I'm continually amazed at how anyone can pull money from someone else's bank account in the US just from knowing their account and routing numbers — and they're on every check.
I guess as the reserve currency you can get away with it. Also the fact that they don't use IBAN which would make things so much easier when wiring money. Instead you have to go looking for SWIFT codes and have intermediaries taking a piece.
That, and the whole "tipping" thing. Completely insane.