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Comment by eddd-ddde | Hacker News Reader

That is so weird. What is there to set-up about deposit? Can't they just input your account number and send you your money?

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It’s even easier to do it the way described. The banks are printing and mailing and processing the checks, which they can do with high efficiency. From the payor’s pov, it’s easier not to worry about tracking account numbers and just using the address which they already know.

And the payee doesn’t need to share their bank info.

Surely a check takes longer, right? "Printing, mailing and processing" doesn't quite scream efficiency to me.

It does. The US banking system is still predicated on paper checks, however, and efforts to change that face considerable inertia. There have been posts on HN explaining how (insanely) it all works.

ACH takes days to weeks to clear anyway, especially if new sender or large amounts = untrusted. There is no real exception handling so you are given the amount on credit.

https://engineering.gusto.com/how-ach-works-a-developer-pers...

(From parent) > And the payee doesn’t need to share their bank info.

And this is a US concept where having the magic numbers lets you pull any amount you want, with no ability to have a "push only" number...

> From the payor’s pov, it’s easier not to worry about tracking account numbers and just using the address which they already know.

The account number is on the invoice..

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