Comments on: The beginning of the end of nasty credit card interest rates? There is a new hope. http://ricmerrifield.com/2009/11/the-beginning-of-the-end-of-nasty-credit-card-interest-rates-there-is-a-new-hope/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-beginning-of-the-end-of-nasty-credit-card-interest-rates-there-is-a-new-hope A business manifesto for cutting costs and boosting innovation Sun, 29 Jan 2012 00:52:31 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Olivier Fontana http://ricmerrifield.com/2009/11/the-beginning-of-the-end-of-nasty-credit-card-interest-rates-there-is-a-new-hope/#comment-95 Olivier Fontana Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:55:36 +0000 http://ricmerrifield.com/?p=991#comment-95 It's amusing how people, in every country, can often go and start new things without spending even the minimum amount of time looking around to see what else already exists and could be copied. I lived almost 7 years in Holland (up until 2003) and over there, check are almost nowhere to be seen. All transactions are either by debit cards (nothing out of the ordinary there) or, more interestingly, by bank transfers. I want to pay you for something? No paypal. I just go to my bank account online (or at that time use a pre-printed form and envelop the bank gave me), indicate your name, the sum and your account number and it's done, the money is transfered, without a 3rd party (Paypal) in between and accross banks. The police takes a nice picture of your car on the freeway becasue your were going above the speed limit: they send home a pre-printed transfer form. You just add you account number, sign, send it to you bank and your fine is paid. And so on. Pity it's still fairly complicated in the US to do things like this, though it's getting better... It’s amusing how people, in every country, can often go and start new things without spending even the minimum amount of time looking around to see what else already exists and could be copied.

I lived almost 7 years in Holland (up until 2003) and over there, check are almost nowhere to be seen.

All transactions are either by debit cards (nothing out of the ordinary there) or, more interestingly, by bank transfers. I want to pay you for something? No paypal. I just go to my bank account online (or at that time use a pre-printed form and envelop the bank gave me), indicate your name, the sum and your account number and it’s done, the money is transfered, without a 3rd party (Paypal) in between and accross banks.

The police takes a nice picture of your car on the freeway becasue your were going above the speed limit: they send home a pre-printed transfer form. You just add you account number, sign, send it to you bank and your fine is paid. And so on.

Pity it’s still fairly complicated in the US to do things like this, though it’s getting better…

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