We have chip-and-nothing, or contactless, which is better than Chip-and-PIN. (Note Apple Pay and similar are basically chip-and-PIN because it's authenticated by the phone passcode.)
> And who still uses cheques these days?!
US uses them for business-to-customer payments, especially unsolicited ones, because we don't want to give random businesses we don't know our bank account numbers.
Those numbers at the bottom of a cheque? Yeah, they include your account number.
There's no inherent information risk to giving out an account number that justifies an outdated paper-based system. Especially when one considers the accompanying fraud risk thereof.
The instant I moved to Europe, I realized just how far behind consumer banking is in the US. It's pitiful.
Not in Europe it's not, which is
monodeldiablo's point: there's no inherent risk to giving out your account number. It's only the primitive US system which makes it a risk.
>> Those numbers at the bottom of a cheque? Yeah, they include your account number.
> Yes, as well as the routing number.
>> There's no inherent information risk to giving out an account number …
>Of _course_ there is. In the US, the account + routing number is sufficient to perform a ACH transfer, write checks against that account, etc.
The risk is enormous.
So… how does writing a check remove this risk then? That was the original point, that writing a check is safer than giving out your account number.
We can, but sometimes you get payments in the mail from businesses you only have an occasional relationship with.
You can pay people instantly by refunding their debit cards - that's how Uber drivers can get paid - but it's not free, which is why most transfers don't go that way.
> And who still uses cheques these days?!
US uses them for business-to-customer payments, especially unsolicited ones, because we don't want to give random businesses we don't know our bank account numbers.