4 ms·
Begs the question - why are wire transfers so expensive in the US? Most banks here charge $25 (and also make it difficult to execute online), yet you can send a
by pge 15y ago
Begs the question - why are wire transfers so expensive in the US? Most banks here charge $25 (and also make it difficult to execute online), yet you can send a check for free. Doesnt make sense.
The only sensible application I've seen is ING's person2person payment application that allows an ING customer to transfer money for free to anyone with an email address. The recipient just has to enter their bank's ABA number and account number.
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- JoshTriplett 15y agoChase has something similar: https://www.chase.com/online/services/quickpay.htm https://www.chase.com/online/services/quickpay.htm
- TillE 15y ago> The recipient just has to enter their bank's ABA number and account number. Sounds like ACH. I don't think it's possible for individuals to use on their own, though. I can just log into my bank in Germany and transfer money to any account in Europe (even in the UK) with zero fees. As mentioned, it's a very common method of payment because it costs nothing to set up or use. Only downside is that transfers usually take a couple days to clear.
- danmaz74 15y agoExactly; it is by far the most common p2p money transfer mechanism here in Italy too. I would never have thought that something like this could cost 25$ per operation in the US..
- icebraining 15y agoHere in Portugal some charge for Internet initiated transfers, but not if you do them through the ATM. Don't ask me why, though. It's still nothing close to $25 - I pay 34 cents.
- roc 15y ago> "why are wire transfers so expensive in the US?" Regulatory capture. There's a ton of financial incentive for the banks and processing networks to push credit. Instead of a simple processing fee that gets pushed to near-zero, they can get a percentage transaction fee from their monopoly network, possibly participation fees from the merchants, lock-in/network effect, they get to push credit debt to increase revenue from the purchaser, they can run 'promotions' and 'rewards' programs to stimulate use, etc. Even before the overdraft racket had a light shined on it, banks and networks were pressuring merchants (through 'incentives') to shift transactions back to credit. They were raising debit processing and card fees in direct response to the revenue effects of consumers switching to debit. Lowering potential debit revenue by cleaning up overdraft nonsense just put the final nail in establishment incentives to support debit.
- wiredfool 15y agoI think the reason that they're so expensive is paperwork. They're not as automated as some of the rest of the system.
- roc 15y agoAnd why do you think they haven't been automated?
- wiredfool 15y agoMy impression from the banks I've worked with is that a wire is a one transaction per file affair, and that a single wire is as much effort as a 10k item ACH file.
- roc 15y agoMy point is just that if there were profit in processing transactions as wire transfers, they'd have been streamlined/automated/replaced with a more-modern equivalent long ago.
- 15y ago
- ph0rque 15y ago$25? My two banks charge $40 and $50. Which banks charge only $25?
- aidenn0 15y agoUSAA charges $20 for outgoing and has no fee for incoming
- kahawe 15y agoIn Germany you could easily end up paying that much for a single cash withdraw from your own German bank account if you end up using the "wrong" ATM... completely ridiculous and nothing but frakking with customers over bank account turf.