4 ms·

I heard some of them also still use pagers! ;) One of the big scams when Cheques were still in use in the UK was that banks would take 7 working days or so to

by axod 17y ago

I heard some of them also still use pagers! ;) One of the big scams when Cheques were still in use in the UK was that banks would take 7 working days or so to 'clear' the cheque. There was no technical need for it, but it made them quite a bit of cash in interest since it was neither in the source account or the destination, the bank could "use" it for 7 days. Many places in the UK refuse to accept cheques now. Which is good. Nothing worse than waiting for students to pay for their drinks at the bar by cheque :) On the down side, AFAIK the change to chip+pin meant the burden of proof also changed - with signature forgeries it was up to banks to prove it was you who signed it. Now it's up to us to prove we didn't tell anyone our 4 digit pin.

RK 17y ago
The only people I have seen in the US who still use pagers are hospital employees and that seems to be based on dubious reasoning at best (besides it possibly cheaper for the hospital). What is the advantage of the chip+pin system versus magnetic strip + pin? A friend of mine was visiting the US from Europe and had one of those cards with the magnetic strip on one side and a smart chip on the other and he tried to use it to buy something in a store here. The first time he swiped it it didn't work and then the people at the store looked at his card and refused to let him use it because they thought it was some kind of "hacking device" or something!
- axod 17y ago
  >> "What is the advantage of the chip+pin system versus magnetic strip + pin?" Copying a magnetic strip is trivial. Hand your card to a waiter and they can swipe it in less than a second and create a clone card. The chip however, is much harder to copy. Several places in the UK will refuse to swipe your card (magnetic), only allowing chip+pin now.
  - RK 17y ago
    Yes, but you still need to enter the PIN.
    - pbhjpbhj 17y ago
      Cardholder Not Present - the PIN is not absolutely required to perform a transaction.
jlees 17y ago
You can't pay for goods with cheques in the UK but they're still reasonably common. I still handle them when: * my grandmother sends me Christmas money * I get an expense refund from the University * my flatmates refund me bills * I need to send money off with a postal form (recently renewed my driving licence and had to unearth my chequebook to do so) * I need to withdraw cash from my business account (there is no card associated with the account because RBS are incompetent morons) * I put a deposit down on a new (rented) flat, or have to pay rent which didn't come out of my bank account as usual due to some wanker committing card fraud and pushing me over my overdraft limit I think that's it, but still definitely in use around these parts, just not for 'everyday' transactions. And if my flatmates/family were more tech savvy, that'd all be done via online banking. However, the push vs pull argument does weaken when you consider Normal People -- they are so trained against 'giving out bank details', that if I wanted to send money to one of my flatmates, he would prefer a cheque over giving me his sort code and account number...
- axod 17y ago
  true, true. Also what's up with buying a house? Buy a car, and you can pay deposit by card. Few grand no problem. But buy a house, and you must go to your bank and get them to give you a bankers draft for the amount which costs you £10 or something.
- pbhjpbhj 17y ago
  You sure can pay for goods with cheques in the UK, many places won't accept them but it's not illegal or anything it's just company policy. On the "not giving out details front", a little tale. I went for pizza on Sunday. The guy at teh counter asked this lady for a name (so he could call her when the pizza was ready) she responds "I don't give out my details" and was quite determined not to give the guy a name to attach to her order. I proffered that he should just call "Bob" when her pizza was ready - he shrugged and completed the transaction ... sadly I didn't get chance to hear her verbally abusing him for calling her "Bob" when her order was done.
billswift 17y ago
Every two weeks when Amazon deposits my Marketplace payment into my bank account (electronically) it takes five working days to clear, the same as if I had deposited a paper check at the bank; the only advantage is that at least I don't have to wait for the mail to get the check to me first.

by axod 17y ago

RK 17y ago

The only people I have seen in the US who still use pagers are hospital employees and that seems to be based on dubious reasoning at best (besides it possibly cheaper for the hospital). What is the advantage of the chip+pin system versus magnetic strip + pin? A friend of mine was visiting the US from Europe and had one of those cards with the magnetic strip on one side and a smart chip on the other and he tried to use it to buy something in a store here. The first time he swiped it it didn't work and then the people at the store looked at his card and refused to let him use it because they thought it was some kind of "hacking device" or something!

axod 17y ago
>> "What is the advantage of the chip+pin system versus magnetic strip + pin?" Copying a magnetic strip is trivial. Hand your card to a waiter and they can swipe it in less than a second and create a clone card. The chip however, is much harder to copy. Several places in the UK will refuse to swipe your card (magnetic), only allowing chip+pin now.
- RK 17y ago
  Yes, but you still need to enter the PIN.
  - pbhjpbhj 17y ago
    Cardholder Not Present - the PIN is not absolutely required to perform a transaction.

jlees 17y ago

You can't pay for goods with cheques in the UK but they're still reasonably common. I still handle them when: * my grandmother sends me Christmas money * I get an expense refund from the University * my flatmates refund me bills * I need to send money off with a postal form (recently renewed my driving licence and had to unearth my chequebook to do so) * I need to withdraw cash from my business account (there is no card associated with the account because RBS are incompetent morons) * I put a deposit down on a new (rented) flat, or have to pay rent which didn't come out of my bank account as usual due to some wanker committing card fraud and pushing me over my overdraft limit I think that's it, but still definitely in use around these parts, just not for 'everyday' transactions. And if my flatmates/family were more tech savvy, that'd all be done via online banking. However, the push vs pull argument does weaken when you consider Normal People -- they are so trained against 'giving out bank details', that if I wanted to send money to one of my flatmates, he would prefer a cheque over giving me his sort code and account number...

axod 17y ago
true, true. Also what's up with buying a house? Buy a car, and you can pay deposit by card. Few grand no problem. But buy a house, and you must go to your bank and get them to give you a bankers draft for the amount which costs you £10 or something.
pbhjpbhj 17y ago
You sure can pay for goods with cheques in the UK, many places won't accept them but it's not illegal or anything it's just company policy. On the "not giving out details front", a little tale. I went for pizza on Sunday. The guy at teh counter asked this lady for a name (so he could call her when the pizza was ready) she responds "I don't give out my details" and was quite determined not to give the guy a name to attach to her order. I proffered that he should just call "Bob" when her pizza was ready - he shrugged and completed the transaction ... sadly I didn't get chance to hear her verbally abusing him for calling her "Bob" when her order was done.

billswift 17y ago

Every two weeks when Amazon deposits my Marketplace payment into my bank account (electronically) it takes five working days to clear, the same as if I had deposited a paper check at the bank; the only advantage is that at least I don't have to wait for the mail to get the check to me first.