License to print money... BitCoin?

November 20th, 2017 at 4:32:01 PM permalink
AZDuffman
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 135
Posts: 18136
Quote: Evenbob
I would deposit a check in IN
on Thurs and it would hit my
bank next Tue. Out of state
and a weekend makes a huge
difference.


They passed a law shortening holding periods some time back, maybe even the late 1980s. Sometimes they held them 10 days. More salami slicing of float for interest.

What most people do not realize is how recent electronic check presentation is. One of the problems after 9/11 was that planes carrying checks were grounded. Small planes all over were still flying checks city to city, overnight, at that time. A few days of grounding could freeze the system. Planes crashed and the first priority was to get the checks.

Now I just deposit using my phone most times.
The President is a fink.
November 20th, 2017 at 5:49:53 PM permalink
Pacomartin
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 1068
Posts: 12569
Quote: AZDuffman
Now I just deposit using my phone most times.


Denmark killed checks (cheques) January 1st of this year. Cheques are also no longer accepted in Norway and Sweden. While most people use phones and computers, there are also kiosks where you can pay bills.

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-36345676
Cheques are down by 88% since their peak in 1990 in UK, but a proposal to end them next year has been killed.

While cash use in the UK is lower than the USA, it is still much higher than other places in Northern Europe. Plastic £5 and £10 notes were introduced by the Bank of England in 2016 and 2017. The £20 banknote (the mainstay of cash payment system) will be converted to plastic. The refusal of the Bank of England to give a date for conversion of the £50 ~ $66 banknote to plastic has convinced many people that this denomination will be retired.

Despite the limitations on cash in circulation in Sweden and Korea, they still have a large percentage of the value of their cash in large denomination bills. Sweden's favorite banknote is 500SEK ~ $59, and Korea extensively uses the 50,000 KRW =$45.50.

If Britain eliminates the £50 banknote, it will be the first developed country to take such an extreme measure against a mid value denomination. The £20 banknote is worth less than $27 today.

The decision not to produce new €500 banknotes is of very limited consequences, in my opinion. First of all they have no intention of demonetizing the old banknotes, so they may last decades. And the 16% reduction of €500 banknotes in the 21 months since the announcement was made was completely replaced with €100 and €200 banknotes .
November 20th, 2017 at 8:52:38 PM permalink
Evenbob
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 146
Posts: 25010
Quote: AZDuffman
What most people do not realize is how recent electronic check presentation is. .


In the 70's when I moved to Calif,
check fraud was a cottage industry.
Many places wouldn't even take
a check from you if had a number
less than 300 on it.

When you opened a new account,
the checks started at 100. That was
your very first one and everybody
knew it. But if you had an old
account and could produce a checkbook
that had check number 1200 in it,
say, your new bank would start your
account at check 1300 for your
convenience. At some smaller
banks they would even start your
new account at whatever number
you told them.

This was like a license to steal for many
transients. They would rent an apartment
and pay first and last and then pay nothing
after that. When the law finally kicked
them out 4 months later, they had bounced
checks all over town and would move on
to the next bedroom community and
do it all again.

I remember when I moved there in 76, getting
somebody to accept a check was almost
impossible. Gas stations, grocery stores,
pharmacies would laugh at you if you had
a new account, they had been burned so
many times in the past. In my bar a couple
years later we took no checks from anybody,
not even regular customers. Bad check writing
was way too prevalent.
If you take a risk, you may lose. If you never take a risk, you will always lose.
November 21st, 2017 at 2:39:11 AM permalink
AZDuffman
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 135
Posts: 18136
Quote: Evenbob
In the 70's when I moved to Calif,
check fraud was a cottage industry.
Many places wouldn't even take
a check from you if had a number
less than 300 on it.

I remember when I moved there in 76, getting
somebody to accept a check was almost
impossible. Gas stations, grocery stores,
pharmacies would laugh at you if you had
a new account, they had been burned so
many times in the past. In my bar a couple
years later we took no checks from anybody,
not even regular customers. Bad check writing
was way too prevalent.


When I was in college I was amazed how many freshmen had zero concept how checks worked. My mother taught me how to balance a checkbook at about age 10. I have had a checking account continuously since age 14 or so, an impossible thing to do today. But these kids, so sheltered. They either thought that it didn't matter if they had money in the account, didn't care, or didn't understand writing bad checks was a criminal offense. One dumb roommate I had left his checkbook out and a guy I tagged as a thief within 5 minutes of meeting him stole a few. To this day I think the guy blames me, he came off as a suave guy who got girls but in many respects he was a hayseed.
The President is a fink.
November 21st, 2017 at 3:15:47 AM permalink
Fleastiff
Member since: Oct 27, 2012
Threads: 62
Posts: 7831
Somebody opened up an Enthereum bitcoin site, took in 374,000 dollars and disappeared.

All this talk of checks.... I guess you all know about my math skills by now, so you know how many times I have balanced a check book in my entire life.
November 21st, 2017 at 3:15:47 AM permalink
Fleastiff
Member since: Oct 27, 2012
Threads: 62
Posts: 7831
>somebody I spotted as a thief within five minutes ...
You must have been a good poker player to be able to read people so well so quickly.

Of course very few transactions are face to face in our lives nowadays. I doubt anyone met those Enterium bandits. And some one recently raised a lot of money on GoFundMe to finance a Privacy Pod ... it was just a tent but idiots sent in their money.
November 21st, 2017 at 3:37:15 AM permalink
AZDuffman
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 135
Posts: 18136
Quote: Fleastiff
>somebody I spotted as a thief within five minutes ...
You must have been a good poker player to be able to read people so well so quickly.


Some people you simply do not trust from the minute you meet them. Like when the dog who is friendly to everyone does not like one person yet nobody understands why.

This was the case here. This and one other guy, met them and from the introduction they felt like crooks. I was right both times.

When I work a freshmen orientation dealing gig, it is interesting to see the vibes various kids give off. I see some as marks right away. Some of the girls I can see will fall for anything, just let a sheltered life and there they are in college, away from home, looking like a ditz. What amazes me is that some people do not notice this even when I tell them. Such a, "you can't judge a book by it's cover" mentality that they do not pick up any vibes. Oh to have known then what I know now.
The President is a fink.
November 21st, 2017 at 9:31:06 AM permalink
petroglyph
Member since: Aug 3, 2014
Threads: 25
Posts: 6227
Quote: AZDuffman
Some people you simply do not trust from the minute you meet them. Like when the dog who is friendly to everyone does not like one person yet nobody understands why.
I have seen it plenty of times enough, to believe it. Dogs are good judges of character. I don't know if it's an aura or pheromones or what it is, but dogs pick up on it.
The last official act of any government is to loot the treasury. GW
November 28th, 2017 at 1:36:39 PM permalink
Fleastiff
Member since: Oct 27, 2012
Threads: 62
Posts: 7831
bitcoin reported to have hit ten grand.
Ceilings are for cowards.
/.
November 28th, 2017 at 1:58:21 PM permalink
Pacomartin
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 1068
Posts: 12569
Quote: Fleastiff
bitcoin reported to have hit ten grand.
Ceilings are for cowards.
/.


$9918