For most of the "banked" in the US, doesn't Zelle cover all that for transfers within the US?
I thought stellar was similar to what the parent comment describes, but it’s also not proof of work (which makes need for blockchain unclear).
For all intents and purposes, Zelle is the bank software, and it’s free. Zelle is backed by a bunch of banks - the majority of US checking accounts have access to use it at no cost.
Not sure how interesting Keybase is now, but it does allow sending money to other Keybase users directly through chat.²
From a user point of view, it doesn't look like an additional service.
Zelle doesn’t feel as convenient as regular bank transfers in Europe or UK. Some problems I experienced:
- You have to sign up separately. There’s no guarantee a recipient has enabled it.
- It’s tied to an email address for some reason. (Euro/UK bank transfers just use the regular IBAN.)
- There was a long delay in receiving and sending money when one of the Zelle accounts was new. (My transaction was stuck for at least 24h in a “pending” state.)
- The daily transaction limits are very low. My NYC rent doesn’t fit even in two Zelle payments! (In Europe, the standard limit for an instant SEPA bank transfer is 100k, and it costs nearly nothing.)
For these reasons Zelle feels very unbaked, and doesn’t replace a proper interbank fast payment system like SEPA in Eurozone.