1 Jul
2019
1 Jul
'19
7:23 a.m.
On Mon, 1 Jul 2019 at 15:26, Patrick Finnegan <pat at vax11.net> wrote:
Checks can be relatively convenient and cheap compared
to other options. I can (for free) send a check of any size to anyone I want by filling
out a form on my bank's website to pay someone (mostly limited by my account's
balance).
You need to use a cheque to do that?! o_O
Running a business, I have to occasionally transfer
more money between my LLC and personal account that goes over the monthly limit I can do,
so I have them print a check, and go to the branch, pick it up, and deposit it into the
other account.
:-o
... I am astounded. I have only done that I think once in my life, to
buy a motorcycle, about 30y ago. UK cheques were guaranteed by your
card up to ?50. IOW they got the money even if you didn't have it. For
bigger purchases, sometimes, vendors might refuse. So you could get a
"counter cheque" or "banker's draft" for large transactions --
i.e.
thousands to tens of thousands -- which means the bank guarantees it,
not you personally.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banker%27s_draft
It's dumb, but reliable and easier/cheaper than
doing it electronically.
I feel like the Reddit thread where the Americans discovered that for
everyone else, SMS are free to receive, and the Europeans discovered
that Americans pay to _get_ SMS as well as to _send_ SMS.
You *pay* for EFT?! I am astounded, aghast, shocked!
Plus, checks are easier to deposit at home using a
phone app than cash is.
I heard that. I think it's hilarious. It's like, I don't know,
chiselling a message into a rock, then taking a photo of the rock and
mailing it. Like an Asterix comic book, from a parallel universe where
no one invented paper and pen.
EFT costs money, have relatively low limits, and
require you to know the bank account # of the recipient.
*Boggle*
I bought my new _apartment_ by EFT in April. Of _course_ it didn't
cost me anything. I'd no more expect to pay than I'd expect to pay to
breathe.
Yes I have the account numbers. Everyone does. You can't withdraw
using it, only deposit.
Personal "internet-based" electronic payment
systems fix the account number problem, but I've got accounts on like five different
ones to be able to send money to different people who don't all use the same one.
The EU system is EU-wide.
At least in the US, card processing costs (usually)
the recipient some percentage of the transaction. As a merchant, I just factor that into
the costs of doing business. If I have to pay an extra 3% to send money to a friend for a
shared expense, that's annoying.
That is normal but only a concern for merchants.
NFC-based tap-to-pay systems (Google/Apple Pay, etc)
are nice where they're adopted. I enjoyed using them pretty universally in Australia,
and was sad at now few seemed to exist in New Zealand. The nicest part was that it kept
the terminal from asking me to sign a receipt. There were a fair number of situations
where I tried to pay for things, but they refused chip-and-signature cards, and had to
find cash.
I was in the Nethelands at new year and found I could not use my cards
to pay. This is the first time it's happened to me this century. This
includes non-EU countries, across the Caribbean, etc.
As an aside, coming from the US, it seems strange to
pay (business/strangers) for things and use a card that draws directly from a bank account
instead of credit. If someone steals the account # or the merchant screws me over,
there's basically no protections on my debit card, especially if I don't notice it
right away. If you have good enough credit to get a credit card, it's easily worth
the benefits.
If there is a dodgy withdrawal or payment, the bank refunds you and
then use their might and clout and lawyers to chase the miscreant. You
don't pay.
We mostly only use credit cards for transactions when we don't have
the money, e.g. big payments before payday, or for additional services
-- e.g. mine gives me automatic travel insurance whenever I buy travel
tickets with it. So I buy all my airfares and things that way.
--
Liam Proven - Profile: https://about.me/liamproven
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