How can Wachovia deduct money for an uncashed check?

I think that what you call electronic checks, up here in Canada we call Pre-authorized debits. For example, I have an arrangement with the utility company to debit my bank account, monthly, to cover my utility bill. No, that's called a pre-authorized debt or a direct debt.

They still send a statement, about 2 weeks PRIOR to the debit date. NO service charge. The event occurs transparently on the DUE DATE of the statement. No stamps, no envelopes etc. The responsibility is on the utility company to submit the authorization to the bank, i.e. activate the authorization, on a monthly basis--I don't have to do anything.

The problem with these is that not everybody does 'em. For example, try paying your accountant or lawyer this way. Or try paying your gardening service or landlord or something like that. Also, if you pay 20 companies via electronic debt and then one month, for some odd reason, perhaps a medical reason, you cannot make payments or full payments. Now you have to call 20 different companies or log into 20 different company's web sites, 20 different usernames, odd passwords, they changed their site, etc., etc. just to get the payment temporarily stopped or reduced for a month or two.... Or you could simply do it all from one place, inside your Quicken so that Quicken is always up to date first... You're choice.

Is THAT what you guys mean by electronic cheques? I can't see actually having to PAY some other company to send yet ANOTHER company some money...unless we are talking about something like Pay Pal???!!

Yeah I can't see actually paying some company to deliver some package by 10:30 Am to some other company too when you can simply drop it off yourself, however some people have been known to pay for the convenience of such things...

-- Andrew DeFaria All computers wait at the same speed.

Equity loans are bad, bad loans. They have kept a LOT of people from realizing that they have to CUT BACK on spending, rather than generating false capital from borrowing against assets. Equity loans will result in many people having no choice but to work into their 80's.

MY automated pre-authorized system doesn't cost me ONE CENT. Over many years, it has never fouled up. How much do you pay every year for your CU service?

"Andrew" wrote in news:86Xli.112$ snipped-for-privacy@newsfe12.lga:

In this town, the water department is run by the borough (Fair Lawn, NJ). I paid a few times by telling Citibank via Quicken to cut them a check, but the water department told me in no uncertain terms that they wanted a physiccal check, plus the stub from the bill. Luckily we don't have to affix a stamp, but can deliver the envelop to them without that expensive USPS stamp.

"sharx35" wrote in news:VR%li.40073$tB5.34254@edtnps90:

It's called willpower or restraint. Plus tax strategy. I'm paying 7% interest on the loaned amount, and deducting that from my income resulting in a net interest rate of ~4%. Certainly this past week the return on stock etc investments has exceeded that.

But I agree with sharx35 that the lure of easy money through home equity loans can be very bad. There are people who say that they will leave this life with no net worth, but plenty of debt. That's not me. If I wanted to, I could cash in a fraction of my investments and pay off the equity loan next week.

In all due respect, "Huh"?? Did you mispost? Not sure what you're talking about. Who said anything about costs of the service? (PS: zero).

Thanks Han.

Oh, that's quite interesting. I wonder how long, with electronic transactions becoming more and more popular (I think the 'other' Andrew, Andrew De., said once he never writes personal checks for anything anymore) money-collecting institutions (particularly governmental agencies!) can get 'away' with saying that. As I said in a previous post, the only checks I write out now regularly are for magazine renewals, because I feel uncomfortable I could ever validate a payment if the electronic one went awry.

"Andrew" wrote in news:5Z5mi.29$ snipped-for-privacy@newsfe12.lga:

I think that's a waste of good paper (for the checks). I pay those things by credit card. Unfortunately that will c ost the merchant a fee to the CC company, but that is up to Congress to fix (at least in the US).

Indeed. However most of my income tax clients have a negative net worth, hence THEIR inability to do just that.

I seldom use cheques (Canadian spelling) except for gifts. Most organizations offer credit card payment options--I get a cash rebate on my credit card usage--every December. No monthly fees on my credit card, either. Most people, once they factored in their monthly credit card fee, will find that they are paying dearly for the supposed perks such fees pay for.

"sharx35" wrote in news:UHmmi.43767$tB5.34742@edtnps90:

Fees? For my credit card usage? Sir, you're surely kidding! With the merchant paying around 4% to the credit card company, I would not want to pay fees. They (CC comps) have to pay me. Like Discover does.

"sharx35" wrote in news:EFmmi.43733$tB5.8968 @edtnps90:

Sorry that may suit other people. I feel better with a positive net worth. After all, US Social Security will not be enough for me to retire on.

Likewise. I feel that North America is a hair away from a consumer financial crisis.

Considering you haven't named another solution - it's the only solution!

... because?

It's still "writing a check". How 20th century!

IOW you have no automatic solution at all and prefer doing it the old fashioned way for no stated reason! Gee where can I sign up for that!

Ah, no it doesn't or rather is the water bill does not accept an EFT then a real check will be cut and mailed to them. It's just that you wouldn't need to do it nor be concerned about it if you used online bill payment.

Huh? If you told them to pay by check (which, BTW, you can't do - they either accept EFTs in which case an EFT is used or otherwise a check - one of the paper ones BTW - is sent).

Like I've said, I've been paying everybody - that's EVERYBODY - via online bill payments for 12 years now. One time a police department down in Laguna Nigel insisted that I stuff the envelop with their stub. Aside from the fact that their "stub" was long since tossed in the garbage, thus I had no way to stuff the envelop even if I wanted to, and I told them that over the phone, I was not about to make a paper check just for therm. I resent the online bill payment and told them in no uncertain terms that this is legal payment and they could take it or reject it if they wanted to but I have made payment. It took them like 6 months to cash it but finally they did. And this was a police station/local government.

I'm not obligated to make payments by standing on my head. The only thing that any biller needs from the payment is the account number, which you designate for online payments. Online payments are legally correct and you shouldn't need to do anything to bow to the bill payers antiquated methods of accounting - that's their problem - NOT YOURS.

They can't get away with saying that as my recent post just said. Well they can get away with saying it - they just can't get away with blaming you for non payment. Online bill payments are completely legal and must be accepted. You are not required to jump through accounting hoops for them. That's their problem.

Actually you shouldn't be required to validate payments either. That's the task of your bank/Checkfree. If payment not received or properly credited then they are supposed to find out why.

If you really believe that then you are naive. All businesses build such fees into the cost of doing business meaning they simply adjust their pricing structure to account for such things. IOW they simply raise their prices.

Aside from the fact that I don't know what your statement here has to do with my post, yeah sure I can make that claim! In fact everybody can make that claim! Now proving that claim is quite a different matter and quite frankly totally irrelevant to this thread.

Rambling on and on and on... Yeah dude. Whatever. Bomb proof finances... Right...

Andrew DeFaria wrote in news:469b7f58$0$10301$815e3792 @news.qwest.net:

I really believe that, both what I stated and that the businesses would incorporated that cost into their pricing structure. I would have thought that that would be a matter of course (with all due respect).