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Comment by jwr | Hacker News Reader

Ok, so here's my take on most new debit card and checking account offerings.

Things I do not care about:

* points and loyalty programs * measly 2% APR * tracking my spending habits * how the card looks

Things I do care about:

* a card that works and gets accepted (no spurious declines because the bank thought so) * a card that works with Apple Pay (hi Revolut) * no nags, upsells, emojis, animated GIFs, or other teenager stuff (hi Revolut) * do not waste my time * have secure online access (as in, do not use SMS for 2-factor auth, because really) * ability to issue new cards quickly * ability to change my address quickly, even if I move to a different country * whether the company will disappear and/or steal my money (don't laugh, this happens, and recent Revolut scrutiny scares me)

In other words, I am looking for no-nonsense banking, and a debit card is just a small part of it.

This offering, unfortunately, seems to bring nothing new compared to Revolut.

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As a modest counterpoint --

Things I do care about in a debit card:

* cash back on transactions I can't put on a CC -- i.e. rent * OFX/Quicken APIs I can use to import transactions * the ability to choose a PIN rather than memorize a randomly assigned one * the ability to send money via western union to family from my house * is accepted at all retailers / Paypal / misc * does not lose my money

Things I do not care about because I have other banking products:

* high APR on cash balances

Things that are dumb:

* emoji * large spend alerts / restrictions * card customization

I'm curious what landlords accept a debit card for rent payments. I've always been required to setup an ACH/automated transfer or give a physical check (note this is in California).

My apartment's portal allows me to pay either with a debit/credit card or a bank account. I go through my bank account, as they charge a 5%(?) fee to use a card.

I've just payed my landlord over venmo this past year. It's super convenient

My landlord lets you pay with a debit card but they recently changed the convenience fee from $3 to $75 so you're now highly discouraged from it. It's porbably in general more common for large property management groups/complexes than smaller time landlords

"$3 to $75"

Can I just clarify that's not a typo? If you really don't want to offer the service that much, then don't? A $75 debit card (in)convenience fee just comes across as money grabbing, and harms their reputation.

Not a typo, it really increased from $3 to $75 (ownership of the building changed at the same time). I think it's purely a cash grab. But this city is a seller's market so they can probably get away with it. It's just a shame because the previous company that owned the building was so nice and lax about everything.

I have rentals and it’s just a switch from eating the fee to passing it along to you. This is why most landlords still require paper checks, depositing them is free.

The % based fees don’t make sense on large payments. Retailers pass it along too but it’s baked in the price.

One tip I tell everyone, ask for a cash price when getting quotes. Contractors, etc especially. You might save 3% on Fees or 30% because he’s not going to report it.

Yes tax evasion is a great deal!

Debit card fees are typically like $0.20, for any size of payment though.

Only reason I can imagine they might be hesitant is because debit cards allow a customer to dispute a transaction, which can hold up capital while the dispute is resolved, and obviously the landlord might be forced to return a rent payment or two if the credit card company sides with the letter.

I think there is still a % component in the US anyway. It’s smaller than credit, usually <1%. But brings up Another factor, in the US anyway, getting a merchant account to process debit transactions is not an straightforward thing, especially assuming It needs to be done online. Sure there’s tons of options for credit square/PayPal/etc. But even a somewhat big apartment complex has only a couple 100 monthly transactions and it’s just not worth the hassle for the landlord. No value add on our side equals no reason to change our ways. And yes, we change high fees to discourage behavior we dislike. I charge crazy high late fees because I don’t want to be a debt collector. I actually have a thing I tell ever new tenant about how I will never bother them about payments being late because I’m not a debt collector. But they can expect a eviction notice on the N day late because that’s what the state minimum requirement. My renters are never late.

With my current rent + credit card cash back percentage, I'd get more than $75 back per month. YMMV.

Ah, right. I guess the setup with my landlord is ACH, with a hefty surcharge for using a CC, and no debit options.

Noted!

This is helpful, thank you.

Point works with Apple & GPay.

You can instantly issue new virtual cards when ever you would like to.

You can update your address right from the app (2FA required).

Your balance is FDIC insured, so this isn't an issue.

Btw, Revolut isn't available in the US (yet).

> You can instantly issue new virtual cards when ever you would like to.

Is this like privacy.com? Right now I'm using that because I can get 2% cash back while still using my debit card, and for the card controls in case some service tries to charge me for something I don't want.

I'm using Simple bank because I love the UX, but when I'm using it in conjunction with Privacy, I lose some of the benefits like the auto naming and categorization of transactions.

Yes it's similar in the sense that you can issue/destroy a virtual card for online purchases as you wish.

In our case, you would be able to get 2% cashback, have virtual cards, and a digital banks with a beautiful UX (in our biased opinion).

That integration would be pretty slick, especially since the budgeting in Simple is somewhat convoluted and yours seems to be more like how Mint handles it.

What's the 2% cashback from? Privacy or your card provider?

Privacy has a new, somewhat hidden cashback program that's not really visible until you sign up. It starts at 1% but you'll get 2% for a year if you refer enough people.

https://cashback.privacy.com/

For anyone else who was wondering why SMS is insecure for 2FA:

https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/18/16328172/sms-two-factor-a...

And as always, there is a reply all episode.

https://www.gimletmedia.com/reply-all/130-lizard

Hmm, I seem to care about different things than you do. Perhaps this card is for a different market?

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