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  • Thank you for this information! It sounds very unsafe as people can obtain my routing number and account number relatively easily. I am surprised it is the way it works today. Commented yesterday
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    The safety for the customer comes in your ability to say "that transaction was a forgery" and be repaid. The safety for the bank comes in the ability to drag back the money, leaving the other bank to try to drag it back in turn, and from their ability to take action if they think you are abusing the system to cancel legitimate transactions. Very similar, in fact, to how chargebacks work with credit cards. It isn't a perfect solution, but it works well enough for banks to offer the service. Engineering, not science; recognize the failure modes and design to be able to operate despite them. Commented yesterday
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    @Zuriel people can also rob banks. But laws are in place to protect customers from fraud and criminals. You have recourse, and in this case - fairly straightforward. Commented yesterday
  • @keshlam, yes, I did not lose money; all it costs me are inconveniences (calling the customer service, closing and opening a bank account, updating my bank information to other people, etc.) It seems to be reasonable to request my approval (such as sending a text message to me) when such a withdrawal is requested. Commented yesterday
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    Some banks will let you set a threshold above which they will immediately inform you of a transaction; some will let you set a threshold of above which they will want confirmation. Shop around, if this is important to you. (I have the former at my credit union; I have not investigated the latter.) Commented yesterday