My US bank allows you to pay bills via the Internet. So I put in the details of my cable TV account, and then it said "payment will be sent by check, please allow 5 to 7 business days for payment". Unbelievable as it is, the US still uses cheques for a lot of payment. Even an automatic payment via Internet banking may very well be mailed by cheque and take over a week.
I found this hard to believe and have since joined a credit union which will pay many bills within a day. But even that has a strange twist. To pay off a credit card at another bank takes one day from the credit union "checking" account. However, to transfer money from my credit union checking account to my credit union Visa account takes three days for the payment to clear with Visa. It is quicker to pay my visa bill at another bank than make a transfer to the credit union Visa account.
Why does this all seem so old fashioned and really a bit ridiculous? Because in November 1997 all the Australian banks got together and agreed to introduce BPay. A single system for payments between billers and banks. A few years later it moved from phones to the Internet and means that Australians don't need give a minute's thought to how they will get money from one account to another or how they will get money to a biller. In the US you can often get by with credit cards, but for some things like rent and school excursions, you can only pay by cheque.
Showing posts with label money. Show all posts
Showing posts with label money. Show all posts
Monday, May 7, 2012
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Currency
For a capitalist nation American has a strange relationship with its currency. They have notes and coins that are rarely used. And if you give them anything over a twenty, they'll treat you like a criminal.
I know the 50 cent coin and the $2 note exist, but I've never seen one. What sort of strange conspiracy makes that work? Shop keepers don't get them from the bank, so never give them out as change, so no one ever has one. The same goes for the $1 coin, although I have got some from vending machines occasionally. Meanwhile, my wallet fills with $1 notes.
Schools teach children how to add and give change using pictures of quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies - but half dollars, not so much.
And it's not just the small denominations. I once tried to pay a $10 admission fee with a $50 note. The attendant was most put out. She looked at it and huffed and puffed. I think I was meant to react somehow, but I was just surprised by her antics. I mean, her till was full of $10 and $20 notes. It's not like she didn't have any change. She scratched it and held it up to the light before begrudgingly giving me four $10 notes as change.
This is not a once off. Whenever you try and pay with a fifty it will get scratched, because we all know that counterfeiters use ink that just rubs off.
So don't be surprised if you withdraw $500 from an ATM and get a handful of $20 notes. Anything bigger and you'd only have to go inside the bank to change it for notes you could spend.
I know the 50 cent coin and the $2 note exist, but I've never seen one. What sort of strange conspiracy makes that work? Shop keepers don't get them from the bank, so never give them out as change, so no one ever has one. The same goes for the $1 coin, although I have got some from vending machines occasionally. Meanwhile, my wallet fills with $1 notes.
Schools teach children how to add and give change using pictures of quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies - but half dollars, not so much.
And it's not just the small denominations. I once tried to pay a $10 admission fee with a $50 note. The attendant was most put out. She looked at it and huffed and puffed. I think I was meant to react somehow, but I was just surprised by her antics. I mean, her till was full of $10 and $20 notes. It's not like she didn't have any change. She scratched it and held it up to the light before begrudgingly giving me four $10 notes as change.
This is not a once off. Whenever you try and pay with a fifty it will get scratched, because we all know that counterfeiters use ink that just rubs off.
So don't be surprised if you withdraw $500 from an ATM and get a handful of $20 notes. Anything bigger and you'd only have to go inside the bank to change it for notes you could spend.
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