In Europe “everyone” uses bank account numbers to move money.
* Friend owes you $20? Here’s my account number, send me the money.
* Ecommerce vendor charges extra for card payment? Send money to their account number.
* Pay rent? Here’s the bank number.
However, in the US people treat their bank account numbers like social security, they will violently oppose sharing them. In internet banking the account number is starred out and only the last two/four digits are shown. Instead there are these weird “pay bills”, “move money”, “zelle”, tabs, that usually require a phone number of the recipient, or an email. But that is still one additional layer of complexity deeper than necessary.
Why is revealing your account number considered a security risk in the US?
In: Other
American bank accounts do not have separate numbers for deposits and withdrawals, and if you’re going between banks there are often multi-day delays in getting funds moved over.
For peer-to-peer transfers, it’s much safer and faster to go through a third party app like Venmo, Cash App, Apple Pay, PayPal, or Zelle. And, there’s a much smaller chance of errors, because you can either look them up by a memorable name/number or you can scan a QR code to make sure you’re paying the right account.
We do have autopay for recurring charges like rent and utilities. Most big landlords and utilities will have websites where you can put in your account information and set up how and when you want it to be pulled, or you can use a “bill pay” feature in most bank accounts to push funds. I use autopay for *everything.*
The one thing that is VERY rare is credit card transaction fees on top of your purchase total. Some places give a discount if you pay in cash, but I have never seen a place give a discount online for paying by ACH (which stands for Automated Clearing House — the system that handles direct bank transfers).
Latest Answers