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Imagine trying to sell a used car or other high asset items like fully loaded computers and Swiss watches. Who is going to take a check? [edit] “Limits on cas

Imagine trying to sell a used car or other high asset items like fully loaded computers and Swiss watches. Who is going to take a check? [edit] “Limits on cash transactions would discourage foreign criminals from coming here to launder money,” says the Social Democrats’ paper. If sums over €5,000 have to pass through traceable bank transactions, laundering would be severely hampered, it adds. Other European states have already imposed such restrictions. In 2011, Bulgaria was the first country to set a limit, restricting cash deals to €2,500. Italy followed suit a year later, with a radical limit of €1,000, although this was later relaxed to €3,000. Portugal is considering similar measures..."

maccard 11y ago
bank transfer?
- SCAQTony 11y ago
  I would not want to do it that way but maybe most people would.
vbernat 11y ago
Bank transfer or certified checks. This is quite common in France when selling expensive goods.
Someone1234 11y ago
I haven't seen a cheque in almost twenty years... Do people still use them? The answer is bank transfers. I can send someone money within minutes from my phone and it will arrive within a couple of hours. I myself wouldn't want to walk around the streets with 5K+ in cash anyway, just asking to get ropped.
- sliverstorm 11y ago
  So you're selling your car, the buyer initiates the bank transfer, and the two of you hang around in a coffee shop for a few hours waiting for it to clear? Or do you actually let them drive off with the car before the transaction clears?
  - vertex-four 11y ago
    In the UK, bank transfers take seconds, thanks to the Faster Payments System. I assume other places in Europe have similar.
  - Someone1234 11y ago
    I said up to a couple of hours, not a "few." And the point is irrelevant as here you now need valid insurance and road tax to drive off into the sunset which itself can take a couple of hours. So private or commercial sale is often a "pick up the next day" kind of affair.
    - sliverstorm 11y ago
      My apologies, at least where I live "a couple" is basically the same as "a few", 2-3.
  - aembleton 11y ago
    I bought my last car (£6,000) with a debit card. I guess, once it was approved by my bank that was it. I gave them my address details so that they could update the DVLA (Government agency that deals with cars) so that I became the registered owner of the vehicle. I think that was it.
- DyslexicAtheist 11y ago
  France is crazy about their cheques. You can't really function there without a chequebook. Haven't seen them in other EU countries. (not sure about Belgium, ... Belgians are essentially French with better beer ... so who knows maybe they do use them ...)
nolok 11y ago
We also have a similar limit in France, 5000€ too I believe. > Imagine trying to sell a used car or other high asset items like fully loaded computers and Swiss watches. Who is going to take a check? Happens a lot for houses, cars, ... Usually: - Bank transfer - A regular check and wait of the clearance time period before getting the good - A "chèque de banque", translated to "bank check" I guess, aka a check that is in the name of your bank rather than yours. The banks delivers those in limited amount and/or for a fee, and since the bank issuing that check is the one who owns the customer's account, they don't have a problem checking for the funds. Eg: you A want to use an account from you bank B to buy a car from C, instead of making a check marked "A pays C", you go to your bank, ask them a bank check, they take the money from your account and give you a check "B pays C". Having recently bought a slightly expensive car, that was the rule: either give us a check and wait 3 weeks, or give us a bank check and leave with the car immediately.
- rincebrain 11y ago
  The US pronounces "chèque de banque" as "certified check", for anyone curious.
  - hollerith 11y ago
    "a check that is in the name of your bank rather than yours" sounds like a cashier's check, not a certified check: http://www.bankrate.com/finance/savings/you-can-t-always-trust-certified-checks.aspx http://www.bankrate.com/finance/savings/you-can-t-always-tru...
arnarbi 11y ago
Checks are hardly ever used in Europe for the past 10-15 years, and can be expensive to cash.
pluma 11y ago
Nobody in Germany uses checks. The concept seems ridiculous to me, tbh. Germans use bank transfers for everything. You're expected to have a bank account and to wire money to other bank accounts. For everything from rent to taxes to car sales. I have bought used cars with cash but I doubt the kind of place selling used cars for €5000 and up would accept cash in Germany to begin with. That seems incredibly dodgy and gives off a money laundering vibe. In other words: high asset items in Germany are already mostly paid by bank transfer (or debit/credit card). Banning cash for those transactions will barely affect anyone.

maccard 11y ago

bank transfer?

SCAQTony 11y ago
I would not want to do it that way but maybe most people would.

vbernat 11y ago

Bank transfer or certified checks. This is quite common in France when selling expensive goods.

Someone1234 11y ago

I haven't seen a cheque in almost twenty years... Do people still use them? The answer is bank transfers. I can send someone money within minutes from my phone and it will arrive within a couple of hours. I myself wouldn't want to walk around the streets with 5K+ in cash anyway, just asking to get ropped.

sliverstorm 11y ago
So you're selling your car, the buyer initiates the bank transfer, and the two of you hang around in a coffee shop for a few hours waiting for it to clear? Or do you actually let them drive off with the car before the transaction clears?
- vertex-four 11y ago
  In the UK, bank transfers take seconds, thanks to the Faster Payments System. I assume other places in Europe have similar.
- Someone1234 11y ago
  I said up to a couple of hours, not a "few." And the point is irrelevant as here you now need valid insurance and road tax to drive off into the sunset which itself can take a couple of hours. So private or commercial sale is often a "pick up the next day" kind of affair.
  - sliverstorm 11y ago
    My apologies, at least where I live "a couple" is basically the same as "a few", 2-3.
- aembleton 11y ago
  I bought my last car (£6,000) with a debit card. I guess, once it was approved by my bank that was it. I gave them my address details so that they could update the DVLA (Government agency that deals with cars) so that I became the registered owner of the vehicle. I think that was it.
DyslexicAtheist 11y ago
France is crazy about their cheques. You can't really function there without a chequebook. Haven't seen them in other EU countries. (not sure about Belgium, ... Belgians are essentially French with better beer ... so who knows maybe they do use them ...)

nolok 11y ago

We also have a similar limit in France, 5000€ too I believe. > Imagine trying to sell a used car or other high asset items like fully loaded computers and Swiss watches. Who is going to take a check? Happens a lot for houses, cars, ... Usually: - Bank transfer - A regular check and wait of the clearance time period before getting the good - A "chèque de banque", translated to "bank check" I guess, aka a check that is in the name of your bank rather than yours. The banks delivers those in limited amount and/or for a fee, and since the bank issuing that check is the one who owns the customer's account, they don't have a problem checking for the funds. Eg: you A want to use an account from you bank B to buy a car from C, instead of making a check marked "A pays C", you go to your bank, ask them a bank check, they take the money from your account and give you a check "B pays C". Having recently bought a slightly expensive car, that was the rule: either give us a check and wait 3 weeks, or give us a bank check and leave with the car immediately.

rincebrain 11y ago
The US pronounces "chèque de banque" as "certified check", for anyone curious.
- hollerith 11y ago
  "a check that is in the name of your bank rather than yours" sounds like a cashier's check, not a certified check: http://www.bankrate.com/finance/savings/you-can-t-always-trust-certified-checks.aspx http://www.bankrate.com/finance/savings/you-can-t-always-tru...

arnarbi 11y ago

Checks are hardly ever used in Europe for the past 10-15 years, and can be expensive to cash.

pluma 11y ago

Nobody in Germany uses checks. The concept seems ridiculous to me, tbh. Germans use bank transfers for everything. You're expected to have a bank account and to wire money to other bank accounts. For everything from rent to taxes to car sales. I have bought used cars with cash but I doubt the kind of place selling used cars for €5000 and up would accept cash in Germany to begin with. That seems incredibly dodgy and gives off a money laundering vibe. In other words: high asset items in Germany are already mostly paid by bank transfer (or debit/credit card). Banning cash for those transactions will barely affect anyone.