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by YjSe2GMQ 2680 days ago
It's how banking works nearly everywhere outside of the US, that's why most brokers handle US money transfers on separate forms. PayPal was built on top of this banking insanity, in most other countries PayPal would solve a problem that doesn't exist.

Whole thing is kind of like the imperial vs metric system.

Which makes me wonder - which other countries have banking systems that routinely allow pull-based access to accounts?
2 comments
stordoff 2680 days ago
In the UK, PayPal can take what they want from my bank account, BUT I can just say "Reverse that" and it is done instantly, no questions asked (I might still be on the hook for legitimate transactions, but I'm not responsible for fraudulent ones).

(Case in point - a company I'd never heard of set up a Direct Debit on my account, and I didn't notice for about 6 months. One call to my bank, and I had the money back immediately.)

It's part of the Direct Debit guarantee:

> If an error is made in the payment of your Direct Debit, by the organisation or your bank or building society, you are entitled to a full and immediate refund of the amount paid from your bank or building society

> If you receive a refund you are not entitled to, you must pay it back when the organisation asks you to

https://www.directdebit.co.uk/DirectDebitExplained/pages/dir...

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HarryHirsch 2680 days ago
Germany has had direct debit since the 1950s, Britain since the 1970s, the difference being that as a consumer you can cancel the transaction within 8 weeks, no questions asked. Why the US can't follow suit is beyond me, instead people have to hack their own workarounds with prepaid credit cards.
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reaperducer 2679 days ago
Germany has had direct debit since the 1950s, Britain since the 1970s, the difference being that as a consumer you can cancel the transaction within 8 weeks, no questions asked. Why the US can't follow suit is beyond me

In the U.S. you can cancel a transaction that you don't believe is legitimate. I did it as recently as last week and as long ago as the 90's when State Farm's auto-debit pulled $2,500 out of my bank account instead of $250. It's nothing new.

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