Funny money?

[Scott5114]

Besides, how do you put a dollar coin in a stripper's G-string?

Use the coin slot.


Technology will make all this discussion moot.  The future is cashless.  Yeah, yeah, all you old timers are going to cling to your cash because you 'like it' or are sceerd of technology, but you're going to be the jerks slowing down the checkout lines digging through your wallets for pieces of paper while the rest of us will just flash our mobile devices at a computer and be on our way.  At least we'll do most of our shopping online and only run into you troglodytes at the grocery store.

I can't wait for this technology to become ubiquitous.  And it will happen.  Those funny looks you get with Susan B. Anthony dollars and $2 notes will some day be the response to the use of any cash. Resistance is futile.

Until, of course, the power goes out.



Mike

Write down the billing info for later processing when the system is restored.  That's what places on campus do whenever the Aramark equipment gets out of whack.

What do you do when you run it later and find out the card was declined? Your customer is most likely long gone at that point...

[english si]

Europe doesn't work because tax is included in the posted price so the price you see is the price you pay, so calling it $3.99 when it's really $4 would be lying.

Gas with their .9c prices - you've never been able to pay .9c.

How could it be lying when if you buy 5 items, you will pay 5c less.

This is taken advantage of religiously by retailers in the US. You will almost never see a number on a price tag in a store that ends in 0. They all end in 9. Is it different in Europe?

Not really - things don't all end in 9, some end in 0, but even in the places where the convention is to round the prices aren't rounded.

[mgk920]

Besides, how do you put a dollar coin in a stripper's G-string?

Use the coin slot.


Technology will make all this discussion moot.  The future is cashless.  Yeah, yeah, all you old timers are going to cling to your cash because you 'like it' or are sceerd of technology, but you're going to be the jerks slowing down the checkout lines digging through your wallets for pieces of paper while the rest of us will just flash our mobile devices at a computer and be on our way.  At least we'll do most of our shopping online and only run into you troglodytes at the grocery store.

I can't wait for this technology to become ubiquitous.  And it will happen.  Those funny looks you get with Susan B. Anthony dollars and $2 notes will some day be the response to the use of any cash. Resistance is futile.

Until, of course, the power goes out.



Mike

Write down the billing info for later processing when the system is restored.  That's what places on campus do whenever the Aramark equipment gets out of whack.

What do you do when you run it later and find out the card was declined? Your customer is most likely long gone at that point...

The issue at hand where I work is the security of the customers' accounts.

Mike

[1995hoo]

Besides, how do you put a dollar coin in a stripper's G-string?

Use the coin slot.


Technology will make all this discussion moot.  The future is cashless.  Yeah, yeah, all you old timers are going to cling to your cash because you 'like it' or are sceerd of technology, but you're going to be the jerks slowing down the checkout lines digging through your wallets for pieces of paper while the rest of us will just flash our mobile devices at a computer and be on our way.  At least we'll do most of our shopping online and only run into you troglodytes at the grocery store.

I can't wait for this technology to become ubiquitous.  And it will happen.  Those funny looks you get with Susan B. Anthony dollars and $2 notes will some day be the response to the use of any cash. Resistance is futile.

You mean sort of like today when you get stuck behind a little old lady at the grocery store who insists on paying by check, but doesn't get out her checkbook and start filling in the date/store name/etc. until after the cashier has finished ringing up the order..... I worked at a computer store 20 years ago and I HATED the check customers, always took forever.

[agentsteel53]

You mean sort of like today when you get stuck behind a little old lady at the grocery store who insists on paying by check, but doesn't get out her checkbook and start filling in the date/store name/etc. until after the cashier has finished ringing up the order..... I worked at a computer store 20 years ago and I HATED the check customers, always took forever.

I'm surprised banks are putting transaction fees on electronic payments (bill pay subscription fee, etc) and are processing checks for free - despite the fact that the latter requires a lot more manpower than the former.

if banks had universal 0% electronic funds transfers and a 5% fee on checks, we'd all embrace that advanced 1970s technology in no time.

[1995hoo]

You mean sort of like today when you get stuck behind a little old lady at the grocery store who insists on paying by check, but doesn't get out her checkbook and start filling in the date/store name/etc. until after the cashier has finished ringing up the order..... I worked at a computer store 20 years ago and I HATED the check customers, always took forever.

I'm surprised banks are putting transaction fees on electronic payments (bill pay subscription fee, etc) and are processing checks for free - despite the fact that the latter requires a lot more manpower than the former.

if banks had universal 0% electronic funds transfers and a 5% fee on checks, we'd all embrace that advanced 1970s technology in no time.

Some people still wouldn't. Various businesses are still stuck using checks due to antiquated regulations (the Virginia State Bar, for example, is extremely picky with the rules about sending money from a trust account–you must use a paper check, period). Then you have people who are just stubborn. My parents, who are both in their mid-60s, refuse to use an ATM under any circumstances whatsoever. A couple of weeks ago they gave me a check for some money they owed me and I immediately pulled out my iPhone and used the banking app's "mobile check deposit" feature to deposit the check on the spot. I expected them to have a conniption and scream bloody murder and I was pretty damn surprised when they didn't.

So many things are like this, though. Consider that under many, perhaps most, states' laws e-mail is considered unsecure because of the risk of hacking, but traditional snail mail is considered secure even though for the average person out there it would be a lot easier to steal an envelope than it would be to hack into someone's e-mail (especially if the target's snail mailbox does not have a lock on it, as is extremely common in suburban areas).

[vdeane]

You mean sort of like today when you get stuck behind a little old lady at the grocery store who insists on paying by check, but doesn't get out her checkbook and start filling in the date/store name/etc. until after the cashier has finished ringing up the order..... I worked at a computer store 20 years ago and I HATED the check customers, always took forever.

I'm surprised banks are putting transaction fees on electronic payments (bill pay subscription fee, etc) and are processing checks for free - despite the fact that the latter requires a lot more manpower than the former.

if banks had universal 0% electronic funds transfers and a 5% fee on checks, we'd all embrace that advanced 1970s technology in no time.

You might be surprised - "electronic payment" isn't always electronic.  At First Niagara, "online bill pay" just means that a clerk at the online bill pay center writes and mails the check instead of you.

Speaking of that, I really should order new checks yesterday.  While I rarely use them, and my existing ones are technically still good, I really shouldn't use them.  Too bad you are still forced to buy them is big boxes that give out a lifetime's supply of checks.  As far as the financial system is concerned, the 21st century is a myth.

I think states consider email "insecure" because then the police can ignore the 4th amendment without getting into trouble with the courts.

[agentsteel53]

You might be surprised - "electronic payment" isn't always electronic.  At First Niagara, "online bill pay" just means that a clerk at the online bill pay center writes and mails the check instead of you.

I am aware.  I've had mysterious envelopes from Obscure Bank & Trust show up in the mail, and I almost tossed them in the shredder unread, because that large "PAYMENT ENCLOSED" looks like just the hook a spammer would use to get you to read about their shitty credit card.

nowadays, though, I know Wells Fargo uses the actual sender's return address, and I think other banks do as well, so you recognize that the letter is legitimate. 

[vtk]

I guess some greedy people are uncomfortable with having their rounded to the nearest 5¢.

Yep. Having to charge $3.95 for that tchotchke instead of $3.99 can start to add up after a while to a large retailer.

Aside from the easy answer of rounding after tax at checkout, the price could be changed from $3.99 to $4.45, with the increase blamed on inflation. 

[kphoger]

I'm opposed to the abolishing of dollar coins because I carry enough change around as it is, and carrying more coins is not appealing to me

Wouldn't the abolishing of dollar coins make you less likely to carry around more coins?

How am I going to buy something from a friend?  At a yard sale?  Is everybody going to have a credit card reader?

Yeah, kind of like how we now live in a paperless society where books are an obsolete medium.  Last I checked there are one heck of a lot of books at the local Barnes & Noble.  Maybe cash transactions between friends will be impossible–only barter.

[triplemultiplex]

How am I going to buy something from a friend?  At a yard sale?  Is everybody going to have a credit card reader?

Not exactly.  Having a separate chunk of plastic with a magnetic strip or RFID chip in it will also be left behind someday.  All transactions will eventually be electronic.  You'll just punch in the transaction to your mobile device and funds will transfer from your account to the seller's.

It'll take a long time to become mainstream, but the technology already exists to completely do away with the expense and energy put into cash and coins.  All the mobile devices and accounts will be encrypted, probably bio-metrically, so if someone steals one from you, all they have is a paper weight (and ironically, no paper to use it on, probably).  Recent history has shown people gladly trade perceived security for convenience when it comes to buying shit.  So start wrapping your brains around the concept of a cashless society now because we just may live long enough to see it.

[1995hoo]

I'm opposed to the abolishing of dollar coins because I carry enough change around as it is, and carrying more coins is not appealing to me

Wouldn't the abolishing of dollar coins make you less likely to carry around more coins?

How am I going to buy something from a friend?  At a yard sale?  Is everybody going to have a credit card reader?

Yeah, kind of like how we now live in a paperless society where books are an obsolete medium.  Last I checked there are one heck of a lot of books at the local Barnes & Noble.  Maybe cash transactions between friends will be impossible–only barter.

Or like how the federal courts adopted a "paperless" system where you file documents electronically over the Internet as .PDFs instead of delivering paper to the clerk's office, but almost every court then turned around and required that everyone deliver paper copies anyway!

How am I going to buy something from a friend?  At a yard sale?  Is everybody going to have a credit card reader?

Not exactly.  Having a separate chunk of plastic with a magnetic strip or RFID chip in it will also be left behind someday.  All transactions will eventually be electronic.  You'll just punch in the transaction to your mobile device and funds will transfer from your account to the seller's.

It'll take a long time to become mainstream, but the technology already exists to completely do away with the expense and energy put into cash and coins.  All the mobile devices and accounts will be encrypted, probably bio-metrically, so if someone steals one from you, all they have is a paper weight (and ironically, no paper to use it on, probably).  Recent history has shown people gladly trade perceived security for convenience when it comes to buying shit.  So start wrapping your brains around the concept of a cashless society now because we just may live long enough to see it.

This comment makes me think of Back to the Future II. When Marty McFly and Doc Brown went forward to 2015, people paid for things by "thumbing" the payment–essentially putting a thumbprint on an electronic reader.

You might be surprised - "electronic payment" isn't always electronic.  At First Niagara, "online bill pay" just means that a clerk at the online bill pay center writes and mails the check instead of you.

I am aware.  I've had mysterious envelopes from Obscure Bank & Trust show up in the mail, and I almost tossed them in the shredder unread, because that large "PAYMENT ENCLOSED" looks like just the hook a spammer would use to get you to read about their shitty credit card.

nowadays, though, I know Wells Fargo uses the actual sender's return address, and I think other banks do as well, so you recognize that the letter is legitimate. 

I used my electronic banking to send my father a check once when I owed him some money. Told him I was doing it, told him it would not look like my normal check and that at first glance he might think it was some sort of scam where cashing it changes your long-distance service. Told him what the check would look like. He still claimed he hadn't gotten it until I went over there and dug through the paper on his desk and found it, at which point he said, "I wasn't sure that was real." My father is not a stupid guy and is not even as much of a Luddite as my comments in this thread would suggest. But it underscores to me that people are going to hear only what they want to hear. No matter how thoroughly I explained it, because he refuses to use electronic banking he had trouble accepting that the check was valid. It makes me think that if someone I know and trust is that stubborn about it, how much worse must a lot of other people be? Imagine all the howls of protest from conspiracy theorists who would object to electronic banking because they think it lets people track their spending and the like (never mind that credit cards already allow that anyway).

The real problem in this country is that the politicians give in too readily to all the lobbyists who represent the conspiracy theorists and the like. To get rid of the dollar bill or the penny or whatever will simply require Congress and the president to sack up and DO IT, just like the Canadian government did.

[bugo]

I'm opposed to the abolishing of dollar coins because I carry enough change around as it is, and carrying more coins is not appealing to me

Wouldn't the abolishing of dollar coins make you less likely to carry around more coins?

I mistyped.  I meant the abolishment of paper $1 bills.

[bugo]

How am I going to buy something from a friend?  At a yard sale?  Is everybody going to have a credit card reader?

Not exactly.  Having a separate chunk of plastic with a magnetic strip or RFID chip in it will also be left behind someday.  All transactions will eventually be electronic.  You'll just punch in the transaction to your mobile device and funds will transfer from your account to the seller's.

It'll take a long time to become mainstream, but the technology already exists to completely do away with the expense and energy put into cash and coins.  All the mobile devices and accounts will be encrypted, probably bio-metrically, so if someone steals one from you, all they have is a paper weight (and ironically, no paper to use it on, probably).  Recent history has shown people gladly trade perceived security for convenience when it comes to buying shit.  So start wrapping your brains around the concept of a cashless society now because we just may live long enough to see it.

That way, banks (and by extension, the government) will be able to keep up with all transactions.  I find this chilling and intolerable.

[kphoger]

How am I going to buy something from a friend?  At a yard sale?  Is everybody going to have a credit card reader?

Not exactly.  Having a separate chunk of plastic with a magnetic strip or RFID chip in it will also be left behind someday.  All transactions will eventually be electronic.  You'll just punch in the transaction to your mobile device and funds will transfer from your account to the seller's.

It'll take a long time to become mainstream, but the technology already exists to completely do away with the expense and energy put into cash and coins.  All the mobile devices and accounts will be encrypted, probably bio-metrically, so if someone steals one from you, all they have is a paper weight (and ironically, no paper to use it on, probably).  Recent history has shown people gladly trade perceived security for convenience when it comes to buying shit.  So start wrapping your brains around the concept of a cashless society now because we just may live long enough to see it.

That way, banks (and by extension, the government) will be able to keep up with all transactions.  I find this chilling and intolerable.

Not to mention...... What does one do in the absence of a mobile device?

[Scott5114]

I still use checks rather than automatic direct deposit for bills because I do not trust the utility company and/or bank to accidentally screw something up and take the wrong amount, take twice, etc. We have all heard stories of billing mishaps where due to a software error someone is charged $263,000 for their phone bill. Of course, in an instance like that, you would have course be able to get the money back, but it would mean a hell of a lot of screwing around fighting with "Press 1 for English, para español imprime dos" phone kiosk things, and the process would probably take a couple weeks, during which I would have no money. I would rather specifically initiate the payment process myself–I trust myself to not forget.

Another reason I do not use automatic payment systems is because of the accounting system my girlfriend and I use to split costs. We keep a running balance in a spreadsheet–when she pays for things, it's negative, when I do, it's positive; if the balance is negative, it's my turn to pay.

At a POS I can verify the price, so I'm okay with card swipes. Transactions under about $20, though, I use cash for.

[DaBigE]

I still use checks rather than automatic direct deposit for bills because I do not trust the utility company and/or bank to accidentally screw something up and take the wrong amount, take twice, etc. We have all heard stories of billing mishaps where due to a software error someone is charged $263,000 for their phone bill. Of course, in an instance like that, you would have course be able to get the money back, but it would mean a hell of a lot of screwing around fighting with "Press 1 for English, para español imprime dos" phone kiosk things, and the process would probably take a couple weeks, during which I would have no money. I would rather specifically initiate the payment process myself–I trust myself to not forget.

I feel the same way, except I do manual "one time electronic transfers" instead of writing checks. This way virtually eliminates clerical errors that could happen with a physical check, in addition to saving postage, paper, and time. If there is any discrepancy in a bill, I withhold my payment until the problem is rectified. Utility companies, and the like are very fast when taking your money, but slower than a five year old finishing a plate of chopped liver when it comes to refunding your money.

[vdeane]

I pay my bills electronically, but you can kill me before you'd get me to bill anything automatically.

Also, I won't have a smart phone for as long as the phone companies require you to pay an arm and a leg for a data plan to buy one.  Besides, taking out a credit card is easier than taking out a phone every time.

[1995hoo]

I use my bank's online bill payment and I never use the option to give a creditor access to a bank account, including never paying through one of their websites. I have set up a recurring payment in the bank's system for one account, our HOA dues paid monthly; I put in the amount and said 12 payments. I know this amount never changes during any given year. Otherwise, I program in the payments every month, and I never have them go early the way the credit-card issuers always want. I always laugh when I get the e-mail from Discover a week before the due date saying "We haven't received your minimum payment yet." No shit! It's the sixth of the month and the bill isn't due until the 13th! Give me a reward for paying early and maybe I'll reconsider, but otherwise, they'll get the money the day before it's due.

On the whole the electronic payment seems tailor-made for these sorts of things, or for transfers between your own accounts, because really that's all you're doing: Moving money from one electronic record to another. Sending a paper check just introduces the element of human error, such as when the person keying in the data mistypes the number. I continued to use paper checks for a good while when my bank still returned the cancelled checks, but once that stopped, I largely switched to electronic payment. What prompted me to try it the first time was that the bank offered me $25 for trying "e-bills," where a creditor sends a bill to my bank account electronically; at the same time, State Farm started charging $3 to receive a paper bill. So I tried the e-bills with my State Farm account and liked it. The "e-bill" doesn't allow them access to the bank account; I still have to program in the payment amount and date.

One reason I find it very useful is that it lets me pay the bills on the normal schedule when I travel. That is, I've mentioned my parents. In 2010 they took a month-long trip to Australia and New Zealand and my brother and I looked after their house for them. Before they left, my mother prepared a list of all the bills with their due dates and she left a stack of signed blank checks so that we could fill them in and mail the payments on the appropriate dates. Strikes me as a massive pain the arse to go through all that–plus, what happens if my brother and I wind up in a car crash or something and can't go over to their house to get the mail and fill in the checks? I told my mom that even if they pay by check normally, a trip like that is the ideal time to use the electronic payments simply because you know it was done properly and you need not think about it. She agreed but said my father would never allow it. To me, that seems kind of silly–I think it's valuable to educate yourself on how the bank's system works so that you have the option if you need it.

[corco]

I still use checks rather than automatic direct deposit for bills because I do not trust the utility company and/or bank to accidentally screw something up and take the wrong amount, take twice, etc. We have all heard stories of billing mishaps where due to a software error someone is charged $263,000 for their phone bill. Of course, in an instance like that, you would have course be able to get the money back, but it would mean a hell of a lot of screwing around fighting with "Press 1 for English, para español imprime dos" phone kiosk things, and the process would probably take a couple weeks, during which I would have no money. I would rather specifically initiate the payment process myself–I trust myself to not forget.

I have one credit card I use exclusively for bills in case something like that happens. I check frequently towards the end of the month to ensure that everything is going correctly and pay it off in full as soon as the bills are posted. There is some risk that there's an error, the card maxes out, and then another auto bill pay bill doesn't pay, but that's why I check every couple days towards the end of the month.

That way if there's a payment dispute and Tucson Electric accidentally charges me $2,000,000 for my electric, I have the credit card company as a buffer. Since I don't use that card for anything but bills, it doesn't hurt my normal cash flow.

[Duke87]

My internet bill charges my credit card. My electric bill debits my bank account and while I'm not fond of that, they charge a fee to pay by credit card and paying manually would cost effort and stamps, and potentially not work if I left town for a couple weeks at the wrong time of the month. My rent must be paid by putting a check in the mail since the company that owns my building doesn't have electronic payment, but at least it's the same amount every month so if I know I'm going to be away I can pay it in advance of actually receiving the bill.

I pay my credit card bill pretty much as soon as the statement comes. I'm not comfortable letting it get close to the due date unpaid in case something goes wrong when I attempt to pay it.

[SP Cook]

Checks.  Why stores take checks in this day and age is beyond me.  Every store needs to announce that, effective in 60 days, its credit/debit card or cash, only.   People that write checks are rude.

Electronic bill pay.  There are two ways to do this.  One is to pay on-line via your bank (use the bank's website to direct it to transfer money).  The other is to pay on like via the vendor (use the vendor's website to authorize it to subtract money from your account).  I do the former.  There is no way in hell I am allowing a company to take money out of my account.

Thing I learned from a friend. I keep a totally seperate credit card with a very low credit limit in my car.  Use it only for drivethrus.  Keeps me from having to pull out my wallet.  Limit is so low that even if the car was stolen it wouldn't be that big of a deal.

[Scott5114]

There was a period of time when I was in college where I was allowed to have a checking account but not to have a debit card, as I was not yet 18. Figure that one out.

[vdeane]

I don't understand people that pay bills at the last minute.  First, I don't like leaving things on my to do list.  More importantly, banks and credit card companies have been known to mess with electronic payment "processing times" in order to ding people with late fees.

[empirestate]

I don't understand people that pay bills at the last minute.  First, I don't like leaving things on my to do list.  More importantly, banks and credit card companies have been known to mess with electronic payment "processing times" in order to ding people with late fees.

Some people don't have the money to pay until the last minute...