Quick Question. Wal*Mart stores still accept checks in the US - it isn't their policy to do so in the UK?
Online bill payment systems, sometimes they suck.
- Thread starter ed629
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Quick Question. Wal*Mart stores still accept checks in the US - it isn't their policy to do so in the UK?
A quick google reveals they were the first supermarket to phase out cheques (sometime in 2006).
In terms of payment methods, we are going to see a lot of fuss in the next couple of years about contactless payment (NFC) systems where you just swipe your card or phone over a terminal and it takes payment without a pin number (for small amounts).
Most banks are now issuing cards with the chips built in regardless of if the customer wants it or not.
ed629
Rear Admiral
I hate HOA's with a passion, namely because the HOA that governed the townhouse I had in New York was staffed by morons. You had to have a parking sticker (totally understandable), but when the HOA appointed ticket (fine) writer came through and placed a ticket on your car because he/she was too lazy too actually look and gave you a ticket even though you had a sticker on your car. Happened a few times to me and several neighbors, you'd call and their response was "If you got a fine, it's your fault since you didn't have your sticker in an easy to see spot.". Apparently on the windshield wasn't obvious enough. One time a neighbor punched out the ticket/fine writer. On another occasion I saw the ticket/fine writer go to my car, not even look at the windshield and start to write one. I went out there, and they said once they started they aren't to stop, WTF??? You aren't a cop. So I took the ticket book out of their hands and took it inside. They called the cops, the cops came out and I denied taking it, and the neighbors also said that I didn't take it. They left and came back a few days later trying to write me another one. But when I came out they left and went to a different section.
And because they could, they would place a lien on your townhouse, not give your pool passes, lake passes, and would also hold other services from your unit such as lawn, snow removal, etc. until you paid the fine. So they could fuck you every way they wanted to. Eventually they were done away with, and a new HOA took over.
We still write a few checks every month-- the mortgage company, as I posted, the local utilities (because I don't want the city automatically deducting anything, and that's the only option), my doctors only do cash/check.
I don't have a debit card. I know you're liable for only $50 on an error, but that's AFTER they've already taken your money. I'll stick with credit cards that I pay off every month--even the mac laptop we charged will get paid off in one fell swoop. At least if there's an error, I can try to correct it BEFORE I pay. My money's not just automatically taken.
I do have some auto epay though, all stuff through USAA. I don't trust the rest that much--I'd prefer to manually pay every month. But I would auto epay my mortgage if it were an option, just for convenience, since I'm having problems remembering that one, for some reason.
I don't have a debit card. I know you're liable for only $50 on an error, but that's AFTER they've already taken your money. I'll stick with credit cards that I pay off every month--even the mac laptop we charged will get paid off in one fell swoop. At least if there's an error, I can try to correct it BEFORE I pay. My money's not just automatically taken.
I do have some auto epay though, all stuff through USAA. I don't trust the rest that much--I'd prefer to manually pay every month. But I would auto epay my mortgage if it were an option, just for convenience, since I'm having problems remembering that one, for some reason.
The US banking system seems shockingly archaic to UK eyes. That's not meant as a dig, I understand that different countries just do things differently, but having some experience with both, the US system is by far the more byzantine.
As JoeZhang has explained, electronic payment in the UK is so much more seamless than in the USA. Setting up payments takes seconds, whether you do it from your own online banking interface, or whether you do it via the vendor. No paper is involved either in the setting up, or at any stage of the payment, and it works just as seamlessly for person-to-person payments as it does for business-to-business and consumer-to-business. And because it's so much cheaper and simpler, there IS often a small discount for paying in this way.
Having said all that, I noticed in the news today that the previous deadline of 2018 for phasing out cheques completely in this country has now been indefinitely postponed, largely to placate the elderly and small traders. Mind you, both groups are increasingly switching to non-cheque formats, especially as the very elderly cohorts die off and small traders realise that they can't escape tax as easily as they used to with cheques (HMRC is much more aggressive with its auditing these days, especially with small traders, precisely to stop this). At current projections, cheque usage in 2018 is expected to be less than 18% what it was at its peak (it's already down to 30% of peak use) and still falling quite rapidly. I think this will only accelerate once people realise that Cheque Guarantee Cards no longer exist, so a vendor accepting a cheque now carries the risk of an uninsured bounce.
I just had a look at my own chequebook; I've used two in the past year and both times to people I could have paid electronically just as easily.
As JoeZhang has explained, electronic payment in the UK is so much more seamless than in the USA. Setting up payments takes seconds, whether you do it from your own online banking interface, or whether you do it via the vendor. No paper is involved either in the setting up, or at any stage of the payment, and it works just as seamlessly for person-to-person payments as it does for business-to-business and consumer-to-business. And because it's so much cheaper and simpler, there IS often a small discount for paying in this way.
Having said all that, I noticed in the news today that the previous deadline of 2018 for phasing out cheques completely in this country has now been indefinitely postponed, largely to placate the elderly and small traders. Mind you, both groups are increasingly switching to non-cheque formats, especially as the very elderly cohorts die off and small traders realise that they can't escape tax as easily as they used to with cheques (HMRC is much more aggressive with its auditing these days, especially with small traders, precisely to stop this). At current projections, cheque usage in 2018 is expected to be less than 18% what it was at its peak (it's already down to 30% of peak use) and still falling quite rapidly. I think this will only accelerate once people realise that Cheque Guarantee Cards no longer exist, so a vendor accepting a cheque now carries the risk of an uninsured bounce.
I just had a look at my own chequebook; I've used two in the past year and both times to people I could have paid electronically just as easily.
I blame the old people and their fear of change.
Hell, my mom is only in her 50s, and she cringes at the thought of me using a debit card. My dad still sits at the dining room table once a month and pays the bills by writing a dozen checks to a dozen different companies.
The US is actually a very conservative (small c) country when it comes to personal finances. That's often surprising to some foreigners who think of the USA as some big aggressive enterpreneurial risk-taking capitalist powerhouse. But many US citizens - and US institutions - are actually remarkably conservative in their attitudes to money. The Federal Government is astonishingly slow to adapt. The IRS is a prime example of this; I bet it could save billions a year (and trillions in the long term) in efficiencies if it modernised its systems to match the HMRC's, for instance. And believe me, I almost never have a good word to say about HMRC!
I am 53 and I use a debit card to buy things online including my groceries. I have never written a check in my entire life. My sister however doesn't trust the Internet so she gets me to make certain payments and sends me a check. I hate this as it means a trip to the bank and I have wait until the check clears.
Paying bills online is very easy in Australia. I pay most of my bills via BPay - online Australian bill paying system that about 16000 business have joined. All I needed is the business's BPay number and the account number on the bill.
I pay the man who mows my lawn by direct deposit into his bank account as he doesn't have a BPay account.
Paying bills online is very easy in Australia. I pay most of my bills via BPay - online Australian bill paying system that about 16000 business have joined. All I needed is the business's BPay number and the account number on the bill.
I pay the man who mows my lawn by direct deposit into his bank account as he doesn't have a BPay account.
The only checks I write these days are for rent. I do occasionally receive one, however. Since Citizens Bank doesn't have any branches in the DC area, I used to have to mail these checks to them along with a deposit slip, which is a pain.
I recently got a Wachovia/Wells Fargo account, however, and they actually have a very neat system for checks. You take the check to the ATM and insert it into a slot. The ATM scans the check and automatically determines the amount it is for; you can correct it if the machine happens to get it wrong. Then it's deposited, simple as that. Presumably they have a human doing confirmation eventually, but there's no delay getting the money into your account at least.
I recently got a Wachovia/Wells Fargo account, however, and they actually have a very neat system for checks. You take the check to the ATM and insert it into a slot. The ATM scans the check and automatically determines the amount it is for; you can correct it if the machine happens to get it wrong. Then it's deposited, simple as that. Presumably they have a human doing confirmation eventually, but there's no delay getting the money into your account at least.
I can't even fathom how this would be possible. I'm only 26 and have written many, many checks.
I have either paid by cash, money order or, at least in the last few by debit card/BPay or direct deposit. Before I paid bills online nearly all of my bills (rent, electricity, phone) could be paid at the post office so all I had to do was withdraw money from my bank, walk three doors up to the PO and pay my bills. I could even pay only a portion of a bill off so long as it wasn't overdue and the payment I wanted to make was over $20.
A
Amaris
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I'm 31 and have written a grand total of 3 checks. Once they became available, I immediately switched to a debit card.
I used to write a lot of checks but as soon as I got a debit card, I never looked back.
You folks just add an extra letter in the word 'check," it's no wonder you're phasing them out. It's also saving on keystrokes and letters. Why don't you work on the word color next?
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