from Hacker News

Ask HN: How do you send money to friends?

by allbombs on 1/19/14, 12:37 AM with 16 comments

• by redtexture on 1/19/14, 3:20 AM

  • The absolutely best way: have your payees have an account with your bank and have internal-to-your-own-bank transfers. Some USA banks make this very easy.

  • Second best, bank to bank transfers of money to your trusted payee. International transfers are in a state of flux, and may after 2013 be able to avoid high fees. Not yet though.

  Otherwise:

  • Trusted payee who is sophisticated and smart: Bitcoin.

  • Trusted USA to USA party: Dwolla. See: http://Dwolla.com Dwolla only for trusted parties or individuals! Dwolla has surprisingly small cost, because they do NOT deal with credit cards. Best for others who have DWOLLA accounts, or USA to USA bank transactions or people willing and able to submit to USA law and bank regime.

  • The credit card interbank system typically has fees in the vicinity of 2% to 3% of the gross transaction. Avoid.

  • Avoid PayPal. The PayPal terms of service agreement indicates that whatever PayPal decides in a dispute, PayPal's decision is final without appeal. This in known as a contract of adhesion in the USA, where one party has all of the power. Because of this, do not use PayPal. Look up "contract of adhesion" for details.

  • Most other online services rely on the credit card interbank system with its high fees of 2% to 3% for transfers. Avoid.

  Off Topic:

  • Non-trusted parties? Don't deal with them without a letter of credit. Look up "letter of credit" for details.

• by pairing on 1/19/14, 1:27 AM

  Venmo is getting really popular. I use Venmo on a weekly basis for any shared expenses with friends or co-workers in the Bay Area.

  The reason for its quick traction is that if you hook up your checking account you can send money without any fees, and also because they give out referral bonuses for inviting others.

• by mcintyre1994 on 1/19/14, 5:33 PM

  UK here, we split our house bills and pay each other by bank transfer. No fee, as instant as your internet connection, account number/sort code pairs are safe to share and all that's needed. Europe wide there are similar id numbers that cover all banks to my knowledge, so you can do the same there.

  Free bank to bank transfers to anyone you deal with regularly seems like a completely necessary part of a useful consumer banking system to me.

• by dangrossman on 1/19/14, 2:19 AM

  Cash if we can meet in person (i.e. a collection for a shared gift or fundraiser), PayPal otherwise.

• by munimkazia on 1/20/14, 12:55 PM

  In India, we have this bank to bank transfer system called National Electronic Funds Transfer. Takes a few hours, and it can be done online if you have registered for internet banking from your bank. It is the most convenient way for us.

• by chomsky on 1/19/14, 3:04 AM

  I remit monthly to parents (and in-laws) in Australia and India from the US via Bitcoin.

  So far international wire or Western Union fees outweigh net losses due to market volatility. We'll see how that continues...

• by dolphenstein on 1/19/14, 1:28 AM

  Direct deposit into account when both of us are in Australia. Requires bank account number of recipient. Doesn't incur fees like paypal does.

• by manuel_hn on 1/19/14, 6:12 AM

  in europe we just transfer money fromany bank account to any other. this way i easily pay bills or send money to anybody i like. we have smartphone apps to do so. it seems strange to me that the us did not get so far yet.

• by eghad on 1/20/14, 5:22 AM

  Venmo was really big in my unviversity circle, but more recently Google Wallet.

• by centdev on 1/19/14, 2:38 AM

  If they are a friend, I meet up with them in person and give them cash.

• by mwmeyer on 1/19/14, 1:11 AM

  paypal until square cash became available a few months ago

• by nathancahill on 1/19/14, 1:31 AM

  Paypal, Venmo and Chase QuickPay.

• by tekknolagi on 1/19/14, 1:36 AM

  Square Cash

• by blibble on 1/19/14, 2:00 AM

  uk: bank transfer, instantaneous and free