Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

There are only two payment networks (when you go all the way down), namely the one backed by Visa and the one backed by Mastercard. These two companies are fundamentally creditcard companies, which are a predatory instruments meant to lure people into spending more than they can really afford.

Even if you want to put predatory lending practices that are at the very heart of those networks aside (why would you, but hypothetically) you are left with networks that disproportionately disadvantage certain classes of people: a good example is sex workers, it being the case that these networks are managed inside the US they are fundamentally puritanical. Usually these arguments are couched in environmental euphemisms such as "there is higher risk". These measures are proxied into networks that run on top of the lowest network, but they are positively stimulated to keep them that way.

If those things don't bother you, you may be swayed by the fact that they're both based inside the US. Broadly speaking, we don't need to get into why that is an entity that tends to spread suffering around.



Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: