Questions tagged [banking]
To be used for any generic banking question. If there is a product-specific question, specific tags like credit-card, savings etc. should be used. If there is an entity-specific question, descriptive tags like merchant, community, consumer, small-business should be used.
1,102
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How do scammers retract money, while you can’t?
I see a lot of question about scams with the same premises:
Someone puts money in your account.
You send money somewhere.
They take their money back, while you lost your money.
I don't know a whole ...
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84
votes
7
answers
40k
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Is this $200 "welcome money" (from a major bank) some sort of scam?
I googled around (this in the US) about "bank accounts you can open online",
I noticed:
https://www.us.hsbc.com/checking-accounts/campaigns/offer-2018/#advance-checking-details
Notice they will (...
- 13.8k
71
votes
9
answers
34k
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How does a bank make money on an interest free secured loan?
I was having a discussion about the ethics of charging interest on a loan, and I was of the position that allowing the charging of interest encourages more loans to be given, and thus contributes to ...
- 907
68
votes
13
answers
27k
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Mother abusing my finances
I'm in a bit of a predicament so I want to give some background.
I'm a 17-year-old who has a bank account with my mother as an account holder given that as a minor I cannot legally enter into an ...
- 621
63
votes
5
answers
18k
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What should I do if I lost money in a scam?
I live in New Jersey and my son wanted to order some toys from this guy who said he makes them in his house and he could give him the best deal, but before he could send these toys he needed my 16 ...
- 639
53
votes
5
answers
30k
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Withdrew £2800, but only £2000 shows as withdrawn on online banking; what are my obligations?
I just withdrew £2800 from the bank. Looking at my online banking, there is only a withdrawal of £2000 listed. The form I signed said the amount I asked for, and the teller weighed the cash out on the ...
- 633
49
votes
5
answers
11k
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Why do banks seem to be indifferent about identity theft?
Several years ago, I was in a terrible relationship in which my girlfriend fraudulently opened a credit card in my name. I forget the specifics, but she ended up transferring the full cash advance on ...
- 607
48
votes
8
answers
14k
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How to organize bank accounts with wife
My wife and I are recently married, both of us are working hard. At the moment we currently have the same system as prior to our marriage. Which simply put is that both of have our own bank accounts ...
- 593
46
votes
7
answers
12k
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Why would a bank need to accept deposits from private clients if it can just borrow from the Federal Reserve?
As far as I understand, all banks can borrow money from the Central Bank (Federal Reserve in the US) and the rates are (currently) extremely low (or even negative in some cases). If that is so, why ...
- 5,842
45
votes
11
answers
18k
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Why is a transfer from an account to another not done instantly when it's not the same bank?
I own accounts at two different Romanian banks.
When I transfer money to another account at the same bank, the money is transferred immediately. However, when I transfer money to an account at a ...
- 561
44
votes
7
answers
36k
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A man on a work project in West Africa asks me for 2000 - is this a scam?
A man that I met on Facebook was called to do a job in West Africa. He got there and found out that there is a problem with his Swiss bank account. He needs 2000 to finish the job so he can come home....
- 507
40
votes
14
answers
12k
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Are programmers in the USA still able to automate fetching their bank transactions, like was possible in the 1980s and 1990s?
I have a pretty simple question for primarily programmers in the USA, but it also goes for those elsewhere.
I'm in Sweden. A couple of years ago, just when I had finally set up an automated system to ...
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40
votes
4
answers
3k
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Are bank customers allowed to provide username & password to sites like Mint.com?
This question is not about whether Mint.com is secure, or not. That is beside the point. (Refer to this question on the subject of trusting Mint.com and similar services.) Rather:
Are bank ...
- 31.7k
38
votes
3
answers
12k
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How to prove that invoices are really unpaid?
When it comes to official business documentation (USA) between a company and a client who is either another company (B2B) or individual person (B2C), how can the company providing the invoices, prove ...
- 381
37
votes
20
answers
27k
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How to safely destroy (a large quantity of) valid checks?
A while ago I had my bank issue me new checks due to a change of name (I got married). However I still have many hundreds of checks with the out of date info (they're an online bank and issue about ...
- 1,886
37
votes
3
answers
12k
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How do the rich and wealthy withdraw from accounts without leaving home?
I was at someone's house once and they made a phone call and had someone bring $50,000.00 cash to their home from one of their bank accounts. I think the person worked for the bank and wasn't a ...
- 673
36
votes
7
answers
29k
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Is it acceptable to use a bank's "dispute a charge" feature if restaurant wouldn't give refund?
I ordered some food at a popular fast food chain, through drive through. When I arrived at my destination, I found my order was wrong, plus the food was very stale and cold. I paid for a rather ...
- 2,813
36
votes
7
answers
3k
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How does a bank lend your money while you have constant access to it?
How do banks / fintechs lend your money while you have constant access to it, ie. can withdraw at any moment? I assume there is some kind of liquidation pool, but how exactly is that managed with ...
- 477
35
votes
3
answers
12k
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Should I pay myself back for paying family's rent out of our pool of money?
A few months ago, I paid the $1,500 rent on the house where my family and I lived. My siblings and I are in college and we work part time jobs to get by.
My father could not afford to pay the rent ...
user77796
35
votes
5
answers
11k
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What are the advantages of a Swiss bank account?
I've heard about bank accounts in Zurich / Switzerland, but I don't fully understand the unique advantages of swiss bank accounts. What I do believe about these (but don't know for sure):
They accept ...
- 515
34
votes
6
answers
9k
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What risks are there acting as a broker between PayPal and electronic bank transfers?
I have a company offering a position as a transaction representative, they're located in Poland and say they can't take direct payments or use Paypal due to "money amount limits" on Paypal there. ...
- 359
34
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4
answers
6k
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Who pays the premium for bank deposit insurance?
Normally, when I want insurance coverage (e.g. for my car and house), I have to pay a premium to the insurer. My bank account comes with deposit insurance to insure me against bank collapse. It looks ...
- 17k
32
votes
4
answers
7k
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Why do most banks in Canada charge monthly fee?
I am not sure about other countries, but here in the UK we mostly don't need to pay a monthly fee. But I was a bit surprised to learn that most Canadian banks do charge monthly fees that some of them ...
- 439
32
votes
7
answers
15k
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Why is the fractional-reserve banking not a Ponzi scheme? [closed]
Operating a Ponzi scheme is a crime which I suppose has some sort of definition in the penal code or criminal law. It is a fraudulent investment operation that pays returns to separate investors from ...
- 461
31
votes
7
answers
17k
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How can I gift $41,000 to my friend anonymously? (Australia)
We both live in Australia. I don't want him to know it's from me. But I’m not hiding from the government. I’d prefer the money to go into his bank account so he can see it's real money. I have his ...
- 311
31
votes
6
answers
11k
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Is it a scam when a contract employer asks me to forward money to other workers through my bank?
I have applied for a job as a translator in a UK based company via Indeed, working from home. Everything about it looked legit - regular contact information, addresses, interview (even though ...
- 323
31
votes
4
answers
17k
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Transfer over $10k
I recently realized that most of my money is going into my checking account where it's just sitting there losing value due to inflation, etc. I want to open a savings account at a different bank (...
- 291
31
votes
1
answer
6k
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What happens if a bank loses your safe deposit box?
My bank cannot find my safe deposit box! Luckily I still have the original contract and the keys. They are currently researching what happened, but it doesn't look good.
I don't know when the box ...
- 8,693
30
votes
6
answers
7k
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Bank rotation to exploit promotional deposit rates for new funds
Banks in my country often offer deposits with promotional rates for new funds - calculated as funds exceeding amount accumulated on selected date.
Now there are several banks practicing such ...
- 461
30
votes
5
answers
229k
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Is there a limit on the dollar amount of a personal check?
Is there a limit on the dollar amount of a personal check?
user454
30
votes
5
answers
78k
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Why is there a limit of 6 ACH transfers out of savings accounts (per month)?
I recently discovered this limit the hard way, after being charged a fee for each transfer over the limit. With online banking becoming so prevalent, this is a huge inconvenience as it prevents people ...
- 1,473
30
votes
2
answers
241k
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"Savings" account vs. "current" account - what's the difference?
When I draw money from ATMs or open a new bank account, there's the choice of either "savings" or "current" account.
What's the difference between these two account types?
- 533
29
votes
6
answers
10k
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Why are there many small banks and more banks in the U.S.?
I'm a Canadian and here in Canada, we don't have a ton of banks. We have around 5 or 6 major banks (Scotiabank, Royal Bank of Canada, CIBC, etc.) and basically no others (except a couple of credit ...
- 421
28
votes
6
answers
120k
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Found an old un-cashed paycheck. How long is it good for? What to do if it's expired?
I just found a paycheck from my old work that is dated August 5th, 2013. It's for over $300 and I'm wondering if it will still go through.
I'm worried that it will bounce or there will be some issue ...
- 383
27
votes
5
answers
7k
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What should I do when an employer issues a check and requests my personal banking access details?
If an employer provides a check to be mobile deposited and subsequently the check is insufficiently funded, and creating an overdraft of my account. The employer "claims" in order to resolve ...
- 287
27
votes
4
answers
49k
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Daily interest calculation combined with monthly compounding: Why do banks do this, and how-to in Excel?
I often see banks advertise (for accounts with fixed yearly interest, let's say 1.5%) – "interested is calculated daily, and compounded monthly".
I have 2 questions:
Why are they calculating ...
- 385
27
votes
2
answers
22k
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Why does it take 3 days to do electronic transfers between banks? [duplicate]
It seems like electronic transfers can take 2 - 3 days to complete. For example, when I ask my online broker to transfer money from my checking account, the money won't actually be available to trade ...
26
votes
5
answers
11k
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Why do credit card issuers offer a grace period?
I am wondering why most credit card issuers offer a grace period after the statement date, provided they're not obliged to? Is it required by law (I'm 99.99% sure it's not but just in case)? Does ...
- 363
26
votes
4
answers
5k
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What happens to depositors at Silicon Valley Bank?
Today, Silicon Valley Bank is bankrupt, the second largest bank failure in American history.
What happens to its depositors? Will they be able to withdraw (some of) their money? How long will they ...
- 2,839
26
votes
3
answers
7k
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My bank got bought out, am I now going to have to start filing tax returns in a different state?
My bank just got bought by a bank in another state. Does this mean my interest earnings are going to get reported in that other state and potentially require me to file tax returns in the other state? ...
- 9,785
26
votes
5
answers
85k
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How can I set up a recurring payment to an individual (avoiding fees)?
What methods are there for me to transfer X dollars per month, directly to another individual's bank account? I'd rather avoid sending a check every month and the attendant hassle when a check goes ...
- 2,530
25
votes
5
answers
11k
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If a bank fails, will debt be wiped out?
I have debt to Capital One. If they fail, and whoever the trustee is fails, will the debt eventually get lost in bankruptcy proceedings?
Considering the Lehman bankruptcy is still ongoing, well past ...
user102461
25
votes
8
answers
7k
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Selling a House Upfront Or Collecting An Income Over Time?
Suppose that you have a house worth $500,000.00 that is gifted to you and this house is completely paid off. The people who want to purchase this house will need to go to the bank to get a loan so ...
- 399
25
votes
5
answers
5k
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Using credit/debit card details vs swiping a card in a payment (credit card) terminal
I was given by a seller an option to come to their office and swipe my credit/debit card there in their payment terminal.
Because it's a long way to get to their office, I asked the seller if he ...
- 465
25
votes
4
answers
23k
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How can banks afford to offer credit card rewards?
I understand Visa and MasterCard make money on transaction fees, but how much (if any) of those fees do banks see? Do banks make money on people who pay their bills on time, or are reward programs ...
- 353
24
votes
5
answers
5k
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Depositing and withdrawing money from another account to avoid ATM fee
Somebody I know asked to deposit money into my checking account so I could withdraw the money and let the person avoid their ATM fee (we have different banks). I am uncomfortable with doing so. ...
- 343
24
votes
7
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9k
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What are the advantages to banks being located in the City of London (the Square Mile)?
This question is about the City of London, i.e., the Square Mile, not greater London.
There are an awful lot of international banks located in the City of London. What advantages are there to having ...
- 349
24
votes
1
answer
6k
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Paying off home mortgage and lender wants a "Recording Fee"
So I whittled down my house note to the point where I have enough cash to just pay it off early and be done with it. Yay!
I asked my lender for a "payoff" statement, which provides an accounting of ...
- 53k
23
votes
2
answers
203k
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What's the difference between a certified check, a cashier's check, a money order, and a bank draft?
The question comes from reading this answer.
I've heard these terms used somewhat interchangeably, but I have no idea what the differences are.
What's the difference between a certified check, a ...
- 665
22
votes
9
answers
5k
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Why do banks give small APR loans
I apologize if this has been asked before....
If you can reasonably expect to profit 6% or more from index funds and there are other ways to make a reasonably safe 6% on the stock market....
Why do ...
- 2,778