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The Long Shadow of Checks

bitsaboutmoney.com

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Re: The Long Shadow of Checks

#51

Post by MikeTheGreat »

stevenjgarner wrote: post #39
spelunker wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, is there a particular reason he uses obscure words like "infelicity"? I'm a native English speaker and I think that is the first time I've heard that word used. Is it really that hard to just use "misfortune"?

His proclivity for sesquipedalianism, manifested in the substitution of "infelicity" for the more pedestrian "misfortune," may have been an artifice to inveigle the reader into a divergent mode of cogitation.

OK,

1) This is awesome :)

and

2) How much of this is you, and how much is ChatGPT? (Or a thesaurus?)

Still, I tip my hat to you! :)

Re: The Long Shadow of Checks

#52

Post by smitty1e »

stevenjgarner wrote: post #39
spelunker wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, is there a particular reason he uses obscure words like "infelicity"? I'm a native English speaker and I think that is the first time I've heard that word used. Is it really that hard to just use "misfortune"?

His proclivity for sesquipedalianism, manifested in the substitution of "infelicity" for the more pedestrian "misfortune," may have been an artifice to inveigle the reader into a divergent mode of cogitation.

Eschew obfuscation.

Re: The Long Shadow of Checks

#53

Post by fn-mote »

reaperducer wrote: post #13

The longer you live, and the more things you do, the more you realize that checks are still alive and well. You still need checks for: Charitable donations - Many charities maximize every penny, and electronic contributions eat into that. Paying my accountant - Good accountants make every penny count, and aren't interested in tithing from their revenue to credit card companies. Tipping the paper boy Tipping the doorm…

> Making IRS payments without a fee

I think you are exaggerating, conflating "checks" with "electronic transfers from my (checking) account".

IRS has an excellent electronic debit system. Sure, the money comes from my checking account. Are you saying that is the same as a check?

> Paying the gas bill. My gas company charges $5+ to pay by credit or debit card. > Paying the electric bill. The electric company charges $5+ to pay by credit or debit card.

e-pay by the bank... is the same as a check? Maybe...

The whole thing about the rent is surprising. I'm surprised you don't get billed for checks. I had a direct-debit-only landlord recently. Surcharge for everything else.

You forgot: your cable company also wants direct access to your bank account and will give you $5/month for the privilege. So consider that a fee for paying any other way.

Re: The Long Shadow of Checks

#54

Post by jrmg »

4ndrewl wrote: post #37
w3ll_w3ll_w3ll wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't undertand why there is not a better alternative in US, like a bank transfer/wire. In the EU, these transfers are often free at most banks, or at most, they incur a fee of 1 or 2 euros.

In the UK it's highly unusual to pay for anything by cheque these days. The vast majority of banks will now charge for cheque deposits for business accounts (perhaps even personal accounts, it's probably been nearly half a decade since I've had a cheque).

The UK planned, in 2009, to phase out cheques by 2018 - but backtracked in 2011: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/frequently-asked-question...

Re: The Long Shadow of Checks

#55

Post by pseingatl »

w3ll_w3ll_w3ll wrote: post #15
reaperducer wrote: post #13

The longer you live, and the more things you do, the more you realize that checks are still alive and well. You still need checks for: Charitable donations - Many charities maximize every penny, and electronic contributions eat into that. Paying my accountant - Good accountants make every penny count, and aren't interested in tithing from their revenue to credit card companies. Tipping the paper boy Tipping the doorm…

I don't undertand why there is not a better alternative in US, like a bank transfer/wire. In the EU, these transfers are often free at most banks, or at most, they incur a fee of 1 or 2 euros.

In most US banks, sending a wire is an "event" since wires often go overseas and so KYC, suspicious transactions and sanctions are implicated. The fact that someone is sending a wire--as opposed to a multinational--is itself evidence of a suspicious transaction.

Re: The Long Shadow of Checks

#57

Post by reaperducer »

jrmg wrote: post #50
reaperducer wrote: post #13

The longer you live, and the more things you do, the more you realize that checks are still alive and well. You still need checks for: Charitable donations - Many charities maximize every penny, and electronic contributions eat into that. Paying my accountant - Good accountants make every penny count, and aren't interested in tithing from their revenue to credit card companies. Tipping the paper boy Tipping the doorm…

I have never considered tipping by check - and have occasionally stiffed people who deserved a tip because I didn’t have enough cash. Is using checks for this really a thing people do? When doing this do you name of the person you’re tipping, or just give them a check with the first line blank?

I don't do it for everyday tips. But for the annual Christmas tips, yes. Like to the doormen or the parking garage valet. Anyone that would get a card, I think it's OK to put a check inside.

But not for tipping the bellhop at a hotel. I think that would be weird.

As for writing checks to people whose name you don't know (or in my case, there are certain doormen whose names I would surely misspell), you just write "Cash" on the name line.

Re: The Long Shadow of Checks

#58

Post by chrismcb »

sneed_chucker wrote: post #19

Honestly, I just hate how insecure and legacy everything involving banking in this country is. For example, payroll - there's literally no reason your employer needs to store your account and routing number as another piece of your personal info that they can lose when some hacker finds out their MySQL admin password is "admin" Like, the system should be that you give your employer your banks name, plus a UUID associ…

Laws. The American banking system has to many draconian regulations coupled with "know your customer" and any money laundering laws, it makes banking difficult. And hard to disrupt

Re: The Long Shadow of Checks

#59

Post by chrismcb »

clintonb wrote: post #24
sneed_chucker wrote: post #19

Honestly, I just hate how insecure and legacy everything involving banking in this country is. For example, payroll - there's literally no reason your employer needs to store your account and routing number as another piece of your personal info that they can lose when some hacker finds out their MySQL admin password is "admin" Like, the system should be that you give your employer your banks name, plus a UUID associ…

> It would be trivial to implement and make things much more secure… If it were truly trivial, this would have been implemented long ago. This isn’t a pure engineering problem as much as it’s a “convincing people to do it” problem.

The implementation is trivial. But the regulations aren't.

Re: The Long Shadow of Checks

#60

Post by toasterlovin »

blacksmith_tb wrote: post #49
paulddraper wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As an American, I am perplexed by the fill-now-pay-after European gas pumps. I suppose something like that can only exist in a high trust environment.

Not trying to wade into a continental dispute, but weren't gas pumps in the US also fill-then-pay until maybe 10-15 yr ago? I find it strange that you now have to basically guess about how much it will cost and then authorize a purchase up to that amount, instead of, you know, paying for however much actually got pumped (at today's price).

You typically authorize payment with a card before pumping, then the final amount is captured by the gas station after you're done. You only have to guess the amount if you're paying cash or if the pump card reader is broken and you have to pay inside.

It's the same concept as paying for a meal at a sit down restaurant: they authorize your card for the check amount plus some extra, then you write in the tip on the receipt, then the restaurant captures the correct amount later (at least, that's historically how it works, many restaurants are shifting to payment terminals where it's all done at once).

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