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0 pointsvanviegen2y ago0 comments

In the Netherlands we have such a system called iDEAL. People use the app/site from their own bank to authorize the payment and the money arrives on the receiver's bank account instantly and irrevocably (without a judge stepping in). It's also very cheap (like 25 cents fixed).

Merchant fraud doesn't appear to be a big problem. Probably because the merchant requires a Dutch bank account, which requires a lot of identifying paperwork

It's pretty awesome.

Many other European companies have a similar system, and I believe there are plans to join them into one system. Let's hope the credit card lobbyist don't manage to mess it up.

0 comments

sneak2y ago

I’m not knocking it for Dutch people, but the internet needs a trustworthy global payments system that works for more than the 20 million in .nl.

It also sucks that you have to provide strong identity to the payer or payee, sending or receiving payments should not require disclosing identity. That’s a bug, not a feature.

mcherm2y ago

> It also sucks that you have to provide strong identity to the payer or payee, [...] That’s a bug, not a feature.

No, it is a feature, just not a feature for the customer. It's also not a feature for the bank or fintech. The strict identity requirements are a feature for the GOVERNMENT, and if you want to avoid them you probably need to start your own government (which is notoriously difficult).

DonHopkins2y ago

Your need to buy illegal drugs and launder money anonymously and perpetrate fraudulent rug pulls and shill get-rich-quick pyramid schemes should not trump the needs of most other people who simply require a fast, reliable way to make legal secure business transactions without fees and middlemen. Anyway, the Netherlands and rest of the world already has a fully functioning illegal drug trading and money laundering network, without any need for your cryptocurrency bullshit: that's just a solution looking for problems, which it turns out were solved much better, a long time ago.

semi2y ago

you're making a lot of assumptions in bad faith. why?

Maybe they just don't want all of their personal information to be stored in yet another database waiting to be leaked.

2 more replies

autoexec2y ago

I still hope for some solution to the problem that doesn't depend on imaginary internet money the value of which fluctuates wildly by the minute. We can keep using cash for anonymous transactions, but there are so many limitations to cash transactions that money transfers via internet don't have.

kolinko2y ago

Hear hear. We have the same thing in Poland.

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