[HN Gopher] Google Is Scrapping Its Plan to Offer Bank Accounts ...
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       Google Is Scrapping Its Plan to Offer Bank Accounts to Users
        
       Author : elsewhen
       Score  : 64 points
       Date   : 2021-10-02 16:22 UTC (6 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.wsj.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.wsj.com)
        
       | andrepew wrote:
       | Probably for the best with their history of customer support
       | black holes and horror stories of falsely banned accounts in all
       | their consumer products.
       | 
       | Google is one of the last companies in the world I'd trust to
       | hold my finances.
        
         | onetimemanytime wrote:
         | "Dear John Q, your Gbank account and cards linked to it, have
         | been frozen due to un-Googley activity.
         | 
         | The appeal you are thinking of submitting has also been
         | proactively denied.
         | 
         | Enjoy your vacation."
        
         | noneeeed wrote:
         | It's one of the aspects that is in my cons column as I decide
         | on a new phone. I'm waiting to see what the Pixel 6 turns out
         | like, but at the back of my mind is the knowledge that if there
         | is a problem with it I'll be shouting into the void that is
         | Google's support organisation, and I'm just not sure I want
         | that.
        
           | Thev00d00 wrote:
           | Anecdotal: Google store direct purchased hardware support has
           | been good. Responsive support and RMA process if you need it.
           | Obviously doesn't help you with your higher level account ban
           | situation.
        
         | cblconfederate wrote:
         | a google bank account would be as risky as holding
         | cryptocurrency
        
         | ffhhj wrote:
         | Recently got my Adsense account banned, but did't use it since
         | 2017, their ban system triggers randomly on any account:
         | 
         | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28628849
        
       | [deleted]
        
       | thdxr wrote:
       | With how many banking startups that are showing up with fairly
       | polished products, Google really reminding us how much they
       | struggle to execute on anything
        
       | angelzen wrote:
       | Your bank account was suspended because the algorithm deemed one
       | of your youtube comments as misinformation.
       | 
       | Edit: Touching a nerve, eh?
        
       | imchillyb wrote:
       | The only entities on the planet that thought Google Bank Accounts
       | was a good idea, are Google and the US' 3 letter organizations.
       | 
       | Everyone else on earth wouldn't trust google with their finances
       | even if Google were the last finance company on the planet.
       | 
       | Their history of interactions between themselves and citizens is
       | abysmal. Their history of keeping products updated or even alive,
       | is abysmal. Their history of making anti-human changes to their
       | product to serve ads to those humans, is abysmal.
       | 
       | Google is an abysmal company, that does abominable things.
       | 
       | Who trusts Google? Not even Google trusts Google...
        
         | prirai wrote:
         | The sad thing is that many trust Google. It's not me though.
        
       | noneeeed wrote:
       | Does Google actually _have_ senior management? It just all seems
       | to be random teams running around chucking ideas around and then
       | sodding off after they 've screwed it up. The place just seems to
       | be in disarray at the top levels.
        
         | alanlammiman wrote:
         | well afaik the founders havent spoken or written publicly for
         | years...
        
         | [deleted]
        
       | jsnell wrote:
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28720411
        
       | hoppyhoppy2 wrote:
       | See also
       | 
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28720411
       | 
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28720197
        
       | notyourwork wrote:
       | With their willingness to kill products, my bank account is far
       | from ever to be something I would slap the G brand on.
        
         | AlbertCory wrote:
         | Similar to getting my prescriptions from Amazon. No thanks.
        
           | kwertyoowiyop wrote:
           | Just wait until Facebook opens a pharmacy!
        
           | hellbannedguy wrote:
           | I would go with Amazon because I pay out of pocket assuming a
           | lower price.
           | 
           | My two drugs are not covered by Amazon though.
           | 
           | I'm for any company that wants to reduce our reduculiously
           | priced American drugs.
           | 
           | I have paid cash for my meds for years. Costs between
           | pharmacies vary a lot. CVS charged me 50% more than Costco.
        
           | hn_throwaway_99 wrote:
           | Was this serious or satire? If you wouldn't get prescriptions
           | from Amazon, why not?
        
             | dgfitz wrote:
             | I think a lot of people complain of knockoffs. I know my
             | wife has ordered a very specific brand of prenatal vitamins
             | off amazon once and got a knockoff.
        
               | blondin wrote:
               | from the brand storefront?
               | 
               | been wondering why people buy from random sellers and yet
               | have a high expectation of them. or to put it another
               | way: would the situation be the same when buying on ebay?
               | 
               | when i buy from a random seller on amazon, i have a low
               | expectation of them. and i return items when not
               | satisfied.
        
               | dgfitz wrote:
               | As Uw7yTcf36gTc said below, buying from the storefront is
               | misleading. Your response seems unnecessarily combative.
        
               | kayodelycaon wrote:
               | If this hasn't changed, Amazon combines the inventory of
               | different sellers. Even if you buy from a particular
               | seller, you may get something from a different seller
               | that may be a knockoff.
        
               | Uw7yTcf36gTc wrote:
               | If it's the same "SKU" they get commingled. Regardless of
               | seller. You may think you are buying from a specific
               | seller but you are not. All the same products are
               | comingled.
        
             | silisili wrote:
             | Not OP, but I probably wouldn't either. Mainly because I
             | shop on Amazon, and don't want that data harvested and
             | shoved in my face.
             | 
             | AMZ already does "helpful" things like recommend pants
             | extenders when you buy a size down then a size up.
             | 
             | I'd hate to see what they recommend based on prescriptions,
             | especially since many medications have wildly different use
             | cases. If AMZ filled my prescriptions, they'd assume I'm an
             | asthmatic with hives, neither of which are true.
        
             | dralley wrote:
             | Because Amazon has demonstrated little willingness to deal
             | with their counterfeit problems, which extend beyond
             | electronics and oven mitts to things like supplements and
             | consumables.
             | 
             | The cavalier way they treat their supply chains gives me
             | absolutely no confidence that they will treat prescriptions
             | with the proper respect.
        
               | notyourwork wrote:
               | I don't think Amazon is co-mingling RX like they do with
               | FBA.
        
               | Dylan16807 wrote:
               | That's a big fat "maybe" and "yet". I wouldn't easily
               | trust it.
        
               | notyourwork wrote:
               | It's really not.
        
               | Dylan16807 wrote:
               | Amazon partnering with existing pharmacies seems like a
               | very plausible step to me. Amazon storing inventory from
               | those pharmacies in a single location also sounds like a
               | plausible step to me. And then that's comingling that
               | requires me to trust the absolute worst partner. With
               | good reason to worry that these invisible companies might
               | not have the best standards.
               | 
               | Which step do you think isn't plausible?
               | 
               | And I'm not saying I won't trust it, I'm saying I'd have
               | to research it more and keep extra vigilant for any
               | changes.
        
         | kf6nux wrote:
         | Their history of shoot first ask questions later would be
         | concerning as well. (Regarding locking people out of their
         | Google accounts.)
         | 
         | While I'm sure your bank could lock you out as well, you
         | basically never hear about it. But with Google, there have been
         | multiple high profile lockouts that show both 1) it can happen
         | to anyone, and 2) getting access restored is slow, difficult,
         | and not always successful. That's not the behavior that makes
         | people feel like their money is safe.
        
           | jeffbee wrote:
           | My credit card issuer locked out my Visa after I bought some
           | clothes from a French web site. They didn't notify me and I
           | didn't find out until my card was declined at a restaurant,
           | which was fairly embarrassing.
           | 
           | People get locked out of their financial accounts all the
           | time and despite persistent rumors to the contrary, it is
           | _way_ more likely that your bank or credit network is using a
           | blackbox AI to do it, with a shit vendor like Feedzai.
        
             | zeusk wrote:
             | And with cards, you're a call away from unlocking it or
             | getting a replacement overnight shipped to you.
             | 
             | Good luck getting to speak to a human at Google. And when
             | you do find one, they'll tell you they can't overturn the
             | dumbass AI.
        
               | jeffbee wrote:
               | I actually get phone support with Google for the rather
               | reasonable price of $1.99 per month, with Google One.
        
             | Nicksil wrote:
             | >My credit card issuer locked out my Visa after I bought
             | some clothes from a French web site. They didn't notify me
             | and I didn't find out until my card was declined at a
             | restaurant, which was fairly embarrassing.
             | 
             | >People get locked out of their financial accounts all the
             | time and despite persistent rumors to the contrary, it is
             | way more likely that your bank or credit network is using a
             | blackbox AI to do it, with a shit vendor like Feedzai.
             | 
             | That's not being locked out of your account. You weren't
             | able to charge but, should you have had the need, you would
             | have been able to log in to your Visa account online to
             | diagnose the issue. You would have also been able to dial a
             | number or email for support. With Google, you are indeed
             | locked out of your account and every other account you
             | authenticated with using your Google account. There is no
             | phone number or email address. There is no support. The
             | scenario you bring up pales in comparison to Google's
             | behavior.
        
               | [deleted]
        
             | CogitoCogito wrote:
             | Google regularly issues permanent bans without explanation
             | or recourse. That isn't remotely comparable to temporary
             | lockout that causes you some embarrassment.
        
             | antonvs wrote:
             | When that happens, I get a text message from my bank and
             | all I have to do is reply "yes" to confirm the transaction
             | was valid and re-enable the card. Even if your bank doesn't
             | offer that convenience, the worst case is you call then and
             | they fix it.
             | 
             | This is in no way similar to the account lockout behavior
             | being discussed in the Google context, where Google is
             | making irreversible decisions that you have little to no
             | input or insight into.
        
           | amelius wrote:
           | Sounds like PayPal.
           | 
           | https://paypalsucks.org/paypal-frozen-accounts.shtml
        
       | dredmorbius wrote:
       | https://archive.is/iIrQF
        
       | ckdarby wrote:
       | They should just buy Wise
        
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       (page generated 2021-10-02 23:01 UTC)