What Happens When You ACH a Dead Person? • Hacker News Board

Re: What Happens When You ACH a Dead Person?

#221

Post by GhettoMaestro » Thu, Aug 29, 2019, 3:51 PM UTC

pbreit wrote: post #109

GhettoMaestro wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yup. Just transferred $2K from my PayPal account (ebay sales) to my checking account. Slight clarification: PayPal caps the transfer fees at $10.

Folks do realize that paying 1% to speed up a transfer by 1-2 days is equivalent to a 180%-365% interest loan?

I love when folks over-analyze stuff like this.

I had $2K in my Paypal account. I had about $1200 in my primary checking account. And another few Gs in savings.

I needed to pay a $2700 expense. I could have transfered from the savings, but you are restricted to the number of times per year you can do that, without penalty.

TLDR: I have no problem sacrificing $10 to get immediate access to another $2K in cash, with the thought co-resident in my mind that I do not want to incur any potential savings -> checking with-drawl penalties.

The APR in this case is meaningless to me completely. $10 for low latency access to my cash is a small price to pay, versus waiting a day or longer for slower (free) transfer methods to complete.

Re: What Happens When You ACH a Dead Person?

#222

Post by Scoundreller » Thu, Aug 29, 2019, 9:33 PM UTC

lotsofpulp wrote: post #201

Scoundreller wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use checks to pay vendors I don’t like, like the for-profit power utility my building forces me to use. I have stamps to use up, and it costs them probably $7-$10 to handle it.

There is no way depositing a check costs $7 to $10 for any decent size business as they’re already probably handling checks. If anything, a check payment is cheaper as it’s more secure for the recipient in case of a dispute.

Someone has to open it. Someone has to key it into a billing system. Someone has to scan it. Someone has to archive it. Some process needs to occur to verify that the payment indeed went through.

I doubt their remote deposit app is any less clunky than the consumer one they give me. If it’s better, they’re paying for it.

Someone needs to manage those people. And they need space to do their work.

I could see it taking 15 minutes in total labour costs.

Re: What Happens When You ACH a Dead Person?

#223

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Aug 30, 2019, 12:28 AM UTC

Scoundreller wrote: post #222

lotsofpulp wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no way depositing a check costs $7 to $10 for any decent size business as they’re already probably handling checks. If anything, a check payment is cheaper as it’s more secure for the recipient in case of a dispute.

Someone has to open it. Someone has to key it into a billing system. Someone has to scan it. Someone has to archive it. Some process needs to occur to verify that the payment indeed went through. I doubt their remote deposit app is any less clunky than the consumer one they give me. If it’s better, they’re paying for it. Someone needs to manage those people. And they need space to do their work. I could see it taking…

[deleted]

Re: What Happens When You ACH a Dead Person?

#224

Post by lotsofpulp » Fri, Aug 30, 2019, 12:29 AM UTC

Scoundreller wrote: post #222

lotsofpulp wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no way depositing a check costs $7 to $10 for any decent size business as they’re already probably handling checks. If anything, a check payment is cheaper as it’s more secure for the recipient in case of a dispute.

Someone has to open it. Someone has to key it into a billing system. Someone has to scan it. Someone has to archive it. Some process needs to occur to verify that the payment indeed went through. I doubt their remote deposit app is any less clunky than the consumer one they give me. If it’s better, they’re paying for it. Someone needs to manage those people. And they need space to do their work. I could see it taking…

Those people likely do many other tasks. Removing checks from the equation would not eliminate their jobs.

Re: What Happens When You ACH a Dead Person?

#225

Post by cosmie » Fri, Aug 30, 2019, 3:48 PM UTC

Scoundreller wrote: post #222

lotsofpulp wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no way depositing a check costs $7 to $10 for any decent size business as they’re already probably handling checks. If anything, a check payment is cheaper as it’s more secure for the recipient in case of a dispute.

Someone has to open it. Someone has to key it into a billing system. Someone has to scan it. Someone has to archive it. Some process needs to occur to verify that the payment indeed went through. I doubt their remote deposit app is any less clunky than the consumer one they give me. If it’s better, they’re paying for it. Someone needs to manage those people. And they need space to do their work. I could see it taking…

It's entirely possible that all of those someones are outsourced. If they're using a lockbox service[1], the entire cost of processing your mailed check can come out to less than $1 (substantially less with sufficient volume). And at the same time, many lockbox services will expose your data to offshore contractors doing the manual components.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lock_box

Re: What Happens When You ACH a Dead Person?

#226

Post by gpvos » Wed, Sep 04, 2019, 5:25 AM UTC

kalleboo wrote: post #202

mattmcknight wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, having them control the amount and timing of the transfer is exactly what I am trying to avoid. I can easily set up direct debit, but it has led to too many erroneous and poorly timed withdrawals.

In Sweden we have an e-billing system where your bills show up as PDFs in your internet bank and then you hit accept or deny (and they go in a queue to pay on either the due date or a date you pick). You can also set it to auto-accept new bills from the same company if you want to emulate how direct debit works (with the added benefit of having a period of time between the bill coming in and the due date to verify th…

In the Netherlands, we had that for some time but sadly it didn't catch on with the utility companies, housing associations, insurers etc., and has been discontinued. I would love such a central place to manage my bills and pay them on my own time instead of using direct debit which most of them nudge us to use now by introducing costs for other payment methods.