http://www.davosnewbies.com/2005/09/19/u-haul-without-a-clue/ A year-round Davos of the mind, written since 1999 by Lance Knobel Sat, 28 Jan 2012 12:38:33 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://www.davosnewbies.com/2005/09/19/u-haul-without-a-clue/comment-page-1/#comment-1893 Lance Knobel Mon, 19 Sep 2005 23:49:51 +0000 http://www.davosnewbies.com/2005/09/19/u-haul-without-a-clue/#comment-1893 Hmmm. Wells Fargo, unless I'm missing something, does it all for free online and in person. Smile.co.uk, my bank in the UK, only exists online and it offers higher interest rates than any physical bank. It also has absolutely the best interface and the most helpful support I've ever encountered anywhere. Both Virgin Atlantic and British Airways charge less for Internet-booked tickets than phone-booked ones. So not everyone is clueless. Hmmm. Wells Fargo, unless I’m missing something, does it all for free online and in person. Smile.co.uk, my bank in the UK, only exists online and it offers higher interest rates than any physical bank. It also has absolutely the best interface and the most helpful support I’ve ever encountered anywhere. Both Virgin Atlantic and British Airways charge less for Internet-booked tickets than phone-booked ones. So not everyone is clueless.

]]> http://www.davosnewbies.com/2005/09/19/u-haul-without-a-clue/comment-page-1/#comment-1890 Felix Mon, 19 Sep 2005 22:33:25 +0000 http://www.davosnewbies.com/2005/09/19/u-haul-without-a-clue/#comment-1890 Right. Let's say I want to transfer $500 from my Citibank checking account to my Citibank joint account. I can do that using online banking; it will cost me somewhere between $10 and $25 depending on the balance in my account. Or I can go down to my local branch, go to the teller, withdraw the $500 from one account, put it straight back into the other, use up a whole bunch of her and my time -- but not get charged. Or I can do the same thing at the ATM: get the money out in cash, put it in an envelope, and then deposit it back into the same machine using a different card. Later in the day, that same teller will open the envelope, and manually count out the cash to make sure that it's the amount I said it was. Either way, the more labour-intensive solution is also the cheaper solution. Ridiculous. Right. Let’s say I want to transfer $500 from my Citibank checking account to my Citibank joint account. I can do that using online banking; it will cost me somewhere between $10 and $25 depending on the balance in my account. Or I can go down to my local branch, go to the teller, withdraw the $500 from one account, put it straight back into the other, use up a whole bunch of her and my time — but not get charged. Or I can do the same thing at the ATM: get the money out in cash, put it in an envelope, and then deposit it back into the same machine using a different card. Later in the day, that same teller will open the envelope, and manually count out the cash to make sure that it’s the amount I said it was. Either way, the more labour-intensive solution is also the cheaper solution. Ridiculous.

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