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Comment by mavidser | Hacker News Reader

Exactly. I always imagined a future where there would be an oAuth scopes like gateway for banks. Something like -

This website requires the following permission:

    [x] Monthly recurring payments of $20
        [o] Automatically get the payments
        [ ] Send me the link to deposit every month

    > Proceed
    > Cancel

Life would have been so simpler then (Obviously I haven't thought this through completely, but something similar to this with proper security would be far superior than our current model of Name + Credit card number + CVV).

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Well, this is a thing in the EU.

You usually pay via SEPA recurring transfers, and just authorize a company to take $n money monthly (and can easily revoke).

Or you set up an automated recurring transaction to transmit that much money.

Or you allow a company to take just any amount, at any time, but you can revoke each transfer.

This last is how you usually connect debit cards, credit cards, Amazon, PayPal, to your account.

I developed a serious allergy to what were called "debit orders" when I used to live outside the USA many years ago. You would sign a form to allow the merchant to debit your bank account every month for (say) a subscription.

Cancellation was theoretically possible by calling or mailing the merchant, but too many times, an extra payment (or two, or three...) went through and it was hell to get the money back. The banks were not much help - you would have to try to get the debit reversed, and it was no fun.

I think I had a few similar experiences here in the USA, but I can't recall specifics. Now I pay everything in "push" mode via online banking, as silly as that may seem.

I hope things like SEPA work better at revocation than what I experienced back in the day!

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