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by moonpolysoft 5711 days ago
What is this wonderful bank you use where transfers between accounts at a different bank happen instantaneously? Every time I've tried it the process takes 1-2 days and most likely has to go through an ACH.

As for credit and debit charges, my bank always has two transaction histories. Cleared transactions and pending transactions. Pending transactions are merely funds that have been reserved against your account and they may or may not clear after a period of time. Sounds like that fits pretty well with eventual consistency.
1 comments
foobarbazetc 5711 days ago
Love the down votes -- he didn't say different bank, did he? Funnily enough, money also moves between accounts at the same bank.

My bank transfers to other banks take a couple of hours, but I don't live in the US. The money comes out of the account instantly though.

I think it's a bit of a stretch to say that a bank doesn't need transactions.

As for credit cards, that's great, but that doesn't address what he said, which is that it's an analog experience, which it isn't. Also, it depends on the bank, but there's generally an available balance and a credit limit. Credit card payments come out of the available balance instantly. I'm pretty sure that's running in a transaction. :)

What happens between then and actual acquisition is irrelevant.

Anyway, the point isn't the technical details, or how implementations differ. The point is that the argument presented is flat out wrong (in this case). Banks are a completely different beast to your web 2.0 startup. :)

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benblack 5711 days ago
"My bank transfers to other banks take a couple of hours, but I don't live in the US. The money comes out of the account instantly though."

Within a single banking entity (and what you see as your bank might in fact be a composite of numerous such entities), you may see this _apparently_ transactional behavior. Between banking entities you certainly don't. There is no 2PC over SWIFT.

Crushed your dreams. Sorry.

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moonpolysoft 5711 days ago
> My bank transfers to other banks take a couple of hours, but I don't live in the US. The money comes out of the account instantly though.

What happens between the time the money is debited from one account and it shows up in the other? Hint: it's not a transaction in the ACID sense of the term.

I would address the rest of what you say, but I'm afraid I cannot help you on your reading comprehension. I encourage you to read the article. All the words please.

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