# What's All This About Banks Losing A Few Cent Per Transaction? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 25, 2013, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-all-this-about-banks-losing-a-few-cent-per-transaction/659305 "2013-05-25T10:10:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AHeinrich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecccb3/32.png) [@AHeinrich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHeinrich)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2013, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-all-this-about-banks-losing-a-few-cent-per-transaction/659305/1 "2013-05-25T10:10:56Z")
Every time a transaction/transfer is made, is it true that a few cent or something is lost? So is it possible to create a software that would recover those lost amounts? If so, how much could one reasonably expect to make? (E.g. Say I had electrokinesis/cyberkinesis and just wanted to put all of those lost amounts in secret Swiss accounts or something :D) ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2013, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-all-this-about-banks-losing-a-few-cent-per-transaction/659305/2 "2013-05-25T11:21:52Z")
It’s called “salami slicing” and it is such a common idea that there’s a wikipedia page about it: > **[Salami slicing tactics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salami_slicing)** > > Salami slicing tactics, also known as salami slicing, salami tactics, the salami-slice strategy, or salami attacks, is the practice of using a series of many small actions to produce a much larger action or result that would be difficult or unlawful to perform all at once. > Salami tactics are used extensively in geopolitics and war games as a method of achieving goals gradually without provoking significant escalation. > In finance, the term "salami attack" is used to describe schemes by which lar... It has also featured as the plot in several movies, such as Office Space and Superman III (with the latter actually being mentioned in Office Space). Banks are on the lookout for such a thing, so I would imagine what you could expect is something along the lines of this: [QUOTE=Office Space] Michael Bolton: We get caught laundering money, we’re not going to white-collar resort prison. No, no, no. We’re going to federal POUND ME IN THE ASS prison. [/QUOTE] ETA: There are more examples on the TV tropes page here: > **[Piecemeal Funds Transfer - TV Tropes](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PiecemealFundsTransfer)** > > In the land of TV and movies, all electronic funds transfer systems work by transferring the money a little bit at a time. We know this because while the transfer is in progress, you can clearly see a Viewer-Friendly Interface displaying the … ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2013, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-all-this-about-banks-losing-a-few-cent-per-transaction/659305/3 "2013-05-25T14:50:56Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2013, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-all-this-about-banks-losing-a-few-cent-per-transaction/659305/4 "2013-05-25T17:08:09Z")
It’s kind of like hijacking an airliner. It worked… once.