(no subject)

[winterbadger]

So, I'm curious about people's banking habits. Some people set up automatic payments from their bank account (like having a utility automatically deduct its bill from their checking/current account, or having their bank automatically pay a set amount monthly to their credit card balance). I heard of this from friends in the UK long before I ever heard of it here, so I've always thought of it as a UK thing. But I discovered in asking around at work that quite a few of my colleagues here do it too. So, a poll!
[Poll #1461690]

I realise that many of my friends are *from* one country but living in the other (in some cases, that's how we became friends!), but I'm mostly interested in what people's preferences are by nationality and upbringing, not by where you happen to be at the moment.

Comments

[pisica.livejournal.com]

I can't remember if I had any automatic debits set up when I was in the states, but they've been a godsend since I've moved overseas - my US bank automatically pays my US credit card, so I don't need to worry about that, and once the student loan payments kick in, the bank will pay those too (and I should get a 0.25% interest reduction, which can't hurt).

The problem is when they mess up. I had my UK bank automatically transfer money from my checking to my savings account every month, and then I canceled it, but the order didn't go through for some reason. Imagine if that had been rent to an ex-landlord or something!

In the UK my direct debits are to the landlords and (when I get around to setting it up again) to the student gym, and I pay the credit card bill automatically. None of these have ever had any problems. I would probably be a bit warier about paying utility bills directly, and in fact I don't think I've ever done that.

[winterbadger]

The problem is when they mess up. I had my UK bank automatically transfer money from my checking to my savings account every month, and then I canceled it, but the order didn't go through for some reason. Imagine if that had been rent to an ex-landlord or something!

Exactly! I've had banks screw up so many times that I don't think I want to trust them to handle debiting money (other than their fees, which I can't prevent).