this post was submitted on 25 May 2025
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GNU Taler (a swiss FLOSS alternative to Visa, Mastercard and Paypal) begins operating in Switzerland as Version 1.0 releases (news.itsfoss.com)
submitted 6 days ago by TheTwelveYearOld@lemmy.world to c/linux@lemmy.ml
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GNU Taler begins operating in Switzerland, distributed by the Taler Operations AG. Gnu Taler aims to be a “digital wallet” and has been used by the swiss national bank as well as the european national bank as a example for how a digital currency handed out by the state could work. It aims to be as privacy preserving as cash for the buyer while not allowing the seller to evade taxes.

Currently the Taler is brought out by a special organisation, the “Taler Operations AG”, and not the national bank, although both the national bank as well as the Taler Team have shown interest in a official digial currency by the national bank based on the Taler. But we need to relativate as the national council has stated that the introduction of a digital currency would probably take relatively major legislative changes and therefore take a bit of time.

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[–] Ulrich@feddit.org 1 points 6 days ago (2 children)

Sounds a lot like Zelle.

[–] TheGreatSnacku@lemm.ee 38 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Yup but Zelle is proprietary. I think an open source payment system could reduce transaction fees quite a bit.

[–] Ulrich@feddit.org 9 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Zelle does not have any transaction fees.

[–] jagged_circle@feddit.nl 1 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I highly doubt that. Even if you don't pay it, someone does.

[–] xnx@slrpnk.net 2 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Its moving money from bank account to bank account. No fees no matter what bank you use

[–] jagged_circle@feddit.nl 3 points 4 days ago

Zelle doesn't charge the bank money?

[–] princessnorah@lemmy.blahaj.zone 33 points 6 days ago (3 children)

Not really. Zelle seems to just be US banks implementing the payment and bank-to-bank transfer systems that other countries already have. Except, at least for Australia with our 'Osko' system it has the involvement of our Reserve Bank and is mandated to be supported universally, whereas Zelle is completely private. The traditional lack of that bank-to-bank transfer ability is why apps like Venmo and Cash App have been popular in the US, which I think explains why Zelle has had an app until last month, as consumers expect that, even though it's owned by the major US banks.

Taler on the other hand seems to be "What if crypto but with fiat currency and also the recipients aren't anonymous".

[–] jagged_circle@feddit.nl 1 points 5 days ago (1 children)

You know most cryptocurrency reciepts are super transparent, right? The blockchain is a public ledger. There is no anonymity on non privacy coins like bitcoin

[–] princessnorah@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

You're right, I misspoke with the term anonymous, it's actually pseudononymous the same as Lemmy or Reddit are. It's not like there is a published index of names to wallet addresses.

[–] jagged_circle@feddit.nl 1 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

KYC laws are basically that index, except they're only available to companies and governments and advertises and basically anyone else who pays for it from coin analytics companies

[–] jagged_circle@feddit.nl 1 points 5 days ago

US banks have wires and ACH. How is zelle different?

[–] swelter_spark@reddthat.com 1 points 5 days ago (2 children)

Every US bank has the ability to wire money, but there's no easy way to do it.

[–] princessnorah@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 5 days ago

That's the point I was making. In Australia, wire transfers through your bank are free, attached to a phone number or email address (rather than account numbers), almost always instantaneous and 24/7.

[–] nasi_goreng@lemmy.zip 2 points 5 days ago

Various countries have cross method payment system that actually easier, cheaper (sometimes free), and faster than Paypal, Visa, and other US provider.

For example, indian UPI or Indonesian QRIS.

Indonesian QRIS even works with other banks and mobile wallet across Southeast Asia, India, Taiwan, China, and Japan.