MBA with no banking experience either.

Re: Twitter's Alex Payne quits, heads onto something new.

#163

Post by axod »

megablast wrote: post #117
axod wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> "Banking does suck." FWIW, This may be true in the US, but certainly isn't a worldwide phenomenon. For example, UK banks pretty much work really well. Seeing US banking in comparison is like using a time machine to go back to the 1950s.

UK Banks, hahaha. Don't make me laugh. While it is great to have a bank that actually pays interest, they have only just started to move away from signatures for all transactions, and towards pins. Plus, they have required huge bailouts as well, I think the RBS is now 70% owned by the government. Australian banks are actually ones that have come out very well, limiting there exposure to toxic assets, no gov bailouts.…

UK has been chip+pin for some years now. Most places won't accept non-chip cards any more.

Also the story with banks isn't the same all over. For example, Barclays, one of the biggest banks in the UK accepted no government bailout, and continues to post big profits.

Re: Twitter's Alex Payne quits, heads onto something new.

#164

Post by dagw »

axod wrote: post #115
DrJokepu wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, we must be living in a different UK then. I would be actually willing to pay a monthly fee for a bank account at a bank that has a call centre with staff who actually speak English.

Barclays is pretty good, but all the in branch staff are good. All call centers suck, and all telephone support sucks IMHO. I certainly wouldn't pay extra just to get telephone support. How often do you need it? If you need it a lot, then that's a really really niche use case. It may be due to the Barclays online banking being pretty solid. HSBC is also fairly good.

My bank, one of the 3 biggest in the country, has offered me nothing but excellent phone support. Quick to pick up the phone, knowledgeable staff, and quick and correct answers to my problems. So obviously quality phone support is far from impossible.

Re: Twitter's Alex Payne quits, heads onto something new.

#165

Post by synnik »

I have worked in the banking industry. Building a better technology stack for a bank is possible. But you need to understand the current technology first, including how it got to where it is today.

You also need to understand the banking industry.

And you need to be focused on reliability. Twitter's reliability history is not adequate for a bank.

So do I think he can do this by himself? Not a flippin' chance. But I do think he could contribute some innovative ideas, if teamed up with people who have deep experience in the industry.

Post reply on HN