3 ms·

i pay my rent and bills with wire transfer, same goes for 99% of my purchases ( mostly on amazon ) ... my paycheck is sent me as wire transfer as well ... how a

i pay my rent and bills with wire transfer, same goes for 99% of my purchases ( mostly on amazon ) ... my paycheck is sent me as wire transfer as well ... how am I supposed to live just on cash? :) I only use cash to buy cigarettes basically ... using only cash would make my life very, VERY, hard.

Karunamon 10y ago
Aren't wire transfers incredibly expensive? (Something like upwards of $20 for the sender and the recipient?) That may just be an American thing though, countries with first world banking systems may have that sorted :)
- evilsocket 10y ago
  not where I live
- ascorbic 10y ago
  Transfers in the UK are free and instant.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- david-given 10y ago
  Here in Switzerland the entire financial system is arranged via wire transfers. I get a bill. At the bottom of the bill is a red pay-in slip with a magic number on it. I log in to my bank, enter the number, tell it how much I want to transfer, done. There's a not-used-enough automatic system where one of my creditors can send their bills directly to my bank. Now, I log into my bank, get told there's a pending e-bill, at which point I select it, press 'pay', done. No fees anywhere. I'm from the UK, which is just starting to do this, but it's nothing like as polished; small traders and tradesmen still prefer cheques, and regular payments are typically done via direct debit, where you authorise them to debit money directly out of your bank account (with a whole pile of banking guarantees). Switzerland seems to do this much less frequently; most people just pay the invoices monthly.
  - jacobush 10y ago
    This is identical to how's it done in Sweden
    - pbarnes_1 10y ago
      And Australia. Plus transfers are free... and appear same day in the other account. The US is a different kettle of fish.
  - Gracana 10y ago
    Wow, I would love it if things worked that way in the US. Even without the "automatic system," that's pretty awesome.
- sdlion 10y ago
  With wire-transfers you mean international wire-transfers? I think it might be just an american thing, mexican banks usually don't charge you anything for wire-transfers inside the country (in their "use your credit/debit card at least once each month plans") and well, it's Mexico. Though I think "first world"-something is quite the phrase just to describe consumer comfort: not advanced, not better (or worse), just "it's ok, I don't mind". ---EDIT--- Wire-transfers between national banks are free if you wait a day; there's a small fixed fee if you want them immediately. Transfers between different clients in the same bank are free and immediate. And it's becoming very common to be able to pay a quite assorted list of services through your e-bank account (from utilities to departmental store accounts) without fees.

Karunamon 10y ago

Aren't wire transfers incredibly expensive? (Something like upwards of $20 for the sender and the recipient?) That may just be an American thing though, countries with first world banking systems may have that sorted :)

evilsocket 10y ago
not where I live
ascorbic 10y ago
Transfers in the UK are free and instant.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
david-given 10y ago
Here in Switzerland the entire financial system is arranged via wire transfers. I get a bill. At the bottom of the bill is a red pay-in slip with a magic number on it. I log in to my bank, enter the number, tell it how much I want to transfer, done. There's a not-used-enough automatic system where one of my creditors can send their bills directly to my bank. Now, I log into my bank, get told there's a pending e-bill, at which point I select it, press 'pay', done. No fees anywhere. I'm from the UK, which is just starting to do this, but it's nothing like as polished; small traders and tradesmen still prefer cheques, and regular payments are typically done via direct debit, where you authorise them to debit money directly out of your bank account (with a whole pile of banking guarantees). Switzerland seems to do this much less frequently; most people just pay the invoices monthly.
- jacobush 10y ago
  This is identical to how's it done in Sweden
  - pbarnes_1 10y ago
    And Australia. Plus transfers are free... and appear same day in the other account. The US is a different kettle of fish.
- Gracana 10y ago
  Wow, I would love it if things worked that way in the US. Even without the "automatic system," that's pretty awesome.
sdlion 10y ago
With wire-transfers you mean international wire-transfers? I think it might be just an american thing, mexican banks usually don't charge you anything for wire-transfers inside the country (in their "use your credit/debit card at least once each month plans") and well, it's Mexico. Though I think "first world"-something is quite the phrase just to describe consumer comfort: not advanced, not better (or worse), just "it's ok, I don't mind". ---EDIT--- Wire-transfers between national banks are free if you wait a day; there's a small fixed fee if you want them immediately. Transfers between different clients in the same bank are free and immediate. And it's becoming very common to be able to pay a quite assorted list of services through your e-bank account (from utilities to departmental store accounts) without fees.