
Payments is not a consumer product - young_one
https://medium.com/@ankurrsharma/payments-is-not-a-consumer-product-53436400ffef
======
tzs
> In 2018, you can quickly tap Zomato and use its tremendous compendium of
> information to browse through what the top 500 restaurants are, filter it
> down to 20 by how much time you’re willing to travel, the money you’re
> willing to spend, and what other people like you say about a place ...

> In 1990, you wouldn’t have heard about it unless you stumbled by during a
> drive, or someone went out of his or her way to tell you

On the other hand, in 1990, people actually frequently hung out physically
with other people who were like them. If the restaurant was good, they would
eventually hear about it from one of those people--but not by anyone going out
of their way to mention it, but rather simply in the casual conversations
people had with friends back then.

I think it is the shift many have made to interacting more online and less in
person that makes things like Zomato almost necessary.

I personally realized how much of my socializing is online when my car dealer
called to urge me to get an airbag recall handled. I got the driver side
airbag recall dealt with promptly when it was announced, but this one is just
for the passenger airbag. I told them I was waiting until the next scheduled
maintenance, because it has been 10 years since I've had a passenger in my
car, so it is not really urgent.

~~~
pimlottc
> or someone went out of his or her way to tell you

The language of the copy is pretty telling... “out of their way”? People talk
about what they did _all the time_, it’s what people do when they get
together.

~~~
imustbeevil
You can't search and filter through "dude you have to check out this Lao
place".

The internet has way more, better, dynamic information than any group of
humans can manage independently. Humans are terrible at recommendations.

------
Twisell
At some point I was waiting for something along the line of the optimal
solution is no payement, the optimal solution is an upgraded concept of
communism...

But it ended up being yet another solution that does the same thing better
than existing product and promise to reduce friction... while actually adding
a lot because friction to switch to a brand new system is enormous.

~~~
visarga
It started as a critique piece and ended as an ad. I feel somewhat cheated,
bait and switch.

------
mavidser
Didn't you miss two steps - Go to cart, Pick 'Simpl' payment method.

Also - it's basically reinventing the wheel to be similar to how credit cards
in the US work, linked to your email/phone instead of a card. (Not dissing the
product, though. I do use, and prefer Simpl when it's available).

But honestly, I'm still waiting for a proper payment system which behaves in a
responsible manner while giving me a great deal of control and security.

Using credit cards for online payments is kind of ridiculous. I literally have
to take pics of both sides to skim you off. Moving liability to the banks is
not an ideal solution. The Indian way of OTPs on every transaction, I agree,
has too much friction.

Why isn't there a oauth-like permission based system yet? Where I can
authorize recurring payments of fixed/variable amounts, authorize one-time
payments, etc, and manage all these merchant at one place? Today, if I have to
block a company from charging me, either I go to their website, or get in a
long and unfruitful call with my bank.

~~~
guitarbill
> Moving liability to the banks is not an ideal solution.

Why not? It works pretty well in many countries.

Chip-and-pin credit cards work fine in practice, which is why they haven't
been replaced. The only thing better is credit cards with contactless payment,
which happens to be at that sweet spot where the tech benefits banks (less
liability) and consumers (quicker).

I'll use a credit card over some shitty app any day.

> Why isn't there a oauth-like permission based system yet? Where I can
> authorize recurring payments of fixed/variable amounts, authorize one-time
> payments, etc, and manage all these merchant at one place?

Erm, in many countries you can, see direct debit. Again, solved problem. If
your economy or banking system is fucked, that's a different problem, and tech
may not be the answer.

~~~
ianai
Actually, tech may be a fine solution in such failed government situations.
But, it might take actual decentralized networks to make it really usable.

------
bschwindHN
This is just a thinly veiled advertisement for another payment platform.

------
ungzd
> The correct answer is zero. > Payments should be invisible.

And should be without user consent. It would be the best mobile-first UX. This
technology should be called _algorithmic payments_!

~~~
rodorgas
We should use machine learning to detect if the user want to pay something or
not!

~~~
TeMPOraL

      userWantsToPay : function(user) {
        //doDeepLearningMagic(user);
        return true;
      }

~~~
candiodari
Looks like a fantastic improvement over the current internet

    
    
      void website() {
        if (userWantsToPay()) {
          charge_more();
        }
        show_obnoxious_ad_that_calls_the_same_website_function();
      }

------
friedButter
So, this is somewhat misleading (or I didnt read the full thing)

* Uber already allows you to pay by cash or use a credit card and put in the OTP after your trip

* The PayTM concept is largely due to a discrepancy in regulations, money can be debited from my PayTM account w/o an OTP, but my credit card cannot be charged without an OTP due to regulations

------
thisisit
The example is a bit convoluted. Uber allows you to pay after the ride. I do
it most of the time.

There is also an option of paying via cash. I will be surprised if Mumbai
airport dint have any options to withdraw cash from an ATM.

Additionally, Paytm has seen people's money disappear from their wallets left
and right. And now requires OTP if it detects that the login is from an
unknown location. This secures people from getting hacked. Indian banks also
do the same. I agree it can be a pain but sometimes security and comfort don't
really align well.

------
erikb
Well, Paypal and Wechat proof the opposite. Easy, small transactions are very
well a high demand product. And even if you can't make money with it directly,
you can still use to drive demand and track users in whatever other service
you have. E.g. as insurance company I'd be really interested in that kind of
data. E.g. as Amazon I'd be very interested in that ease-of-use sale platform.

------
tangoalpha
Uber in India doesn't require you to key in otp or authorize the payment
before the trip. The whole post is based on this false premise.

Or just link your Uber to paytm and preload $100. You won't have to worry
about cab payments all through your whole trip.

------
deadbunny
Off topic but what on earth is with the incorrect comma placement in the
numbers?

> 3,64,000 potential transactions could have taken place; only 2,18,400
> actually did.

~~~
abricot
That's how they do in India.

~~~
deadbunny
Well TIL, thanks!

------
simula67
> This is how you end up with American payment networks like Visa and
> Mastercard companies charging upto 3%; customers have no chance of
> negotiating a better deal because they have nowhere else to go

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RuPay](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RuPay)

~~~
vertex-four
The thing is - and I don’t know how this is in India - cards often have
rewards programs funded off that 3%, and you don’t usually get a discount for
paying in cash. So if you pay in cash or “cheaper” payment options, you’re
actually just paying more money to the supermarket than if you used a card and
got some of that 3% back.

~~~
Finnucane
I'm okay with the market keeping the money than MC/VISA getting it. Here's the
thing: I want the market to make money and stay open so I can keep shopping
there. I don't care if MC goes up in flames.

~~~
vertex-four
The point is that the market has already raised prices 3% on the assumption
that their customers will be able to afford it because they’re getting some
portion of that cut back in rewards - the only situation where this doesn’t
work is where many of their customers don’t use rewards cards.

------
ravivyas
If PayTM allows a user to go into negative balance upto a certain limit, the
premise for the post no longer exists.

No product is perfect, as basing your product on a missing feature of another
is a massive risk.

------
kenrick95
So, this is PayPal?

~~~
some_account
PayPal is the worst, always use other options before PayPal. Just Google
people's experiences with them.

~~~
Groxx
So, this is PayPal, but without the other stuff PayPal is notorious for, which
has nothing to do with "press button, buy thing" and everything to do with
"their customer support when things go wrong, on either side of the exchange,
is garbage"?

