What's the best method for paying someone back?
Whenever I owe someone money, I try to use email payment as much as possible.
It costs, yes – my bank, TD Canada Trust, charges $1.50 per email transaction – but it’s clean. No cash. Geography’s not an issue. You don’t need exact change. There are few ways for the average consumer to make more direct financial amends.
Am I a sucker for living by that $1.50 fee? Perhaps, and maybe that’s why I find some people resistant to email payment. But if a new PayPal study tells us anything, it’s that preference for dealing with cash, and for making cash payments, may soon be a thing of the past.
According to PayPal’s survey, more than half (56 per cent) of Canadians are comfortable with never having to handle cash. That same number would prefer to use a digital wallet to make a purchase or give cash to others.
Now, we’ve been hearing about these “digital wallets” for some time now. In essence, banks are making a move to turn our cell phones into credit and debit cards so we no longer have to carry plastic.
It’s an exciting idea for some, a polarizing one for others.
But aside from the obvious security gripes about a digital wallet, it’s clear that handling cash, with all the rebate cards we have now, is no longer the most beneficial method of payment.
More to that, 60 per cent of PayPal's survey respondents, when faced with paying someone back, said they don’t want to scramble to find an ATM. That suggests they either want to fork over funds via email or through a digital wallet.
How do you pay people back? Do you insist on paying cash, or is that a hassle of the past? Do you use electronic payment methods instead?
By Jason Buckland, MSN Money
Posted by: Chip | Jun 28, 2021 9:02:43 PM
Is it any wonder that collective consumer debt is at an all time high and won't be going down anytime soon. Back in the old days... yes those... when cash was king, if you didn't have the cash, you obviously couldn't spend it and thus you didn't go into debt. Period !! Nowadays, with credit cards, pre-payday loan companies, and the evident lack of control many people have over their spending habits, is it surprising that people are so much in debt. As soon as they get over their heads, they take the easy way out and declare bankruptcy. Then they start all over again !! Instead of working through a cash budget of let's say $150. per week, many people consider a trip to the office or local ATM to pull out $20. as much a routine as their daily coffee. Add that to their limited knowledge or sheer lazyness about budgeting and it ends up with them paying out large monthly fees for convenience ATM usage. So when the worldwide economy tanks again, maybe they should look in the mirror and explain their own lack of self-control over a few thousand dollars each year. Thank God they're not handling the Millions.
Posted by: Donna | Jun 29, 2021 1:08:36 AM
Jason; Your TD Canada Trust Bank is ripping you off if they are charging you $1.50 for each email money transfer. My Scotiabank only charges me $1.00 per transaction. If you do a lot of email money transfers, that can add up over time!
Posted by: clear and focused | Jun 29, 2021 5:46:50 AM
Welcome to the cashless society. Now we are doomed...
"And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man".
Let it be known, that it is because of you sleepwalkers out there, that we are doomed.
Posted by: Colour of money | Jun 29, 2021 8:46:11 AM
I must admit, I was expecting a comment like Chip's, but I am a confessed sleepwalker to the other comment.
@Chip, there is not a necessary connection between debt and electronic money. There could be no credit whatsoever, and we could still live happily in a cashless society. However, user-fees for transactions, even the $1.00 at Scotiabank, are still way too high to replace cash just yet.
Perhaps what the federal government needs to do is organize discussions between the central bank and the other big banks and have a single universal electronic system of payments that has NO FEES. The cost of maintaining this secure system, huge though they may be, can be picked up by the tax-payer and could come from the reduced budget spent on maintaining a paper and coin currency.
We would be the envy of the world, and the Canadian technicians and policy makers that made the system possible would be in high demand in the rest of the world. Selling this novel and powerful system would also be a way to offset the initial costs of such a system.
One thing is for sure, paying $1.50 so that I can lend my friend $20, only to have him pay $1.50 to pay me back is ridiculous. I have two kids. Should I pay $3.00/week to give them their $5.00 allowance?
NO USER-FEE TRANSACTIONS!!!
Posted by: Randy kubbernus | Jun 29, 2021 9:16:53 AM
clear and focused give it up!
Posted by: Bill | Jul 3, 2021 8:50:14 AM
@clear and focussed... you are more like "dazed and confused". There are clinics out there that will help you.