Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by JumpCrisscross 1340 days ago
> Regular financial infrastructure requires maybe a few weeks or months or years for a reasonably irreversible transaction

TIL wires take years, not minutes.

1 comments

Rather, today you learn that wire transfers are not irreversible.

> there are extenuating circumstances, which qualify you for a wire transfer reversal. These special circumstances are as follows:

* Your bank made a mistake with the recipient’s account number.

* The amount of money the recipient received is more than you intended to send.

* The wire transfer was a duplicate.

https://wise.com/us/blog/can-a-wire-transfer-be-reversed

> today you learn that wire transfers are not irreversible

Nope. Reversing wires on bank error requires both sides’ consent. (Some wire agreements have you authorise the bank to do this on your behalf.) Less a reversal than sending a counterbalancing wire. Even this is only possible for minutes to a day.

Beyond that, e.g. in cases of fraud, law enforcement must freeze and seize.

Your second paragraph proves their point. A court can compel the wire to be reversed.