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?
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There are a *lot* of false pretenses in this question.
>However, in the US people treat their bank account numbers like social security, they will violently oppose sharing them.
No, they won’t. People still write and use checks all over the nation, and those have both the account and routing numbers written directly on the checks.
>In internet banking the account number is starred out and only the last two/four digits are shown.
Not on any banking app I’ve ever used, all of my account numbers are proudly on display for anyone looking over my shoulder.
>Instead there are these weird “pay bills”, “move money”, “zelle”, tabs, that usually require a phone number of the recipient, or an email.
It’s just easier. I can remember a friend’s email or phone number a *lot* easier than I can remember their bank account and routing number. Hell, I can remember *my own* email address or phone number than I can remember my bank account and routing number.
As far as paying bills, I pay them directly through my bank’s app, and they send the money directly to the payee in question. All I need is the information exact same info on the payment slip, which includes the account number.
Americans can (and do in some circumstances) use direct banking anytime they so chose, but third-party apps make things a *hell* of a lot more convenient.
>Why is revealing your account number considered a security risk in the US?
As stated above, it really isn’t. There *are* people in the US that are terrified of idendity theft that they *think* it’s a security risk, but that’s more out of their own ignorance than anything else.
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