MSGID: 1:153/757.21@fidonet 069a94b9
REPLY: 385.canada@1:2320/105 287e0dd1
PID: OpenXP/5.0.57 (Win32)
CHRS: ASCII 1
TZUTC: -0400
Hello Rob!

 RM> easily and virtually instantly tranfer up to usually $3000
 RM> between financial institutions but, any more that that,
 RM> and your options are a Bank Draft, a pain and maybe not
 RM> free, or write a cheque.

The 24hr limit is $3000.  .: you can then send more next around  
the same time.   But I agree.. that can be annoying when  
wanting to settle an outstanding invoice/bill that is just a  
bit over $3000, or when multiple bills need to be settled  
quickly and the eTransfer is limited to $10K for 7 days.

If eTransfers are having these arbitrary limits, I shudder to  
think how restrictive CBDCs could be if they ever get  
implemented.


 RM> Cheques work fairly well for me since the larger sums are
 RM> generally investment oriented and, since the investment
 RM> itself acts as collateral, an uncertified cheque can be
 RM> accepted and used instantly.

What indicates that one of those cheques is backed by  
collateral?  In my experience, all the bank cares about is if  
the recipient has sufficient funds to cover the cheque incase  
it bounces.

 RM> But banks are fairly careful with cheques such as you
 RM> can't simply cash a cheque written to you even at the
 RM> cheque writer's bank. It must be deposited into an
 RM> existing account so the banks can verify things first.

BTW.. Gov't cheques are supposed to be treated differently and  
NOT require an existing bank account to cash them.  However, I  
have come upon several people who face a barrier at the bank  
when they want to cash a gov't issued cheque; the bank wants ID  
(even though they KNOW the person personally!) *and* they seem  
to want that person to have an account at the bank where they  
are attempting to cash the cheque!  SO.. they come to me, they  
endorse the cheque, I pay out the value of the cheque to that  
person, and I take the cheque to the bank.


 RM> I think the biggest problem these days, and one of the
 RM> things that cause the service charges in banks to be so
 RM> high, is how quick they are to give large amounts of
 RM> credit to people who often can't afford it.

Nah... the charges are due to "because they can", and we the  
public allowed it to become common practice.


 RM> Example: Once I was offered my credit card limit in cash
 RM> at 0% interest rate for 6 months. I took my limit out in
 RM> full to invest in something so I could make a profit on
 RM> that money. An error in knowing how they timed a small
 RM> service charge caused the card to go over its limit, which
 RM> resulted in a $25 service charge that month.

I get those 0% interest for x-months offers regularly too.  But  
you have to "borrow" only the amount LESS the charges to make  
it balance so you don't go over.

Currently, I have two offers:

[1] 0% on Balance Transfer until May 4 2024 + 3% fee.
[2] 1.99% on Balance Transfer until Jan 2 2024 + 1% fee.

The key is not to place a Balance Transfer that exceeds the  
current available credit.


 RM> ...Then they 'punished' me for my overdraft by increasing
 RM> my limit on that card by $3500 so I'd have  a higher limit
 RM> to borrow even more money in the future. Apparently the
 RM> only reason people go over their credit limit is because
 RM> the limit is too low..

Yes.. some people see a credit limit increase as "free money"  
or something.   But wrt to overages, it is probably because the  
limt is too low indeed - but the bank wins by charging more  
fees when that happens.


 RM> I have an impeccable banking history, my Credit Score
 RM> often over 890, so I should be a good risk in theory. But
 RM> at times I've had enough instant credit available, where I
 RM> could take the cash without talking to a live person or
 RM> getting approval, and the total of that available credit
 RM> has been as much as 20 times my then current annual
 RM> income, one single credit card limit was as high as 7
 RM> times it.

I like the instant available cash-readiness that a cc (via  
balance transfer) or personal line of credit provides.  But the  
key is to stick with a repayment plan inorder to not get  
overwhelmed with interest charge accumulation.

WRT to the 0% example above, I borrow the max that I can,  
divide the amount by the number of 0% months in the agreement,  
and deposit that amount every month in another account to have  
the cash I need when the 0% period is over.

The 0% offers help take the edge off the other credit card  
accounts that bear 22%+ interest rate charges.


 RM> And they wonder how some people get totally buried in
 RM> debt..

People get overwhelmed with managing the accounts and lose  
track, meanwhile the bank raise the borrowing limits and people  
use their credit even more.


-- 
  ../|ug

--- OpenXP 5.0.57
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