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Comment by Gys | Hacker News Reader

A similar disruptive bank started in the Netherlands this week. Its a real bank accessible by app only: https://www.bunq.com/

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Can they issue new money via debt? If no then it won't disrupt much.

No, they (currently) do not allow debt. Why is specifically debt related to disrupting ?

Issuing loans is how banks make money.

Its indeed unclear how they will make money. For now they are financed. Last I heard there is big money to be made from data as well ;-)

The plans are big so we have to see.

Well, they also make money from fees. Especially, in the US, check-card swipe fees (invisible to the casual user since they're assessed on the merchant).

Coming from the finance world here... Maybe the problem here is more how money is a societal construct, not a technological one, even though it can be represented technologically. With all due respect, people like Marc Andreessen seem to think that the constraint here is a technological one, when the technology to do a lot of what they're talking about has been around a long time. It's that, for non-tech related reasons, people prefer things working a certain way.

I can see things like blockchains improving back office settlements and clearing, sure, but... whatever?

Disrupting the actual financial system is nothing short of disrupting how society who gets what, and what gets done. This is not a technological problem you're dealing with.

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