You know, the weirdest part was when we started doing that here in Norway, you end up at ATMs. First time we took out cash, we got an (of course electronic) letter by 'our' bank informing us that we would have 8 fee-free withdrawals per year.
I've lived in 'the US' (NYC) for a stint a couple of years ago, and I know from personal experien…
You know, the weirdest part was when we started doing that here in Norway, you end up at ATMs. First time we took out cash, we got an (of course electronic) letter by 'our' bank informing us that we would have 8 fee-free withdrawals per year.
I've lived in 'the US' (NYC) for a stint a couple of years ago, and I know from personal experience that fees for everything are insanely high and common. US$ 3 for any transaction here for this, US$ 15 for receiving a wire transfer there, and the like.
It's very different here: same-day electronic payments are the norm, no transaction fees, etc. Most people seem to be fine with it, I'm perhaps too old to remember the pre-internet days, hence my reluctance to embrace this brave new world…
By the way, paying cash is still the thing to do for vitually anything below a couple of thousands of US$ or Euros.
Re the data (ab-) use: yep, the data is already being sold and resold to third parties, that much is clear. So far, gov'ts were not permitted to acquire them legally (even though I suspect that they already do, mainly via subsidiaries, private contractors, and the like), hence while I do object to these practices, I also think that this gov't-led push, certainly in cahoots with big business and high finance, is a way to 'streamline' these processes and thus cut operating costs.
You know, the weirdest part was when we started doing that here in Norway, you end up at ATMs. First time we took out cash, we got an (of course electronic) letter by 'our' bank informing us that we would have 8 fee-free withdrawals per year.
I've lived in 'the US' (NYC) for a stint a couple of years ago, and I know from personal experience that fees for everything are insanely high and common. US$ 3 for any transaction here for this, US$ 15 for receiving a wire transfer there, and the like.
It's very different here: same-day electronic payments are the norm, no transaction fees, etc. Most people seem to be fine with it, I'm perhaps too old to remember the pre-internet days, hence my reluctance to embrace this brave new world…
By the way, paying cash is still the thing to do for vitually anything below a couple of thousands of US$ or Euros.
Re the data (ab-) use: yep, the data is already being sold and resold to third parties, that much is clear. So far, gov'ts were not permitted to acquire them legally (even though I suspect that they already do, mainly via subsidiaries, private contractors, and the like), hence while I do object to these practices, I also think that this gov't-led push, certainly in cahoots with big business and high finance, is a way to 'streamline' these processes and thus cut operating costs.