The products being pointed out in this article as an attempt to disrupt banks seem to be basically the same product for a different price. Like, a high-yield savings account is just a savings account with a better price, right? How do you disrupt an industry by selling the same products? The advantage of startups is that they're more nimble, can pivot to fit the market better, and can adapt to customer requests faste…
I can tell you right now what I want from a "bank" as a consumer: Putting the consumer first, not seventeenth or whatever I typically experience with retail banks. As a random example, I had $3,600 stolen from one of my accounts by transactions labelled "Microsoft Online Services" or something like that. The bank reversed most , but not all of the transactions, and then had the nerve to lecture me -- an IT profession…
No one is disrupting banks – at least not the big ones
251–260 of 452 posts
Re: No one is disrupting banks – at least not the big ones
#252No one is disrupting banks because the mega banks have the sole power of creating credit out of thin air, and no upstart fintech company has this power. To gain this power requires the creation of a bank, which as you can imagine, is probably the most gate-kept activity on earth. Andreesen talked about this in his Rogan appearance. The banks and gov brought the hammer down on crypto because it was a legitimate threat…
Most of the cryptocurrency companies prove that this statement isn't entirely true though, unless I don't get it. That is, they generate cryptocurrencies out of thin air (credit) and say it has a certain value, then people pay them fiat money for those. They just generated value out of thin air and some compute cycles.
Re: No one is disrupting banks – at least not the big ones
#253Earlier quoted context omitted.
Just curious, why do you need a video chat? Can't you just have a phone call? I don't get the need to see someone's face
I don't get the need for synchronous comms at all. I can book airplane tickets, food delivery, e-commerce generally, and most other things through a web interface. Not sure why I need to talk to somebody to get a mortgage aside from Know Your Customer but even then a short signing ceremony at the end would be best.
Re: No one is disrupting banks – at least not the big ones
#254They might not be disrupting them, but they are definitely causing competition in the market place again. My main bank account is with Halifax, everyday spend is with Starling. Then Monzo for anything risky. Before Starling/Monzo the Halifax app was _crap_. Barely got any updates and was very basic. Now? The Halifax app is on par with the newer banks, and sometimes even release new features before (e.g. scan cheque i…
Previous to the merging of online services, you are correct that Halifax had its own app and it was terrible. But at that time Lloyds had a great app, they just hadnt unified the back end tech of all the different bank brands they own.
It wasnt disruption from startups that caused the improvement, it was the parent company taking its time to merge the decent tech it had developed for itself.
Re: No one is disrupting banks – at least not the big ones
#255Earlier quoted context omitted.
That’s the thing I can’t ever come to understand about crypto. It’s purely about perception of value. At least with some precious metal, it has a floor value as a function of its practical uses and abundance. Which leads me to believe that the only thing that could be honestly said is that a crypto is purely about winners and suckers and timing.
And fiat currency isn't purely about perception of value? Just as not all crypto is equal, the Zimbabwean dollar isn't remotely like the Swiss frank, just as bitcoin isn't remotely like hawktua.
Re: No one is disrupting banks – at least not the big ones
#256Earlier quoted context omitted.
That’s the thing I can’t ever come to understand about crypto. It’s purely about perception of value. At least with some precious metal, it has a floor value as a function of its practical uses and abundance. Which leads me to believe that the only thing that could be honestly said is that a crypto is purely about winners and suckers and timing.
> At least with some precious metal, it has a floor value as a function of its practical uses and abundance. I don't really give this argument much credence any more. If the value of, say, gold or diamonds were to drop their practical-use-floor-value, they'd be valued at probably less than 1% (maybe much less) of current value. I mean, how much gold is actually consumed by industry? And we even have industrial diamon…
[0] indicates there's a demand of about 5000 tonnes of gold per year, with about 560 tonnes going into technology and electronics (the vast majority still going to jewellery). The total amount of gold in the world is about 212.500 tonnes according to [1], which is a cube of only 22x22 meters. [2] says about 3600 tonnes are mined per year and about 1200 tonnes is recycled/reused.
[0] https://www.gold.org/goldhub/research/gold-demand-trends/gol...
[1] https://www.gold.org/goldhub/data/how-much-gold
[2] https://www.gold.org/goldhub/research/gold-demand-trends/gol...
Re: No one is disrupting banks – at least not the big ones
#257Earlier quoted context omitted.
There are pros and cons of cryptocurrencies as money, just like gold, which cause people to speculate on the price.
What are the pros of the trump coin or the melania coin?
But I'm convinced most people that buy memecoins like that are thinking that there's other suckers that will buy it and make the price go up.
Re: No one is disrupting banks – at least not the big ones
#258No one is disrupting banks because the mega banks have the sole power of creating credit out of thin air, and no upstart fintech company has this power. To gain this power requires the creation of a bank, which as you can imagine, is probably the most gate-kept activity on earth. Andreesen talked about this in his Rogan appearance. The banks and gov brought the hammer down on crypto because it was a legitimate threat…
>The banks and gov brought the hammer down on crypto because it was a legitimate threat to the banking cabal which runs the American Empire. Price instability, confiscatory and variable transaction fees, several high profile frauds -- including in a so-called "stable coin". Crypto is its own worst enemy. Not the government.
You get none of those protections with cryptocurrency, which is exactly what scammers, criminal organizations, and financial libertarians want.
Re: No one is disrupting banks – at least not the big ones
#259Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think it could also be cultural. In my country people are perfectly happy to have a video chat with a bank employee about mortgages but in other country's you still need to go into a branch office for that kind of thing.
Just curious, why do you need a video chat? Can't you just have a phone call? I don't get the need to see someone's face
There is a reason why "face to face communication" is a phrase.
Re: No one is disrupting banks – at least not the big ones
#260Earlier quoted context omitted.
You and I are free to not buy it, but that doesn't mean Russia or b Saudi's or China or Zuckerberg isn't going to buy a bunch to influence our president
Rather than regulate crypto, it might have been better to not elect him in the first place.