5 ms·

In the unlikely event you are unaware, person to person wire transfers just scream fraud to a bank. So write out a check. Big deal.

• shishy 4y ago
  I've paid for plenty of things with wire transfers to another person, domestically and internationally, without any complaints from my bank. Writing a check isn't always feasible depending on where they are.
• alistairSH 4y ago
  What sane (private party) seller is going to accept a check? With it's 2+ week delay in validation, high fraud levels, etc. That's a hard no for me.
  • crazygringo 4y ago
    A cashier's check, not a personal check. Every sane seller will receive one, it's literally what they're meant for. There's no fraud when it's a check from a bank.
    • chillfox 4y ago
      I don't see why that would be any more trustworthy, How do I know if the bank is trustworthy and is going to honor it? I literally had one of the big banks in Australia steal several thousands from me by "loosing" paperwork in their internal mail service TWICE. I had to make a big show of photographing it and bringing a witness for the third time to stick. I obviously switched banks after that experience, but it definitely made me realize that even big respected banks can't be trusted.
      • crazygringo 4y ago
        Of course it's more trustworthy. It's money drawn on a regulated financial institution, not some random person's personal account. And you can call a bank and verify that the cashier's check is valid, so fraud is impossible. Calling for verification is standard practice. And then you deposit that cashier's check at your own bank. If banks stop accepting each other's cashier's checks, that means the entire financial system has basically collapsed and you've got bigger things to worry about. I get that you had an issue with paperwork, and that sucks, but that has zero bearing on the trustworthiness of cashier's checks.
        • chillfox 4y ago
          To be honest, these comments here on hacker news is the first time I have ever heard about the concept of cashier's checks. If someone had tried to hand me one of those for something expensive I was selling before today I would have thought they were trying to pull a fast one and scam me. I feel like I would need to see the law guaranteeing these cashier's checks before I could put any trust in them. If they are just another financial product then I don't see how they supposedly are any safer than the other dubious financial products that banks dream up. I have always just used transfers, even for large amounts, they are mandated by law to be same day here.
          • crazygringo 4y ago
            I don't know where you live (Australia?) but in the US cashier's checks are standard. For decades, if you close one bank account and open another, you transfer the money with a cashier's check. If you pay first month's rent and deposit on an apartment you're renting, you do it with a cashier's check before you're allowed to pick up the keys. Any time you're dealing with thousands of dollars between parties who don't trust each other, it's cashier's check. You don't need to see the law any more than you need to see the law to know that if you put a stamp on a letter it will get delivered by the post office. Cashier's checks aren't another financial product, they've been around for a lot longer than you or me. (If you're not in the US then practices might be different, I don't know.)
            • alistairSH 4y ago
              I'm in the US. I've never used a cashiers check, either as a payee or payer. :shrug:
              • deleted 4y ago
                [deleted]
    • alistairSH 4y ago
      The OP said "write a check" which implies a personal check. A cashiers check is better than a personal check, but not forge-proof. For a business, there are different rules and risk thresholds. But for me, if I'm selling something valuable (car, high-end bicycle) to an untrusted party, it's cash or wire.
      • crazygringo 4y ago
        It is forge-proof because it's standard practice to call the bank to verify it's legit. If you're selling something valuable, cash can be counterfeit and you can be robbed. Cashier's check is standard and always possible, and I can't imagine why you wouldn't accept it. Wire is a good extra option but it's not always possible.
        • MerelyMortal 4y ago
          "standard practice" ≠ forge-proof. That's the most absurd thing I've read today.
          • crazygringo 4y ago
            I mean call it "scam proof" if you want to be pedantic? Point is, if you want to make sure you're not scammed by a forged cashier's check, you can easily do so. You can protect yourself from being scammed by a forgery, so it doesn't seem unreasonable to call it forge-proof.
            • omgbear 4y ago
              So get a cashier's check from the bank. Forge a second copy. Now any caller to the bank will get an okay. On deposit, bank, with better abilities to detect fraudulent paper will determine one of the two is not real. That doesn't seem forge-proof. Bounce proof maybe, but that assumes you can tell the document in your hand is the original.
              • crazygringo 4y ago
• trasz 4y ago
  A check, in XXI century? :-D
• SketchySeaBeast 4y ago
  Certified/Cashier's check.
• inglor_cz 4y ago
  Where I live, person to person wire transfers are absolutely normal. Probably because checks have never been much of a thing. I have seen like 3 in my life and all of those originated in the US.
  • chillfox 4y ago
    yep, I have seen one check when I was like 7 and have absolutely zero confidence that I would be able to tell a real one from a fake. I don't think my bank even does checks. It doesn't do physical branches either, so how would I even deposit one.