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The US is extremely far behind in banking. It's a whole other world. Also there seems to be a culture/tradition of paying bills by cheque. The UK enjoys free b

by axod 17y ago

The US is extremely far behind in banking. It's a whole other world. Also there seems to be a culture/tradition of paying bills by cheque. The UK enjoys free banking for people - free transfers, direct debits, automated payments, etc. Transfers show up in a couple of hours to most other bank accounts. Even businesses get most of that, including free banking for a year or 2. Most 'bills' - water/gas/electric/cable/mortgages etc are all setup and automated electronic transfers - direct debits. (free of course) Giving out your bank details to allow someone to pay you is fine and secure. The need for cheques in the UK is incredibly small now. Also, sure - people will probably still use cheques "for show". On things like charity TV programs we'll still see the big oversized cheques showing how much they raised. But it's just for show. The money is all sent electronically.

gaius 17y ago
The UK enjoys free banking for people - free transfers, direct debits, automated payments, etc. Possibly not for much longer, it was all possible because of overdraft fees etc that people are trying to weasel out of paying. In most of the rest of the world, you pay a monthly charge for even having an account and getting an overdraft is a much bigger deal.
- axod 17y ago
  That was thrown out. http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/blog/2009/nov/24/bank-charges-ruling http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/blog/2009/nov/24/bank-charge... Thankfully they ruled that if you go over your agreed overdraft limit, the bank can charge you what they like. Sanity prevailed. I also do not buy the 'that's why bank accounts were free'. Consumer banking has always been free in the UK. Before consumer overdrafts/charges were common. I believe it's more than covered by the cost of business banking. I think it's a much better system - consumer banking free, business banking paid for. The original freemium business model.
  - nomoresecrets 17y ago
    "Consumer banking has always been free in the UK." No, it hasn't. Charges for writing cheques, withdrawals, etc were common at one point. I remember the switch to free banking in the UK when I was a child - not having to pay anything to use your bank account normally without going overdrawn was a big deal at the time.

by axod 17y ago

gaius 17y ago

The UK enjoys free banking for people - free transfers, direct debits, automated payments, etc. Possibly not for much longer, it was all possible because of overdraft fees etc that people are trying to weasel out of paying. In most of the rest of the world, you pay a monthly charge for even having an account and getting an overdraft is a much bigger deal.

axod 17y ago
That was thrown out. http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/blog/2009/nov/24/bank-charges-ruling http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/blog/2009/nov/24/bank-charge... Thankfully they ruled that if you go over your agreed overdraft limit, the bank can charge you what they like. Sanity prevailed. I also do not buy the 'that's why bank accounts were free'. Consumer banking has always been free in the UK. Before consumer overdrafts/charges were common. I believe it's more than covered by the cost of business banking. I think it's a much better system - consumer banking free, business banking paid for. The original freemium business model.
- nomoresecrets 17y ago
  "Consumer banking has always been free in the UK." No, it hasn't. Charges for writing cheques, withdrawals, etc were common at one point. I remember the switch to free banking in the UK when I was a child - not having to pay anything to use your bank account normally without going overdrawn was a big deal at the time.