In Europe anyone can send money online to any other account in the EU, given the account number, usually for free.
The fact that the US doesn't have that as commonplace as in Europe is ridiculous
Canada is slightly better, they already are ditching the magnetic stripes off cards.
Whether one can do it online depends on the bank, but most US banks and credit unions now have the ability to allow transfers and payments to anyone given a postal address (to be fair, if its just to a person, the bank may issue a paper check instead of a true electronic transfer. Sigh). They mostly call this "online bill pay" or other names, but it's become pretty full featured. In addition, most US banks are allying themselves with various person-to-person payment systems (Popmoney, though archaic and painful in use, is used by many US banks including Ally, Bank of America, TD Bank, Citibank, Fifth Third Bank, PNC, Regions, Suntrust, US Bank, and Wells Fargo, for example; Chase has it's own system as do some others. ClearXchange, Dwolla, Venmo, Paypal, and a slew of others are also gunning for this space).
So, yes, lots of problems, but I don't know if above is entirely a fair statement.
- This money transfer system works if you have (any) bank account. If you have a bank account that's all it needs (and no sign up)
- It does not depend on any action on the receiving part (so no depositing a cheque or something similar).
- It takes a couple of days tops
- A fee is acceptable, if it's something like $5 at most
- It works for large amounts (for buying a car or a house for example)
- It is trusted. If the money shows in your account that's it (unlike a cheque)
If it has this features, great.
Every time my cleaning lady comes, I just leave a check for her on the counter. I could leave cash but then I have to make sure I have that much cash on hand every time. I could probably get an account number from her and do some sort of transfer each time. But honestly, that doesn't sound at all easier for me than just writing a check. I think that is the only check I write on a regular basis anymore. I used to send my gardener a check but I started paying his invoice online through my bank. And I'm pretty sure they actually print a check and mail it to him on my behalf. :)
That may be true but most people seem to have decided that the convenience of not needing to transfer a physical item outweighs those problems.
You already give your acc number for your job.
I do that (sending and receiving money) and guess what, most of the people never changed bank acc numbers (including me). If it changes it's a non-issue.
Especially because payments either happens frequently (paying rent, for example) or it's a one-off thing.
I don't get why should I have to write a check to a landlord when they could give me they account number and let me set up a recurring payment (that's exactly what happens in Europe)