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Comment by username223 | Hacker News Reader

What do you use to pay rent? That's the only use I still have for them, but landlords don't tend to take credit cards, and a check is easier than an envelope of cash.

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Direct Deposit and/or BillPay is what I used in Australia before moving to the US.

I also miss things like BPay where I can pay all my bills via my Internet Banking portal. Moving to the US felt like a 10+ year regression in money related systems.

Yep, I moved to the US two years ago from Australia having never written a check in my life. The banking system here was probably the biggest culture shock for me.

Agreed; also in .au, the last time I presented a cheque (in 2011) the poor newbie teenage bank teller strained to recall his training. He processed it ok, but panicked so badly he accidentally handed it back. The branch manager drove out to my workplace to retrieve it from me in person...

In the Netherlands it's always bank transfer, the larger ones usually offer direct debit.

Cash is reserved for shady landlords and tax evasion.

Tell me about it, I'm trying to get an expense reimbursement from the NL to my personal bank account in the US. No IBAN, only SWIFT - nobody seems to know how to function with out antiquated system of very expensive wire transfers.

One way or another your bank has an IBAN you can use, but if it's a smaller bank, they may go through one of the larger ones. You just need to find the right person to talk to at the bank.

Even if US accounts had an IBAN (they don't, US banks don't participate in that standard) that wouldn't help. The Dutch bank can either process payments via SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) or international wire transfer (which doesn't need IBAN but is expensive).

Maybe GP can make them use Transferwise, Currencyfair or the like?

I used Transferwise to send money from my personal NL account to my personal US account and it was pretty straight forward.

Yeah, thats my current plan of attack, but getting the sender to use the service has been a trial. They're not too keen on non-traditional money transfers.

I pay rent online in the US ... but using ACH to avoid the $30 "service" charge for using a card.

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