Fed’s new instant payment system could be trouble for PayPal, Venmo::The Fed’s goal is to connect 9,000 financial institutions nationwide.
For those that don’t know in the US even if you use a third party system the final settlement of the money still has to go through the Fed and it’s usually as either a Wire or an ACH transaction. ACH is slow and batch processes which can be daily. Wire can be quicker but more expensive. Some banks give you access to funds sooner but it’s still not settled until that NACHA batch file goes through the Fed.
Anyway there are two instant payment systems coming to the US: RTP (by the Automated Clearing House (ACH)) and FedNow.
Outside the US they’ve already had other instant payment systems.
Yes after a decade of living in Europe I can only say, “fucking finally!”
If the money is going from a PayPal account to a PayPal account, why would it have to clear at all?
Word to the wise: if you are buying a house in the USA, make sure that the transfer of funds to the closing attorney/settlement agent is done by WIRE transfer, not ACH. ACH is reversible, and in many jurisdictions, the closing shop is not allowed to accept ACH transfers. Wire transfers are more of a pain in the ass, but you don’t want to find out on closing day that your money is no good because you could make it disappear from the closing shop’s trust account two days after closing.
Finally, it’s ridiculous we have to pay fees to a private company just to easily transfer money.
Finger crossed it’ll be compatible with IBAN/SWIFT banking so we can actually be a part of the International community.
So in the UK we have had a standard free “instant” payment system between banks for what feels like a couple of decades now (and compatibility with the IBAN for at least half that time). Given that, how has this taken so long? What did people do before Venmo?
Thank god. I very much so dislike having to use 3rd parties to transfer e-bucks. Always have to do the ‘I have x, do you have x?’ dance. Been using cash fairly often since it’s just easier.
americans you’ve got it only now?
- Laughs in Indian UPI
Run by the feds…yea what could go wrong there.
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That’s not even the best part. For most of those transfer services, you have fuck all for protection. From the bank’s perspective, you authorized transfers between your account and whatever service. The transfer from your bank to the third party middle man is mostly indisputable. Those third parties provide shit protection for consumers since they’re not held to any of the dispute related regulations like Regulation E. Accidentally send the wrong person a transfer through zelle? Get scammed buying a puppy on Cash app? Ripped off on an eBay sale through PayPal? Get fucked, that’s your problem.
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Honestly, once it reaches critical mass. It will mean the end of PayPal, Venmo et al AND the credit card industry as a whole.
I think between rewards and actual credit, credit cards will probably be fine, but I’m curious if you think this solves for either of these use cases.
Credit card rewards are really not worth it. These programs are largely funded by the fees that are charged to merchants which are ultimately passed on to you at time of purchase.
I would much rather have reduced costs of goods rather than have paltry credit card reward programs.
Ok, but if this new payment model takes over and there are no fees to merchants, I’m very skeptical those savings will be passed on to buyers. I think at this point credit card processing is pretty well priced in.
Probably right for most big box stores or multibillion dollar businesses. But you would be surprised how thin the margins are for local grocery stores. That 3-5% in processing could be used to compete or undercut big box competitors that price in the credit/debit card fee.
I think with the right approach (small businesses first) it could see high adoption. Plus it would make it slightly more attractive in setting up shop in places that wouldn’t otherwise get any attention (ie, food deserts)
Yeah I’m failing to see how this replaces either of those benefits…
I can see it going either way. I think it’s gonna come down to apple and Google getting on board. If they adopt tap to pay with this system vendors will have less incentive to accept credit card fees. If they don’t, it won’t become ubiquitous enough for any store to get away with not allowing it and consumers will look out for their own interest to keep taking the credit benefits. (I realize collective action would make that argument void, I doubt true collective action is possible in any senecio.)
That said, I cannot see a world where the banks let it get that far. This system relies on the banks cooperation and it wouldn’t be the first time they bought a law.
