[messe]

> I don't know what it's like in Ireland, but literally every business in Austria prints their bank account number on the invoice so you can pay it. Bank account numbers are not secret. There's not much people can do with a bank account number apart from send money to it.

It's pretty much the same in Ireland, I've no idea what the other commenter thinks can be accomplished with an IBAN.

[CoUHKT57BSe]

I was never talking about what can be accomplished with an IBAN. I was only saying that the idea of a world where everyone is going around buying things in the street with bank transfers is very unlikely as it contradicts the general advice given out about not using bank transfers and giving out bank details to strangers.

Seen as you are also Irish you will appreciate this example: https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/consumer/common_consum...

Under the header 'Protect your money', the first bullet point is never use bank tranfers.

[em500]

> Under the header 'Protect your money', the first bullet point is never use bank tranfers.

The first bullet point is

"Never send money by bank transfer unless you are absolutely certain you are sending it to someone you know and trust. Sending money by bank transfer is like sending someone cash and generally, once you send it, it’s gone"

which is about paying by bank transfers, and very different from "never hand out your bank account to receive payments", which pretty much every business (that do not want the keep their proceeds off the record) does by default in many (most?) European countries.

Sure, if some stranger on the street asked for my bank account (or my name for that matter) out of the blue, I wouldn't do so. But for Craigslist type in-person sales, people here have no problem giving their bank account to receive payments. The typical fraud is here is asking for payments of to be delivered goods and subsequently not sending the promised goods, which is what I understand your link is also warning about. Because European bank payments are mostly push-type, that are largely irreversible. For direct in-person sales (such as farmers on a market), that's not an issue.

[CoUHKT57BSe]

Yes, the full bullet point is more specific, but the average joe/jane reading that is quite likely to takeaway 'Never send money by bank transfer'or maybe just simpler, 'bank transfers are dodgy'. That website is a very reputable source of information in Ireland so Irish people are going to follow it's advice. For decades a lot of information about staying safe online and avoiding scams has given the GENERAL advice to avoid bank transfers and never give out your bank details to strangers, this isn't something I've just made up today for the sake of this HN thread, it's the GENERAL advice given out by financial institutions for a long time. So a system where everyone is giving out their bank details and paying for everyday expenses with bank transfers seems pretty unlikely, even if those transfers are instant.

[ls15]

> I've no idea what the other commenter thinks can be accomplished with an IBAN.

Someone could transfer money to you and write "thanks for the plutonium" into the reference field.