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snebes

macrumors 6502a
Apr 20, 2008
810
712
And what would money transfer involve (that is different chan using a check)?

Probably a phone app, just like it does in the US. Doesn't your bank offer a person 2 person payment service? I can't think of a big bank that doesn't.
 

wordoflife

macrumors 604
Jul 6, 2009
7,564
37
we use "SEPA" to transfer money to recipients all over europe for free. you just put in the number of the bank and the private account id and the money gets taken from your account to his.

also i heard the US is only now implementing chips on their credit cards and you simply have to swipe? no pin?

I think its easier for me to cash a check that comes to me instead of having to find my account and routing number and put it on some other website.

Also yes, the US is starting to get chips on their credit card. However, they will mostly be chip & signature instead of chip & pin. There are some banks which are sending chip & pin cards for traveling abroad, but most of them are chip & signature. It still causes some problems because chip & sig won't work in unmanned terminals, like they have in train stations in Europe. Because it cannot take your signature. You have to let the clerk swipe it and the machine will print out a signature slip. Or you need to get a chip & pin card for traveling.

I would be careful not to associate the US' recent distribution of chip cards as being in the past. While chip cards are safer, the US doesn't really make many offline transactions, unlike Europe where a lot of transactions occur offline. (not connected to the credit company's network). Since credit card information isn't saved in the US, the need and use for a chip is far lower.
 

unplugme71

macrumors 68030
May 20, 2011
2,827
754
Earth
Yup. When you write a check for an amount that is basically exact without change, like $40.00 or $100.00 you have to write it out as well and your options are to do something like "Forty and 00/100 dollars" or something like "Forty only dollars" essentially.

I used to write Forty Even but now I just write Forty ----------------------------- Dollars

Stupid to write forty dollars when the check already says dollars, so I just draw a long line to make it so people can't tack anything before or after it.

I also hate the fact that writing out 17,831.73 barely fits on a check. Maybe I just need to write much smaller.
 

C DM

macrumors Sandy Bridge
Oct 17, 2011
51,390
19,458
Probably a phone app, just like it does in the US. Doesn't your bank offer a person 2 person payment service? I can't think of a big bank that doesn't.
Not sure how that would work with some entity dispersing funds from a settlement to a bunch of different people.
 

rworne

macrumors 6502a
Jul 23, 2002
653
124
Los Angeles
This is still BS that was one of the worst moves in recent history to advertise the service in the keynote and 6 months later kill it. They should have given them back the full difference between the 3g and wifi models

It was worse than that.

Remember the rollout of the 1st gen iPad? Lots of shortages. Weeks-long waiting for shipping.

I managed to get mine on launch day and had signed up for the AT&T plan. Just a mere couple of days after my first "renewal" (the plan was live, what 34 days?) and the announcement the unlimited plan was canceled. People still were waiting for their iPads to ship and never got a chance to sign up in the first place.
 

spazzcat

macrumors 68040
Jun 29, 2007
3,574
4,398
I think its easier for me to cash a check that comes to me instead of having to find my account and routing number and put it on some other website.

Also yes, the US is starting to get chips on their credit card. However, they will mostly be chip & signature instead of chip & pin. There are some banks which are sending chip & pin cards for traveling abroad, but most of them are chip & signature. It still causes some problems because chip & sig won't work in unmanned terminals, like they have in train stations in Europe. Because it cannot take your signature. You have to let the clerk swipe it and the machine will print out a signature slip. Or you need to get a chip & pin card for traveling.

I would be careful not to associate the US' recent distribution of chip cards as being in the past. While chip cards are safer, the US doesn't really make many offline transactions, unlike Europe where a lot of transactions occur offline. (not connected to the credit company's network). Since credit card information isn't saved in the US, the need and use for a chip is far lower.

I'm pretty sure starting next year you will have to start using a chip and pin in the US. I've not heard of anyone using chip and sign?
 

Gasu E.

macrumors 603
Mar 20, 2004
5,029
3,138
Not far from Boston, MA.
we use "SEPA" to transfer money to recipients all over europe for free. you just put in the number of the bank and the private account id and the money gets taken from your account to his.

That presumes you have a bank account. The payer can't assume that in a class action suit. It's easier to just send a check to everyone, than to have some interaction where they request your preferred method and then send it out multiple ways.

I rarely use checks nowadays, but there are occasions where it just makes sense.

----------

I used to write Forty Even but now I just write Forty ----------------------------- Dollars

Stupid to write forty dollars when the check already says dollars, so I just draw a long line to make it so people can't tack anything before or after it.

The first time I read this, I thought you meant you write "Forty (censored) Dollars."
 

BruiserB

macrumors 68000
Aug 9, 2008
1,728
701
And what would money transfer involve (that is different than using a check)?

I lived in Switzerland for 3 years....they don't have checks. All bills come with an identically formatted blue payment slip which can be taken to a bank/post office and paid for with cash, or can be machine read by an ATM and the money is taken from your account, or you can enter the info from them into your online banking account and pay your bill. Nobody mails a payment back to the biller, all paying is done through the banking system. There are pink versions of the same slips that can be filled in manually and used for one off payments to individuals, charities, etc. Store transactions are all by debit or credit card.

I lived in Australia for 3 years....checks do exist, but nobody has them for personal use. The only one I ever got was when I sold my car and was paid with a bank check. Store transactions are all done with EFTPOS (Electronic Funds Transfer Point of Sale) which is your debit card. Bills come with the biller's BSB and Account number which is equivalent to a Routing and Account Number here. You use online banking to push money to their account. You also make payments to individuals by pushing money from your account to another person's BSB/Account Number. A difference from the US ACH system is that having someone's BSB/Account Number only allows you to push money into their account....having someone else's account info can't be used to pull money from their account. For instance if you have a recurring payment to someone, you go to your bank's website and set up to have a recurring payment pushed to the biller; You don't give your details to the biller to have them regularly pull the money. This seems to eliminate any security risk of having someone know your account details....the worst they could do is give you money!

So other countries are way ahead of the US's antiquated system.
 

DJsteveSD

macrumors regular
Mar 4, 2011
175
19
Dallas, TX
OT: always amazes me that the US uses checks. i dont think ive actually touched or seen a check first hand in my entire life

it amazes me too (and I work in banking) but SO many people do not have bank accounts here there isnt much else they can do.
 

Mr Rabbit

macrumors 6502a
May 13, 2013
638
5
'merica
What about iPhone?

In Dec 2012 I signed a 2 year contract for unlimited data on my AT&T iPhone 4S. About two months later I started being completely shut down (they called it throttling but I couldn't open a website) after 3gb.

I was thinking the same thing. It wasn't terribly long (maybe mid 3G iPhone lifespan) until AT&T killed unlimited data plans for the iPhone, even though that was a huge selling point presented when it was unveiled.

I'm still grandfathered in at the $30 rate but get throttle notices when I hit around 5GB. It'd be nice to see them get hit a bit for that move as well.
 

C DM

macrumors Sandy Bridge
Oct 17, 2011
51,390
19,458
I lived in Switzerland for 3 years....they don't have checks. All bills come with an identically formatted blue payment slip which can be taken to a bank/post office and paid for with cash, or can be machine read by an ATM and the money is taken from your account, or you can enter the info from them into your online banking account and pay your bill. Nobody mails a payment back to the biller, all paying is done through the banking system. There are pink versions of the same slips that can be filled in manually and used for one off payments to individuals, charities, etc. Store transactions are all by debit or credit card.

I lived in Australia for 3 years....checks do exist, but nobody has them for personal use. The only one I ever got was when I sold my car and was paid with a bank check. Store transactions are all done with EFTPOS (Electronic Funds Transfer Point of Sale) which is your debit card. Bills come with the biller's BSB and Account number which is equivalent to a Routing and Account Number here. You use online banking to push money to their account. You also make payments to individuals by pushing money from your account to another person's BSB/Account Number. A difference from the US ACH system is that having someone's BSB/Account Number only allows you to push money into their account....having someone else's account info can't be used to pull money from their account. For instance if you have a recurring payment to someone, you go to your bank's website and set up to have a recurring payment pushed to the biller; You don't give your details to the biller to have them regularly pull the money. This seems to eliminate any security risk of having someone know your account details....the worst they could do is give you money!

So other countries are way ahead of the US's antiquated system.
In a situation like this one though a check seems like the simpler and faster way to go still.
 

C DM

macrumors Sandy Bridge
Oct 17, 2011
51,390
19,458
it amazes me too (and I work in banking) but SO many people do not have bank accounts here there isnt much else they can do.
And there's that too certainly--getting money to someone who doesn't have a bank account for whatever reason.
 

mikethebigo

macrumors 68020
May 25, 2009
2,277
1,105
It still amazes me that it's legal to have "no class-action provisions" in contracts.
 

aarond12

macrumors 65816
May 20, 2002
1,145
107
Dallas, TX USA
Got my check yesterday. Considering I used maybe TWO months of data on my iPad 1 3G, I am pretty happy. Most of the time I wanted the 3G capability for the GPS functionality on the iPad.
 

spazzcat

macrumors 68040
Jun 29, 2007
3,574
4,398
You're right about using the chip (instead of swiping) but most US issued cards will require a signature, not a pin.

http://www.cardhub.com/edu/chip-and-pin-vs-chip-and-signature/

This all changed after the Target issue last winter. Starting next year, it will be very expense for companies to not take chip and pin cc in the US. Everyone will be getting new cards in the next year.

http://www.qsrmagazine.com/exclusives/are-you-ready-emv
"By October 2015, all restaurants and other merchants will be subjected to new Europay, Mastercard, and Visa (EMV) standards, which reflect a shift from magnetic-stripe credit cards to chip-and-pin cards. Considered safer and widely used across Europe and other nations, the chip-based cards require insertion of the card into a terminal throughout the entire transaction."

"EMV compliance is required for credit card acquirers and processors, though it’s not mandated for merchants and processors. But merchants who don’t meet compliance by October 2015 will assume liability for fraudulent purchases—a shift that is poised to drive many to adopt the new standards and avoid the risk."
 

furi0usbee

macrumors 68000
Jul 11, 2008
1,790
1,381
Money transfer, like the rest of the modern world is using. :) This is really one of the things that the US is stuck in the past. Sending and receiving money on paper by mail.

Money transfer to where? A personal account? A third party service? You know how expensive it would be for processing fees for all of those people? A paper check is still the cheapest method they can use. And like I said, they are hoping some people don't cash them before the deadline so they don't have to pay those out.

In the US they could use ACH, but people would need to submit bank account information, and have fun getting everyone to do that. Simple, send a check.
 

wordoflife

macrumors 604
Jul 6, 2009
7,564
37
This all changed after the Target issue last winter. Starting next year, it will be very expense for companies to not take chip and pin cc in the US. Everyone will be getting new cards in the next year.

http://www.qsrmagazine.com/exclusives/are-you-ready-emv
"By October 2015, all restaurants and other merchants will be subjected to new Europay, Mastercard, and Visa (EMV) standards, which reflect a shift from magnetic-stripe credit cards to chip-and-pin cards. Considered safer and widely used across Europe and other nations, the chip-based cards require insertion of the card into a terminal throughout the entire transaction."

"EMV compliance is required for credit card acquirers and processors, though it’s not mandated for merchants and processors. But merchants who don’t meet compliance by October 2015 will assume liability for fraudulent purchases—a shift that is poised to drive many to adopt the new standards and avoid the risk."

I don't really trust that source.
Considered safer and widely used across Europe and other nations, the chip-based cards require insertion of the card into a terminal throughout the entire transaction.

Seems like the author makes the distinction that from now on with a chip, you have to insert your card instead of swipe it. Yes, that's understood. You have to do that either with a chip & pin or chip & signature card.

It is easy to look at "EMV" and quickly think of chip & pin. However, EMV can come in pin or sig form. As I mentioned before, most US banks are issuing chip & sig. Perhaps in the future more pin cards will become available. But right now the intended path going forward in the US is for chip & sig cards.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chip_and_signature

Edit: If you don't believe me you can call any major credit card issuer and see what they say. I have cards from Citi, Chase, and American Express with a chip on it and none of them have pins associated with them. I am always asked to sign, not enter a pin.
 
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tbayrgs

macrumors 604
Jul 5, 2009
7,339
4,865
Money transfer to where? A personal account? A third party service? You know how expensive it would be for processing fees for all of those people? A paper check is still the cheapest method they can use. And like I said, they are hoping some people don't cash them before the deadline so they don't have to pay those out.

In the US they could use ACH, but people would need to submit bank account information, and have fun getting everyone to do that. Simple, send a check.

I agree with you regarding people supplying their individual account information to request a transfer--I'm surprised how comfortable others are doing this in other countries. No matter how secure a system claims to be, there is always somebody working on (and succeeding) cracking it. Every system has failed at some point. That being said, the number of people still using checks here in the US out of a belief that it's the safest method is also ridiculously high.

But check being the cheapest form of transaction--that's nonsense. I might be the least involved method but check transactions are far from the cheapest--there's a reason why financial institutions, business, etc prefer electronic processing.
 

C DM

macrumors Sandy Bridge
Oct 17, 2011
51,390
19,458
I agree with you regarding people supplying their individual account information to request a transfer--I'm surprised how comfortable others are doing this in other countries. No matter how secure a system claims to be, there is always somebody working on (and succeeding) cracking it. Every system has failed at some point. That being said, the number of people still using checks here in the US out of a belief that it's the safest method is also ridiculously high.

But check being the cheapest form of transaction--that's nonsense. I might be the least involved method but check transactions are far from the cheapest--there's a reason why financial institutions, business, etc prefer electronic processing.
It's the easiest and simplest form for something like this, so that works.
 

BruiserB

macrumors 68000
Aug 9, 2008
1,728
701
In a situation like this one though a check seems like the simpler and faster way to go still.


How so? You had to go online to register for the class action settlement. How difficult would it have been to enter your account details at that time? Then yesterday the money would have just showed up in your account instead of receiving a check that you now have to go deposit.

I never used a stamp or mailed a payment to anyone in either of those countries. No checks lost in the mail. I've managed to get things organized here where I only write probably 2-3 checks per year, but it would be nice to do away with them all together. Doing away with checks would also eliminate the problem of bounced checks....but I'm guessing the associated fees are a great source of income to the banks.

For those who ask how you would pay people without bank accounts, maybe the question should be why our financial system is set up to make it so difficult for people to get or maintain a bank account?
 
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