Electronic funds transfer in the US, stone age?

Quote, please.

Except that it isn't true.

Sure but it is very important in the life of an analog design engineer. For the substantially higher cost of the service compared to my current $7 per month I expect a smart phone to be like the Leatherman tool of the cyber world. Imagine a Leatherman tool without pliers.

Oh, good grief. I'm not going through thousands of your posts looking for quotes.

It certainly is.

Maybe but very important exclusive.

Are you really that poor? Maybe you should learn some digital, too. ;-)

You're being obtuse.

Why do you need a cell plan? Phones can use wifi to save the data cost. So certainly a device that has no phone in it doesn't need a contract with a phone carrier... lol What are you thinking of?

I think there is something wrong here. There are still plenty of people who have no electronic footprint and still have phones. They have never paid anything online. So there is no way for the to be sent an electronic bill. Even so, no one can force you to accept electronic billing.

I've asked that a number of times and never gotten a satisfactory answer. One online account I had was only free if you used it a minimum number of times a month. Very weird. But that says to me they are making a bit on the float. Maybe that worked then, but now they don't take the money out of my account until they expect the check to be in the hands of the payee, so there is essentially no float.

You seem to be talking in relative ignorance. For the US banks to do it another way means a new system would have to be set up. That means some medium or mechanism would need to be created. Do you actually know how the European banking system works? We don't have much that works the same as Europe. Our money is different, our phones are different and even our cars are different in many countries.... not to mention our measurement system. Maybe we should just spend a week over there and change everything here all at once?

So I am going to by a Galaxy or an iPhone just to scan checks? Are you serious here?

So you can't. Thought so.

Wrong. And you can't prove it. See above.

I am frugal. There is no point in spending money on something that will be sitting in a corner collecting dust most of the time. I rather give that money to a good cause (and we do).

That's not what I am talking about. It's about people _wanting_ not to waste paper and stuff and do payments electronically but who have to retain a paper statement for other reasons. One being that there are times of absence where someone else in the house takes care of bills who does not use a computer much. Others being records for tax purposes and such.

Exactly. The money I sent via Bill-Pay early last week still sits in my account, effectively having nixed a purchase. This is almost like they built a steampunk system instead of a modern banking system. To me there is a lot of incompetence in our banking system.

No, experience. From living there.

Yes. I lived there for decades.

Not everything, just the stuff that crusted and rusted since the days of Wyatt Earp, like much of our banking system. Europeans such as Germans or Belgians can come over here and learn, for example, how to build bike paths that really work. Heck, they don't even look at their neighbors in the Netherlands for that. They could also learn about venture capitalism over here and how to get rid of legal red tape related to that. There is a lot of recalcitrance going on in the world.

depends on the app. some apps use cell communcation ( SMS messaging etc)

Are you not able to read? Reread what you have been replying to and tell me where I said you should get an iPhone.

I do SMS messaging from my PC.

Yes, that is why I send a message to one of my electric companies each month to get a copy of my electric bill as a PDF file. They still send the paper copy in case something is wrong with either my computer, my Internet access or my online banking. Then I can use paper as a backup. The other way is to sign up for electronic statements, get my statement, then turn it off. As long as I have it turned off on the date they send the paper statement I get it.

The other electric company lets me download a copy of my bill without any nonsense.

The simple fact that you are making electronic payments can't require you to let them eBill you. Talk to your bank and tell them to refuse to accept the eBill. If there is no way to refuse this you must be living in Alice's rabbit hole.

There are times when you an John Larkin are total idiots. You are on the outside looking in and don't know anything about it.

Ignorance of the US system, the how and the whys. See my previous comment above.

That doesn't mean you know diddly squat about how it actually works. What is the medium for banks exchanging money there?

BTW, some banks have a facility to exchange money electronically in the US. But it still uses ACH transfers and requires you to have all the numbers for the other person's bank account. PNC has this, or at least had. I haven't used it in a long time.

I use my old phones as mini-tablets. I keep one in my shop that doesn't do much more than Internet radio (I-Heart-Radio). Works great.

Not necessary.

Wade through tens of thousands of your Luddite posts, no, I"m not about to.

Wrong. Won't.

Not frugal, Luddite.

Then don't make false accusation. Hic Rhodus, his salta, as the old Romans said.

No, we know how it could be done right. Banks obviously do not.

Then it's a bad system, plain and simple.

These numbers are what the bank is supposed to exchange with any company that subscribes to that bank's bill pay. Then they have all that. It's that simple.