payment processors like Visa, MC, etc., really shouldn't exist
Agreed. When it's cheaper for a large company to do checks (physical or ACH) then we can pretty much assume that putting electronic money in the hands of for-profit entities like Visa and MasterCard is a real mistake. The cost of a credit card transaction is too damn high.
I will grant that a (US) government agency is cumbersome and inefficient and risible, but putting that amount of control in private entities is a mistake on many levels.
Payment processors are a cartel. I'm not from the US, and no other processors have really come up. It's basically an underlying tax on all products -- as much as I don't agree with the rest of parents post -- it really is absurd such simple tech isn't done by the government. It would be like delegating private presses for the dollar and in turn giving them a huge fee for bank deposits.
Not only checks, but the hallmark of irony in this is we still use paper money. It should be a lot cheaper and simpler to move bits!
It all goes to funding those cartels, and most of their spending is not to improve service but maintain the absurdity.
Agreed. When it's cheaper for a large company to do checks (physical or ACH) then we can pretty much assume that putting electronic money in the hands of for-profit entities like Visa and MasterCard is a real mistake. The cost of a credit card transaction is too damn high.
I will grant that a (US) government agency is cumbersome and inefficient and risible, but putting that amount of control in private entities is a mistake on many levels.