141–150 of 151 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
In the UK we can do all that with debit cards, only there's no monthly bill to occasionally forget to pay.
I get refunds (i.e. negative fees) when I buy something on my credit card. I'm not aware of any debit card that offers that.
> While there are no really good alternatives to moving money domestically except via check Does the U.S. really not have customer-to-customer wire transfers from regular banks? I'm continually amazed by how terrible your banking system is.
They cost about $20 and some banks double-charge (i.e. charge the recipient as well as the sender).
Also the nice thing about banks is that they don't like to make mistakes, and are better about reversing errors than any other industry.
The only downside is that it takes about 3 days for money to move - apparently that's the speed that the checking network moves, but since paper checks have legal guarantees, the banks are willing to take the risk during that time - that's how you can cash a check and have it "bounce" after you've already withdrawn the procedes from it. Without the paper check, you just have to wait for the EFT system to do what it does (and the technology is old and weird - I think it was designed in the mainframe days - so it's all based on batches of processing, instead of on-line immediate stuff)
Earlier quoted context omitted.
When did you open those accounts? "Know Your Customer" (which basically translates to SSN, government-issued photo ID, and blacklist checks) has been required of all US banks since 2003 thanks to the 2001 PATRIOT Act. When I was 15, I was able to open a checking account by mail with no ID. Today, every bank I use lists government-issued photo ID as a requirement right on the website before you can start applying.
I work at a major online bank in the US. We have strong "Know Your Customer" policies as required by the Patriot Act, but they do not, in the normal course of business, require a copy of an ID. The Patriot Act does not require IDs, it requires processes to identify the customer, and different banks approach that differently.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is not true, it obviously varies by bank. Bank of America allows free online transfers to other B of A accounts, and it costs between $3 and $10 to transfer to accounts outside the bank. The $3 option to transfer between banks is pretty fast, while the free, inside bank option is instantaneous.
As a counter point, in 2005, I had a BofA branch in New Mexico say I need a business account to do a transfer to a BofA in Washington state - and otherwise they’d do a wire transfer for $50. (When I was in Wa state transferring to NM was free.) It could be time has made things better - or it could be you live in one of the better BofA fiefdoms...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I work at a major online bank in the US. We have strong "Know Your Customer" policies as required by the Patriot Act, but they do not, in the normal course of business, require a copy of an ID. The Patriot Act does not require IDs, it requires processes to identify the customer, and different banks approach that differently.
Is that a relic of their being a Dutch bank until last year, or did CapitalOne actually change their application process at all?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I haven't ever been subject to differing costs between credit/debit card and cash prices, with the sole exception of the liquor store. Are there specific stores in the US that do this?
have you ever used your credit card at gas station?
But yes, and most gas stations I've ever used don't have a cash and credit price.
Me too. I was totally frustrated when trying to signup. I didn't have the paper work they wanted, and so I had to use another service. I understand that fraud is serious. However, I'm very disappointed that I wasted a lot of time trying to signup with them too.
Why is it that people think that they can open a payment account, transfer thousands of dollars into it as their first transaction and no one will ask any questions or be the least bit suspicious?
Yes I was kind of thinking of filing this under "the 1% problem". Who does that much money first time around?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
As a counter point, in 2005, I had a BofA branch in New Mexico say I need a business account to do a transfer to a BofA in Washington state - and otherwise they’d do a wire transfer for $50. (When I was in Wa state transferring to NM was free.) It could be time has made things better - or it could be you live in one of the better BofA fiefdoms...
You do know it's 2013, correct? :)
I personally would prefer to never have to change banks again in my life - and since my banking has been near entirely online since the late '90s that has seemed reasonable for almost 2 decades.
In fact Citibank closed down my account type/product, and required I go through the whole rigmarole to set up a new account (vs just converting my account). Wells Fargo, started requiring fingerprints to do any action with my account. (Bad neighborhood - but depositing a check shouldn't require a fingerprint. ) And BofA did the above when I was flying between Seattle and Santa Fe every 3 weeks.
After BofA I switched to a local bank in Los Alamos (a town I've not been to in 5 years at this point) and it's working out splendidly.
Maybe the time you spent doing it the way you used to do was not in vain at all. Security is not really something you can sell at a poor price. If they can lower their prices, and if their business allows them to retain your money, maybe they want to target clients who are 120% cristal clear clean, because that's how most client are. They're not bugged by that tiny percentage of people they prefer not to validate bec…
"That's like calling brown people terrorists. That's not racist or mean. That's just unfortunate." - Wait what?
Now back to how corporations filter things. How would you do it ? Nobody wants to do it.