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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Your entire question is flawed to begin with. Nowhere near “everyone” in Europe uses bank numbers to move money. I’m Swedish, and I haven’t used a bank number to move money for years and years. In fact, if someone asked me to use that here, I’d simply say no. It’s subject to bank day delays and vulnerable to certain scams, while other methods that are easier. We have an app called Swish that lets you send money to any other user of Swish, regardless of bank etc, with no exchange of bank numbers.
I strongly disagree that giving someone your phone number is “one additional layer of complexity deeper than necessary”. Why should I give out my bank number when I can simply give them my *phone number,* which most of them likely have already through either being friends, or from contact for a direct transaction of some kind.
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