[crispinb]

> since we have many fewer banks

Australia has fewer still, with the big 5 almost entirely dominant, yet we have instant bank transfers through Osko, have had almost universal contactless in store payments for years, etc. I suspect it's more about government corruption. Governments are captured, each for its own historical reasons, by different industries. Australia by mining industries, the US by medical & finance, local governments almost everywhere by property development.

[mynameisvlad]

Adding onto this, Canada has pretty much the same amount of banks (about 5 big ones that completely dominate the industry) but unlike the US, have worked together for decades to create their own interbank network, Interac (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interac). The network handles most ATMs, direct debits, e-transfers and online transactions, and the last two I think have been available for over 10 years now. Every single debit card in Canada is Interac-branded and the network is pretty much ubiquitous for transferring money.

It blew my mind going from that to what the US has.

[crispinb]

I haven't been to the US since 2010, but at least at that point it felt like going backwards in time with respect to banking, mobile networks & any dealings I had with government agencies.