Get the politarding out of here.

lol at the us doesn't do internet banking. only if you are super poor, super old, or super sketchy

never had to write a check for rent

as far as i know the way it can happen here if you give a person authority to wire money into your account, if they then withdraw from it, you lose much of the protection the bank gives you. if a stranger does it you are protected. but not so much as when it is done by a business partner. meaning someone you are doing business with. however ask at the bank and they always tell you your money is safe.

until you find out that it isnt if someone has your password or if your account is drained and you cannot show that it was not someone you knew in cahoots with you. they dont just pay out quickly without proof.

all that said many modern businesses do accept wire transfers. but individuals can decide they want good old cash or a check as it gives them a clear note of payment.
never let a stranger wire money into your account as its the first step in them getting your money out.
i like the idea of different account numbers for in and out where the depositor does not know your true account number.

but as a landlord i want to know that my tenants come into the office most every month and maintain a personal relationship. not someone just using money transfers. then you have no way to ask pertinent questions and get a feeling like if they are meth heads or not.

many places will gladly take a credit card but you pay the extra charge.

you may not like the way the world hasnt changed quickly enough to suit those that want it to do business the way they want, but that is the way it is.

Of course we have online banking and it's been standard since probably early 2000's.

Transfers into accounts are easily reversible while money orders are not. It's pretty standard they are used for initial deposits for people dealing with lots of property because they've dealt with a ton of crappy renters. Many renters are apartment hunting and place deposits in a few places to secure them while they decide or look at even more. Then they can just reverse the ones they don't want and you as a landlord are stuck looking for a tenant and lose half a month or more of rent. Perfectly reasonable.

People with property to rent are usually on the older side, and really until the past 5-10 years where even olds learned to use phones and mobile banking and such, it's just as much a hassle to go check they actually got paid as just depositing the check next time they go to the bank. The US is so large that it's very hard to get everyone to get on the same page, especially rural areas.

very good xlz

guys, you just got chip and sign (lol), 10-15 years after everyone was using chip and pin. it's okay to admit you are completely in the dark ages.

Standard. Last two places I rented wanted a cashiers check at signing. Current place required 3.5x rent not combined but for each resident which is nuts. Had to show 401k, IRA, bank records, on top of check stubs and W2. Thought that would mean it would be a safe quiet place. I was wrong. Cant wait to get out of here.

yep you arent buying something on amazon you are asking someone to let you live in their property and have control over it with all the laws favoring the renter and the owner almost powerless to evict a person they dont want in there or doesnt pay his bills.

Non-US people,

You can always use online banking in the US instead of writing out checks. If the other party accepts electronic transfers, they get that. If they don't, they get mailed a check by the bank.

Cheques. Lol.

Man the non-Americans are awfully insecure about this whole not being America thing.

I am really happy about the no-PIN thing, I only have one CC where I know the number. That’s the only one I can use at ATMs. Bank says they can’t reset the PIN and the only thing they can do is to send me new cards for $20 each.

your bank can't reset the pin? this just gets stranger and stranger!

They can't reset the pin. That's hilarious!

Mad,

What on earth?

Of course they can. But, new cards, $20 each, tyvm.

That's good old American banking.

I'm guessing ATMs in America don't have the same functions as in other countries then:

i dont know anything about a debit card or how an atm works as ive never used one and never will. a credit card gives 1 to 5% cash back and you get to float the money for a month.
i carry cash for small things so i dont have to spend minutes of my life in front of a machine waiting for it to process.

have a bank account with a national bank with a cc from them and get free checking, cashiers checks, etc. and of course debit card if i wanted one. this also builds credit for your future. they may want a minimum balance in some places but not much.

someday you may want to buy a house, get a loan for something substantial then you find out what not having a high credit score means.
it also means you pay more for car insurance, and any loans you do get.

can't reset a pin
charges $20 for a new card
does not issue debit card
does not provide money order services

sounds like First National Bank of Stankonia to me

I'm an American but I've been living abroad for 7 years. I want America to thrive! That's why it pains me to see the US stuck with these backwards systems. The transaction costs might be small, but they add up across billions of transactions. The OP is a good example. Nobody can trust checks, so he has to piss around getting money orders.

xlz, internet transfers here are not reversible and don't open you up to being hacked. Everyone (businesses and individuals) uses them for paying rent, mortgages, business invoices, craigslist style purchases, that sort of thing. Anything that you wouldn't use a credit card for.

The only downsides are that you do not have the consumer protection of a credit card, and if you send the money to the wrong account accidentally your only recourse is asking nicely for it back.

Depends a bit where "here" is but it's not generally lawful for people to keep payments made in error. If it's international or too small an amount for anyone e.g. police to care about you might be out of luck though.

Consumer protection also depends where you are but having the credit card company to act as a referee is less of a factor where there are strong enough consumer protection laws.

@Ray Zee - if you receive a lot of cheques but don't need to cut a new cheque or money order how do you withdraw cash from your account then, just asking for it over the counter?

yes for cash you go to the bank or its drive through window hand them a withdraw slip for whatever cash you want. get it immediately. i dont but you can use an atm and get up to 500 from a machine if you choose. but it has downsides like getting robbed when you do it in cities at night. money isnt heavy so i carry enough.

if you do all electronics and dont carry money like many do even in the u.s. if we have a giant power outage or some such you are now stuck with no resources.

both systems are plenty fast if you do it right. the so called old system also gives you hard copy receipts for everything for tax time. electronically you have to print them off on your own.

neither works on its own. as such if you do no checks and online banking and then say want to sell your car or a boat to someone and how can they pay you other than in cash where they can take possession immediately. with a bank account you can go there and handle the transaction.

nowadays because of so much fraud few banks will cash a check for you if you dont have an account there. so if you get a check and you online bank you have to deposit it over the air and wait for a few weeks for it to clear before your funds are guaranteed, even if you are let to with draw them. you stay responsible .

although soon checks will be gone as the banking system forces us to change, which will work. but theft will be high. if you use wifi and get hacked you risk losing all you have as it becomes your responsibility.

another thing i noticed when oversees. there are fees for all sorts of things that are still free here. even changing money you are charged a fee on top of the exchange rate. and banks charge heavily and people are used to it.