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This is definitely "your mileage may vary." > * No chip and pin. You still sign credit card slips. Well, there's "just PIN," but yeah. > * You have to intera

This is definitely "your mileage may vary." > * No chip and pin. You still sign credit card slips. Well, there's "just PIN," but yeah. > * You have to interact with the branch where you set up your account for a bewildering array of things. I opened my last two bank (checking and savings) accounts entirely online, one with an online-focused bank (USAA) and one as brick and mortar (technically, a credit union, but same basic concept), no visit necessary. > * Sending a wire transfer overseas involves sitting in a branch and filling in reams of paper work. Chase let me send a wire transfer internationally (to a foreign government, no less) entirely through their online banking system. The "privilege" cost me $40 (damn) but it did work. > * Bank account numbers are treated as secret information - they are starred out in the online banking interface! Apparently, it I know your bank account number I can take your money? Yep, unfortunately. That goes along with: > * No obvious equivalent to the UK direct debit system for automatic bill payments. I can give my routing number and bank account number to a biller and they can cheerfully slurp as much money as they like from my account. Hopefully it's the correct amount. If it isn't, there's a regulation that allows me to fix it but it takes a few days and phone calls. > * People still use cheques for things! Which you have to pay extra for (you actually buy cheques from your bank). And "electronic banking" incorporates mobile apps that scan cheques. I buy checks from Checks-in-the-Mail, a third-party reseller, for a few bucks every couple of years because... > * As a general rule, paying someone some money (for rent, for example) is fraught with difficulty, especially if you hold a non-US bank account. I write checks for my rent. My apartment building has an online payment system but charges $4.95 for the "privilege" of paying electronically or $39.95 (holy cow) to pay by debit or credit card. Sadly, paying by sliding a check under the door of the management office is still free, so I do that.

5555624 13y ago
> I write checks for my rent. My apartment building has an online payment system but charges $4.95 for the "privilege" of paying electronically or $39.95 (holy cow) to pay by debit or credit card. Sadly, paying by sliding a check under the door of the management office is still free, so I do that. If your apartment rents for $X that's what they want, not ($X - credit card fee), which can add up. The last place I lived was as you described, except it was $45 by credit card. Where I live now, I'm not sure what the credit card fee is, but they finally dropped the fee to pay electronically from your checking account.
doppel 13y ago
In Denmark, most companies charge you less of you go with automated billing - it's usually set up to happen around the 2nd-5th at the start of every month (although some have cycles that only run every 3 months). There is no risk to you as a consumer, you have to either give them permission to set it up on your behalf or you basically use the first request for money to set it up (there's a bunch of numbers you enter and VOILA it works). Also, you can cancel these at any time from your end (but your landlord might not be too happy with that).
a-priori 13y ago
I write checks for my rent. My apartment building has an online payment system but charges $4.95 for the "privilege" of paying electronically or $39.95 (holy cow) to pay by debit or credit card. Sadly, paying by sliding a check under the door of the management office is still free, so I do that. Canadian here. I still use cheques for rent as well. Once a year I give the landlord a set of twelve post-dated rent cheques, and they deposit one a month. If I move out before the end of the year, I ask for all the unused ones back and void them. If they were to not return them, I have the cheque numbers so I would go to the bank and stop them. It works out pretty well, all things considered. They're post-dated, so the landlord can't deposit them before the start of the month, and I don't have to remember to cut a cheque each month. I just have to ensure there's money in the account. It does feel old-fashioned to write out a cheque by hand these days.

5555624 13y ago

> I write checks for my rent. My apartment building has an online payment system but charges $4.95 for the "privilege" of paying electronically or $39.95 (holy cow) to pay by debit or credit card. Sadly, paying by sliding a check under the door of the management office is still free, so I do that. If your apartment rents for $X that's what they want, not ($X - credit card fee), which can add up. The last place I lived was as you described, except it was $45 by credit card. Where I live now, I'm not sure what the credit card fee is, but they finally dropped the fee to pay electronically from your checking account.

doppel 13y ago

In Denmark, most companies charge you less of you go with automated billing - it's usually set up to happen around the 2nd-5th at the start of every month (although some have cycles that only run every 3 months). There is no risk to you as a consumer, you have to either give them permission to set it up on your behalf or you basically use the first request for money to set it up (there's a bunch of numbers you enter and VOILA it works). Also, you can cancel these at any time from your end (but your landlord might not be too happy with that).

a-priori 13y ago

I write checks for my rent. My apartment building has an online payment system but charges $4.95 for the "privilege" of paying electronically or $39.95 (holy cow) to pay by debit or credit card. Sadly, paying by sliding a check under the door of the management office is still free, so I do that. Canadian here. I still use cheques for rent as well. Once a year I give the landlord a set of twelve post-dated rent cheques, and they deposit one a month. If I move out before the end of the year, I ask for all the unused ones back and void them. If they were to not return them, I have the cheque numbers so I would go to the bank and stop them. It works out pretty well, all things considered. They're post-dated, so the landlord can't deposit them before the start of the month, and I don't have to remember to cut a cheque each month. I just have to ensure there's money in the account. It does feel old-fashioned to write out a cheque by hand these days.