, Columnist
Venmo and Zelle May Not Be Free for Much Longer
Popular payment services are as convenient for fraudsters as they are for you.
Convenient for fraudsters.
Source: Bloomberg
With new technologies come new rules governing how they are used. Often, policy is framed via analogy: Are social media platforms publishers or are they town squares? Are instant messages water-cooler chatter or are they formal communication?
So it is with peer-to-peer electronic payments. Last week a US Senate committee joined the debate over whether they’re analogous to cash or to bank-payment channels. It’s an essential distinction -- for both consumers and the companies that provide this free service.