17 ms·

As a non-American, the very idea of having to drive somewhere to physically deposit pieces of paper to transfer money around sounds absurd to the point of hilar

As a non-American, the very idea of having to drive somewhere to physically deposit pieces of paper to transfer money around sounds absurd to the point of hilarity.

iamtedd 5y ago
I bought my current car second-hand from a dealer. The best interest rate I could get by far was the line-of-credit loan I already had for my house. I bought the car on my credit card and eventually paid for it with the loan. Automatically done by the bank, of course. Even handling cash feels slightly old-fashioned to me.
- kleiba 5y ago
  I live in a country that still mostly prefers cash to electronic money transfers for many transactions. The individual reasons for that vary but mine is that I want to minimize the ability of third parties to profile me through my purchases (neither stores nor my bank).
  - llampx 5y ago
    Deutschland!
    - kleiba 5y ago
      Wrong :-)
  - EVa5I7bHFq9mnYK 5y ago
    Accidentally, this is the country that is familiar with what happens when government has too much control over its citizens.
frosted-flakes 5y ago
You don't have to do that. Most banks have mobile deposit, and cheques are generally only used for larger sums of money.
- vidarh 5y ago
  Last time I used a check was about 15 years ago. And that was after moving to the UK in 2000 and having roughly the reaction above to even being given a checkbook. I'd never had a checking account before as that had stopped being a thing most people had back in the 1980s in Norway. When I got my first "adult" bank account in the 90s my bank didn't offer it even as an option to personal customers any more. Just to give you an idea how quaint it seems to many of us to hear about checks.
- kolinko 5y ago
  Why would you use a piece of paper for any sum of money? In Poland, I've seen a real-life check only once in my whole adult life (past ~20 years). Any amount, literally from $1 to $10M+ is being sent by a wire transfer, and wire transfers cost $0-$0.25 flat fee, arriving within the same working day, or instant. This is how it has worked for the past 20 years, and the more recent innovation is having a similar system working all across Europe, and instant transfers within the same country. Depending on a bank's security policy, the only difference between amounts is that some banks won't allow you to send wires above a certain amount from mobile, and with some banks you have to appear in person for wires above say $50k.
  - terinjokes 5y ago
    > Why would you use a piece of paper for any sum of money? In the US, sending money to another person's account, especially as an individual, is a difficult process, often requiring giving long account and routing numbers that many of us were told not to give out. It also takes several days to process, and sometimes has fees of $25-30. Also some banks have limitations allowing you to do transfers only to accounts where the name matches. While many major banks have an online transfer system (eg, Zelle), this is far from being universally supported (my bank is not a member) and many people don't have it setup. Also the transfer limits might be low. Other options like Venmo or Cash require both sides of the transaction to have an account. They also don't work well outside of friend-to-friend interactions. My understanding is the US is due to replace the current clearing house system with one up to modern standards, but we'll see how that goes.
emteycz 5y ago
There is the same thing in EU, widely used by people without internet banking. It just has a different name and is usually handled by the post offices.
- vanviegen 5y ago
  You're talking about bank transfers by paper order, right? That's different, because you don't give the order paper to the recipient of the money (who should then cash/deposit it at their own bank), but to your own bank, which will wire the money to the receiving account. Is that still widely used? I think manual transfer orders have largely been replaced by direct debit (companies taking the money you owe them straight from your bank account).
  - emteycz 5y ago
    Here in Central Europe we use "postal money orders". It works almost exactly like a check, the only difference is that the money is transferred to a state post organization first, then the paper slip is given to the recipient, and the recipient can either cash it out or have the money transferred to their bank account. It's widely used by older people to receive pension and pay rent/utilities (these people often don't have access to internet banking, or don't know how to use it, or don't trust it), and by all other age groups to receive social security money (these people are often unable to have a bank account or would have their money taken from the account due to "executions" - payment orders forced on them by courts).
  - kleiba 5y ago
    > Is that still widely used? I think manual transfer orders have largely been replaced by direct debit (companies taking the money you owe them straight from your bank account). It depends on how much you trust that company with taking the right amount of money out of your account. Both fraud and honest mistakes on their side are your risks, even though they might be very low risks in practice.
    - emteycz 5y ago
      Over-charging is actually very common, and then it's up to you to notice, then fill many forms (last time I had this problem I had to fill over 10 forms) and then personally visit their branch, and then wait months to get your money back. It's much better to pay by permanent payment order (automatic payment e.g. every month).
Zababa 5y ago
We have checks in France too, they're just not very popular.
- vladvasiliu 5y ago
  Yeah, it depends, though. A few months ago (in 2021!) I moved, so my old insurance had to reimburse some €40. While they never had any issue with getting paid directly from my bank account, for some reason they couldn't do the reverse and had to send a check.
- kolp 5y ago
  Here in France, I find that they're still popular with the elderly customers ahead of me at the checkout.
  - Scoundreller 5y ago
    https://www.reddit.com/r/TheSimpsons/comments/8zf31q/anyone_else_heed_apus_excellent_advice_at_the/ https://www.reddit.com/r/TheSimpsons/comments/8zf31q/anyone_... … supermarket checkout queue
golergka 5y ago
Same, but about using ATM at all. Don't you guys have contactless payment everywhere? It's 2021, what's the use for cash?
- codedokode 5y ago
  Bank cards have many disadvantages: - there are fees and commissions for using a card, and there are limits on how much cash you can withdraw daily/monthly - bank also charges the merchant and it makes prices higher for everyone - bank knows what and where you buy, collects this information and can resell it - your name is written on the card and encoded inside, so when you pay the merchant can identify you - cards have a magnetic tape that is unencrypted, can be easily copied. It seems like the only use for this tape is to allow criminals to copy the card. - new cards include RFID label that allows reading data about you and charge your account - if you are suspected to be an "extremist", then the bank will allow you to withdraw only about $150 per month. And you can become a suspect if you post something wrong on the Internet. Cash is obviously better.
  - justsomehnguy 5y ago
    > there are fees and commissions for using a card There aren't for you as a customer. Yes, a bank would require the acquiring fee for each transaction but it's already in the price of the item both for the cash and the card. > it makes prices higher for everyone While true deep down there, the price of item is usually still covers all the things including returns, inventory spoilage, breakage and shoplifting. Acquiring fees are ~1-2% so most of the time they don't even register over a markup. > bank knows what and where you buy, collects this information and can resell it Most people are just fine with using an affiliate cards... which are used for exactly the same. > your name is written on the card and encoded inside, so when you pay the merchant can identify you Your card number is a way more unique identifier than some John Doe. > cards have a magnetic tape that is unencrypted, can be easily copied. Everyone (except US) moved from tape to chip and paypass systems which are way more secure. > new cards include RFID label that allows reading data about you and charge your account Only the card number and it is limited for small amounts. > if you are suspected to be an "extremist", then the bank will allow you to withdraw only about $150 per month This is the only thing where cash is obviously better for an ordinary person.
nyokodo 5y ago
> the very idea of having to drive somewhere to physically deposit pieces of paper to transfer money around sounds absurd The reason the US banking system is so relatively slow and manual compared to foreign systems is that the US has never felt a need to create a cheap and efficient federal electronic check clearing system. The US is a capital generating superpower and a marginal improvement in banking would be a drop in the bucket. Most other countries either need quick and efficient banking to maintain their capital generating industries or quick and efficient banking is their industry.

As a non-American, the very idea of having to drive somewhere to physically deposit pieces of paper to transfer money around sounds absurd to the point of hilarity.

iamtedd 5y ago

I bought my current car second-hand from a dealer. The best interest rate I could get by far was the line-of-credit loan I already had for my house. I bought the car on my credit card and eventually paid for it with the loan. Automatically done by the bank, of course. Even handling cash feels slightly old-fashioned to me.

kleiba 5y ago
I live in a country that still mostly prefers cash to electronic money transfers for many transactions. The individual reasons for that vary but mine is that I want to minimize the ability of third parties to profile me through my purchases (neither stores nor my bank).
- llampx 5y ago
  Deutschland!
  - kleiba 5y ago
    Wrong :-)
- EVa5I7bHFq9mnYK 5y ago
  Accidentally, this is the country that is familiar with what happens when government has too much control over its citizens.

frosted-flakes 5y ago

You don't have to do that. Most banks have mobile deposit, and cheques are generally only used for larger sums of money.

vidarh 5y ago
Last time I used a check was about 15 years ago. And that was after moving to the UK in 2000 and having roughly the reaction above to even being given a checkbook. I'd never had a checking account before as that had stopped being a thing most people had back in the 1980s in Norway. When I got my first "adult" bank account in the 90s my bank didn't offer it even as an option to personal customers any more. Just to give you an idea how quaint it seems to many of us to hear about checks.
kolinko 5y ago
Why would you use a piece of paper for any sum of money? In Poland, I've seen a real-life check only once in my whole adult life (past ~20 years). Any amount, literally from $1 to $10M+ is being sent by a wire transfer, and wire transfers cost $0-$0.25 flat fee, arriving within the same working day, or instant. This is how it has worked for the past 20 years, and the more recent innovation is having a similar system working all across Europe, and instant transfers within the same country. Depending on a bank's security policy, the only difference between amounts is that some banks won't allow you to send wires above a certain amount from mobile, and with some banks you have to appear in person for wires above say $50k.
- terinjokes 5y ago
  > Why would you use a piece of paper for any sum of money? In the US, sending money to another person's account, especially as an individual, is a difficult process, often requiring giving long account and routing numbers that many of us were told not to give out. It also takes several days to process, and sometimes has fees of $25-30. Also some banks have limitations allowing you to do transfers only to accounts where the name matches. While many major banks have an online transfer system (eg, Zelle), this is far from being universally supported (my bank is not a member) and many people don't have it setup. Also the transfer limits might be low. Other options like Venmo or Cash require both sides of the transaction to have an account. They also don't work well outside of friend-to-friend interactions. My understanding is the US is due to replace the current clearing house system with one up to modern standards, but we'll see how that goes.

emteycz 5y ago

There is the same thing in EU, widely used by people without internet banking. It just has a different name and is usually handled by the post offices.

vanviegen 5y ago
You're talking about bank transfers by paper order, right? That's different, because you don't give the order paper to the recipient of the money (who should then cash/deposit it at their own bank), but to your own bank, which will wire the money to the receiving account. Is that still widely used? I think manual transfer orders have largely been replaced by direct debit (companies taking the money you owe them straight from your bank account).
- emteycz 5y ago
  Here in Central Europe we use "postal money orders". It works almost exactly like a check, the only difference is that the money is transferred to a state post organization first, then the paper slip is given to the recipient, and the recipient can either cash it out or have the money transferred to their bank account. It's widely used by older people to receive pension and pay rent/utilities (these people often don't have access to internet banking, or don't know how to use it, or don't trust it), and by all other age groups to receive social security money (these people are often unable to have a bank account or would have their money taken from the account due to "executions" - payment orders forced on them by courts).
- kleiba 5y ago
  > Is that still widely used? I think manual transfer orders have largely been replaced by direct debit (companies taking the money you owe them straight from your bank account). It depends on how much you trust that company with taking the right amount of money out of your account. Both fraud and honest mistakes on their side are your risks, even though they might be very low risks in practice.
  - emteycz 5y ago
    Over-charging is actually very common, and then it's up to you to notice, then fill many forms (last time I had this problem I had to fill over 10 forms) and then personally visit their branch, and then wait months to get your money back. It's much better to pay by permanent payment order (automatic payment e.g. every month).

Zababa 5y ago

We have checks in France too, they're just not very popular.

vladvasiliu 5y ago
Yeah, it depends, though. A few months ago (in 2021!) I moved, so my old insurance had to reimburse some €40. While they never had any issue with getting paid directly from my bank account, for some reason they couldn't do the reverse and had to send a check.
kolp 5y ago
Here in France, I find that they're still popular with the elderly customers ahead of me at the checkout.
- Scoundreller 5y ago
  https://www.reddit.com/r/TheSimpsons/comments/8zf31q/anyone_else_heed_apus_excellent_advice_at_the/ https://www.reddit.com/r/TheSimpsons/comments/8zf31q/anyone_... … supermarket checkout queue

golergka 5y ago

Same, but about using ATM at all. Don't you guys have contactless payment everywhere? It's 2021, what's the use for cash?

codedokode 5y ago
Bank cards have many disadvantages: - there are fees and commissions for using a card, and there are limits on how much cash you can withdraw daily/monthly - bank also charges the merchant and it makes prices higher for everyone - bank knows what and where you buy, collects this information and can resell it - your name is written on the card and encoded inside, so when you pay the merchant can identify you - cards have a magnetic tape that is unencrypted, can be easily copied. It seems like the only use for this tape is to allow criminals to copy the card. - new cards include RFID label that allows reading data about you and charge your account - if you are suspected to be an "extremist", then the bank will allow you to withdraw only about $150 per month. And you can become a suspect if you post something wrong on the Internet. Cash is obviously better.
- justsomehnguy 5y ago
  > there are fees and commissions for using a card There aren't for you as a customer. Yes, a bank would require the acquiring fee for each transaction but it's already in the price of the item both for the cash and the card. > it makes prices higher for everyone While true deep down there, the price of item is usually still covers all the things including returns, inventory spoilage, breakage and shoplifting. Acquiring fees are ~1-2% so most of the time they don't even register over a markup. > bank knows what and where you buy, collects this information and can resell it Most people are just fine with using an affiliate cards... which are used for exactly the same. > your name is written on the card and encoded inside, so when you pay the merchant can identify you Your card number is a way more unique identifier than some John Doe. > cards have a magnetic tape that is unencrypted, can be easily copied. Everyone (except US) moved from tape to chip and paypass systems which are way more secure. > new cards include RFID label that allows reading data about you and charge your account Only the card number and it is limited for small amounts. > if you are suspected to be an "extremist", then the bank will allow you to withdraw only about $150 per month This is the only thing where cash is obviously better for an ordinary person.

nyokodo 5y ago

> the very idea of having to drive somewhere to physically deposit pieces of paper to transfer money around sounds absurd The reason the US banking system is so relatively slow and manual compared to foreign systems is that the US has never felt a need to create a cheap and efficient federal electronic check clearing system. The US is a capital generating superpower and a marginal improvement in banking would be a drop in the bucket. Most other countries either need quick and efficient banking to maintain their capital generating industries or quick and efficient banking is their industry.