Mrs WSep 6, 2023
Dendan Setia (Nins)

for good or for ill, the actual innovations in consumer-facing #banking and #finance are not happening in the US, even as it holds the cultural centre position so once a scam can get launched there eg crypto everyone will have to think about it (eg central banks having to produce position papers etc). only in this year americans will actually begin to understand, en masse, what other ppl mean when we said "electronic bank transfers", and no we don't mean the janky thing most places moved away from in the last 2 decades where you actually have to wait 2 or more business days for a transaction to clear.

why i'm bringing this up? if you have at all any interest in politics ESPECIALLY left-wing politics while we're still in a fiat currency system, you better pay attention. if you still think things like agent banking, mobile money, instant transfers, savings groups (or formalized tontines/kutu), funeral insurance covers, are odd or 'new', you better start reading up. #GlobalSouth

Sep 6, 2023 at 4:12amWeb
Show threadDendan Setia (Nins)Sep 6, 2023
you want to worry about crypto? i guess if you're in el salvador, you gotta. but central banks outside usa are seriously investing in cross-border transfers without third party service (like visa or mastercard or paypal or stripe or or or or). The Bahamas piloted a digital currency (sand dollars) - central bank digital currencies are happening even with zuck's libra now being dust. PAY ATTENTION.
Show threadDendan Setia (Nins)Sep 6, 2023

We're talking about things that the current western progressive politics didn't even think have been possible. Like moveable assets being legitimate sources for collateral (instead of stuff like land). There're both upsides and downsides but if we're ceding intellectual ground because we're not prepared to handle this, that's on us.

ETA: my central bank used satellite imaging (GIS mapping) to determine areas with low ratio of ATMs. Think thru the implications of *that*.

Show threadDendan Setia (Nins)Sep 6, 2023
And yet, the non-state dominant funders in policy work here include Gates, Citi, Mastercard... Wake up!!!
Show threadAdrianna TanSep 6, 2023
@cendawanita I can send more money from Singapore to every country in the world in less time (as in instant or next day) than it takes for me send myself money from one bank to another in the U.S.!
Show threadDendan Setia (Nins)Sep 6, 2023
@skinnylatte this is still genuinely shocking to me
Show threadMrs WSep 6, 2023
@skinnylatte @cendawanita When I moved back here from Europe I couldn’t believe how primitive the US is on bank transfers. And it hasn’t gotten better since I moved 6 yes ago. The worst is that Americans just don’t care if things are done better in other countries. Other countries just don’t count.
Show threadTom ForsythSep 6, 2023
@bracing @skinnylatte @cendawanita A significant number of the "computer" transactions are still done by printing out a check and physically mailing it to the other party. WTF!
Show threadDendan Setia (Nins)Sep 6, 2023
@TomF
i think i was tempted to do a dramatic fainting the day i found out about this (last year!!)
@bracing @skinnylatte
Show threadDendan Setia (Nins)Sep 6, 2023
@bracing
unfortunately true, but selfishly i just want enough people to wake up, because this field is currently too dominated by capitalist thought but a lot of these measures can be empowering but the "thought leaders" (i say this ironically) are too unaware to even begin thinking about it. haaaaaihhhh
@skinnylatte
Show threadNeonSep 6, 2023
@cendawanita /stares sadly at my own bank app... which has working hours for transfers/
Show threadDendan Setia (Nins)Sep 6, 2023
@geraineon ????
Show threadNeonSep 6, 2023
@cendawanita my bank has an app. but if i try to pay my credit card bill after hours, it doesn't go through. funny, isn't it?
Show threadDendan Setia (Nins)Sep 6, 2023
@geraineon ...jfc
Show threadNeonSep 6, 2023
@cendawanita banking in U.S. is always an unexpected (negative) surprise~
Show threadMunkaoSep 6, 2023

@cendawanita Genuine question cos slow and not well read in this.
But what does this have to do with leftist politics and fiat currency?

I know I appreciate Payoneer, Wise, Stripe, Singapore's banking very much.

Show threadDendan Setia (Nins)Sep 6, 2023

@Munkao off the top of my head, you can already see the tension between convenience vs privacy/surveillance state. Cash is fungible and for the most part untraceable until needed. What happens when it's digital cash instead, or your e-wallets? A lot of these technical innovations are happening in jurisdictions with poor application of civic rights and human rights in general. That's already one danger.

second: if you can put up your livestock as collateral, what if they died in famine? what's the financing protection there? if the intellectual work is left ignored, i can then expect regulations will prioritise banks' risk profiles.

third: think about all the e-wallets kyc with scanning your face for authorisation. think of our data protection situation.

but ultimately, all this tech can be a good thing or a step towards a good thing. for too long, capital is free to move if you have institutional weight. now how to ensure this franchisement occurs with your rights safeguarded?

Show threadMunkaoSep 6, 2023
@cendawanita ooooh. okay. will have to take a while to digest all that too.
Also just realized you had typed more comments in the thread already wan. :D
Show threadDendan Setia (Nins)Sep 6, 2023
@Munkao biasalah datang ilham ahahahaha