A sketch of the product features: - You can sign up on any smartphone. - The KYC requirements are gradual. - They don't seem to hit Chexsystems. - You can put money in, for free, at widely geographically distributed ATMs. - You can transfer it approximately as easy as an SMS.
-
Show this thread
-
This is missing core requirements for a bank account if you're a professional software developer, like the ability to print a fake specimen check to give to your HR department to get your salary direct deposited. They're not banks and they extend no credit.
3 replies 0 retweets 9 likesShow this thread -
But people were asking the banking industry *for years* to figure out a way to make a checking account which can't NSF, which charges no monthly fees, and which still has a debit card attached. And darn if the wallet apps didn't go and build exactly that. Bully for them.
3 replies 6 retweets 31 likesShow this thread -
"Chexsystems?" Checking accounts in the United States are designed to be credit products, though most normal people don't think of them that way. Banks routinely extended credit for funds which hadn't cleared (and spent decades tuning the number down).
2 replies 2 retweets 16 likesShow this thread -
Chexsystems is a credit bureau specific to checking accounts. If a banking customer overdrafts their account and in lieu of paying the bank back the money (plus substantial fees) just walks away from the relationship, the bank reports them to Chexsystems.
2 replies 1 retweet 15 likesShow this thread -
And then they find themselves more-or-less frozen out of the formal financial system, for years. This happens a lot to folks in poor socioeconomic circumstances, and is a substantial mechanism behind the sizable fraction of Americans who are (term of art here) unbanked.
1 reply 0 retweets 18 likesShow this thread -
That isn't the only use/effect of Chexsystems, but it is probably the most salient one for non-fraudulent users.
1 reply 1 retweet 8 likesShow this thread -
Story time: Bank B asked me, when opening a checking account, if I had opened an account with Bank A 30 minutes earlier. Me: "Oh, Chexsystems is fast huh. That's impressive." Judging by expression this was not the right thing to say.
2 replies 1 retweet 32 likesShow this thread -
Me: "Sorry, I work in the industry and geek out on this stuff. Yes, I'm mortgage shopping opened an account with them for the same reason as you: because one of you will get a mortgage from me. Does that work for you?" That, of course, worked for them.
3 replies 1 retweet 29 likesShow this thread -
Replying to @patio11
Why open the checking account before you’ve decided where to get the mortgage? Do you get better quoted rates as a current customer instead of as a potential customer? Or something else?
1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
Signals seriousness, gets me an instant introduction to a mortgage officer, and puts my passport and US mailing address on file with the bank in a way that they have reason to trust is legitimate such that I don't have to jump through more KYC hoops until very late in process.
-
-
Replying to @patio11 @matt_chandler
Plus I, uh, collect checking accounts. Some geeks like comic books but does Peter Parker come with a Regulation E disclosure packet?
0 replies 0 retweets 1 likeThanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
-
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.