If you have to hold up a sign, the morning newspaper, stand on your head, silly walk, or any other clown shit then I agree with the OP that is completely unprofessional. All you should need is a smartphone with video call functionality (and the bank should support the major apps/brands), possibly access to the app store since some banks have a custom app to access your accounts online, and valid official identification handy.
(And would you entrust your money to a bunch of clowns? Where’s the conservatively dressed, correctly polite man or woman who offers you coffee and makes you feel they are doing you a great favour by accepting your paltry ten grand)
As Thelurkinghorror says, $300 is the default. My bank told me I could get that increased, but I never bothered. As for transferring to a stranger’s account, I have never seen that option and have a hard time imagining how that would work. The young people have a way to send money around using an app on their phone, but I’m not hip to that either.
Thanks. AFAIK, a lower default daily ATM withdrawal is not offered where I live (though of course the effect can be achieved simply by not keeping more than $X in the account).
Think about how simple it would be for a thief, or malicious ex, or anyone else to pretend to be you. All they need is a picture of you, and the bank would have no way of knowing it was actually someone stealing your money.
There are two limits on ATM withdrawals: The limit that your bank puts on your card and the limit that the operator of the ATM imposes.
The typical non-bank ATM has a $400 limit. That’s twenty $20 bills. I said typical, each owner chooses their own limit for each ATM. That’s basically because the owner of an ATM doesn’t want one guy to come by and drain their machine. You can often get around this limit by making multiple transactions. And if you choose to make multiple transactions, the ATM owner charges a separate fee for each transaction, so this basically increases their revenue.
The second limit is the one imposed by the issuer of your ATM card. The limit is typically $500 or less per day. The Citibank Citigold Account (the one that charges the highest fees or requires the highest minimum balances), for example, has a $2000 daily limit. Their lower status accounts have lesser limits.
Being able to transfer money to a stranger’s account is very rare and you are unlikely to find it. US banks don’t make transferring money to other consumer bank accounts easy. Some banks offer services like Zelle or Venmo that let you transfer small amounts of money to other consumers that have signed up for these services. If you want to give money to a stranger who is not signed up or go above the daily limit, you basically have to give them cash, send them a check, or do an expensive wire transfer.
I don’t go into a bank branch very often, but I have had to on occasion. Mostly to access a safe deposit box. And then once in a while to withdraw a specific kind of bill, like a $50 or a $100, that I can’t get from an ATM, for use as a gift.
Most people use Venmo. It goes into your Venmo account then takes a few days if you want to transfer to your bank account. But for actual bank transfers, most banks are members of an alliance called Zelle, you send via email address. I think the transfer amount is something like $5000 per day.
How so? I only know old people, curmudgeon store owners who are too cheap to pay credit card fees, and personal rent. I write maybe 1 per year or two.
Edit: I realize that’s anecdote, but my experience witnessing across generations.
Where do you get the $5000 figure from? Capital One won’t even let me transfer $1000. They won’t tell you the actual amount, you have to go by trial and error.
If some bank does not offer fee-free instant payments online or at an ATM (via Zelle or RT1 or whatever is used in the region in question), we can legitimately accuse them of being behind the times (which they should care about, since there is always competition). If Zelle users cannot pay their rent because of some low limits, that’s a problem, though $5000/day seems like it ought to be enough for a lot of people- though, for comparison, SEPA Instant transfers are currently limited to a default of €15000, but I guess that wasn’t enough since they’re increasing it to 100,000 this year.
I pretty much do everything online but I only use phone apps for a few things (like checking balances but not opening accounts), and I have no way to take a selfie from my computer.
Umm…
I think all the luddites here (including the OP) misunderstand what a “live selfie” is.
It’s not a real-time selfie.
It’s a quick motion capture image, usually under 5 seconds or so. The bank wants to know that you are alive, and not a picture of a a picture.
I wonder how many Under-40s have or actually use a checking account. Some of my millennial students say they write one check a month… but I polled them and that’s only the ones who have a landlord “my age” (late 60s).
Ok, I’m old, but I had to mail someone a check the other day, and I felt like I was trying to remember Stone Age Tech:
*Okay, I have to find that pad of skinny papers, where I write down an amount that I’m not giving you right now, but if you take this to your bank, they’ll give you cash then send this paper to my bank and they’ll pay your bank back, pinky-swear.
Okay, dug the checks out of the closet, but now, what’s the date? And why the hell do I have to write $213.00, THEN write out ‘Two hundred and thirteen and 00/100’?
Okay, now I have to find an envelope and a stamp… how much postage do I need? And do I lick it? No, it’s adhesive, darn I miss that ‘stickymint’ flavor… now where the hell do I mail it? Are there actual mailboxes still? Have I been walking right by mailboxes and payphones and just not noticing them? *
Aaargh, I worked so hard to forget all my Olde Fogie Ways, and now I have to dredge them up again… what’s next, you’re gonna tell me I have to tape the vinyl album of The Yes Album but reorder the tracks to try to fit it on one cassette?