ACH debits are now enabled 🚀

Today I have successfully linked Monzo account with Venmo :+1:

Are we able to wire back and forth internationally without having to go through a service like transferwise?

Nope. Currently, we can do transfers within US bank accounts.

That’s a typical scenario if you have an established history with your bank. Also, most banks use EWS now and can see if there is anything on file to show your risk matrix percentage. Normally as a new customer you would receive $200 either immediately or the next billing day. The rest would then be set to clear 2-7 business days after. Typically if you need the funds faster you can call your bank to do a funds verification where they can call the other bank to verify funds.

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For the uninitiated (or British) folk amongst us, what’s EWS, please? :pray:

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https://earlywarning.com/

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It’s early warning services. It’s an agency that was founded by a few major banks and tech office to establish consumer banking histories and fraud risk. More and more institutions are using EWS as an intermediary to establish whether payments are fraudulent, checks are good, consumers financial and risk associations. It’s super effective - similar to CIFAS but it’s super secret and getting a consumer report requires mail in or phone call. Also now most banks have EWS offices so if there is an suspicion your account is suspended and you are forwarded to them. It also prevents you from being able to open an account, etc. - if you have a negative file with them.

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Thanks for taking the time to explain that - super interesting!

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It’s actually super interesting. It was necessary to enact in order for The US financial sector and fed to allow for RTP and other payment services like zelle and visa instant transfers. I think a lot of people are suspicious of them but overall I think it’s good for the financial industry.

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That is interesting - do you know why it was thought that it was necessary to enable real time payments?

I think the assumption is that RTP risk and loss would be eliminated with an organization like EWS. If you can tag consumer banking habits and then flag a consumer who has a previous issue for further review, this would help prevent loss. Do you have any thoughts on this?

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I mean, yes - RTP is done through clearing house but I’m assuming they also use other organizations like them as an intermediary and or processor.

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I think it’s a super interesting subject.

In the UK instantaneous bank to bank transfer is normal (we call it faster payments).

But this does lead to downsides There’s been a lot of press about what’s called authorised push payment (or APP) fraud - that’s when someone is convinced to authorise the movement of money elsewhere for “safety” (but which actually goes to fraudsters).

This got to the point last year where the were calls to add friction to faster payments so that they are not immediate.

So it’s interesting that the US is mindful of fraud from the get go (although I assume they’ve had the luxury of watching what’s happened in the rest of the world!) But I do wonder if this is less about the type of fraud we see in the UK and more about reducing risk for third parties (like PayPal) who might have otherwise found themselves on the hook? :thinking:

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FP can still be stopped by issuing bank, no? I know my revolut account has had a few secondary verification delays and Barclays did something similar once.

I am not sure if I am 100% accurate in my previous statement but it’s worth debating and discussing the process.

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Banks can do checks before they authorise payment, but when it’s gone it’s gone. I had a rubbish call with the Halifax a few months ago where they were ostensibly doing fraud checks but, to me at least, it seemed like they had a problem with Monzo rather than anything else. I understand that sometimes they need to perform checks, but their attitude lost them a customer :man_shrugging:

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I used to live right in TCR in London and that massive Halifax Bank on the corner of new oxford was nuts. I always stuck with HSBC, Barclays, Monzo, and Revolut.

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I have successfully linked my Square payment processor to Monzo. Just did a trial deposit in and out. I’m not on PayPal so know nothing about the progress there, but ACH works with Square.

Hi Thor, I tried to link CashApp to Monzo just now. I keep getting “Invalid Account Number” error message.

I’m not familiar with CashApp but ACH works on Square’s payment gateway. 0.01 USD deposited and 0.01 USD returned 09:08 this morning. I have Square as one of the payment gateways on two e-commerce stores.

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For reference, CashApp is Square’s person-to-person payment platform. You link your CashApp to your bank account and you can send money to other CashApp users instantly. You can even get a CashApp debit card so that any money you receive from other CashApp users you can just spend (with cash rewards at certain shops) or withdraw as physical cash.

Then again, it’s not exactly unusual for two parts of the same company to act differently- for example, Venmo is PayPal’s person-to-person payment platform (because PayPal isn’t already…? but that’s a whole separate topic) and links to Monzo fine. PayPal itself, not yet.

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