Hello Peter, for most ordinary people in the UK their bank will be a building society which is owned by the customers so there are no shareholders, and so no profit motive.They offer much the same as banks. In particular they offer travel insurance at extremley good premiums and as Brits travel overseas a lot then travel insurance, particularly annual policies, are essential. For example, our Nationwide annual worldwde travel insurance for unlimited holidays, including me and my wife, both over 65, and with our existing medical conditions, and car breakdown and loss or damage to our mobile phones costs ...... £298. This is £13 a month plus an annual top up for age etc, totally only £298. We go on many cruises a year so the insurance is peanuts.
Living in Italy, near the Swiss border, on a British pension I have an assortment of bank accounts, but the most useful is a multi currency account in which I can hold balances in up to 50 different currencies and switch money from one to another with very low commission. Comes with a debit card which can be linked to Apple Pay or Google Pay if you prefer to wave your phone at people. You can also set your own spending limits, direct debits, regular conversions or use it to send money to anyone in any of the currencies you choose. Do these accounts exist in the U.S? I doubt it, as you seem to be still in the era of writing cheques. There's no charge for the account, no charge for the card and they pay interest monthly on balances, too.
In the UK the government pressured the banking industry to implement free fast payments between 2000 and 2005, basically if the industry didn't create their own fast payment system the government would legislate to create an independent one.
This is excellent to know! Yes I agree, why is US so behind or make things SO complicated or soo many choices!?? And make money off if high fees! Or fees for EVERYTHING! Great video ! Very very informative!! Thank you! ❤️
Thank you! Yeah it’s pretty ridiculous and I barely even scratched the surface in this video. I’m sure I’ll do another video with more detail at some point, I could probably make an entire video just about overdraft fees lol
@peterkonradort lol I bet you can! I'm working my way over there slowly but surely! God willing. Tks again. You were my first UA-cam video I watched when I first began to entertain the idea of moving to Scotland . Waited 2yrs on an update! Lol ☺️ but during that time I've been doing my research. You are the only video that shed some light on traveling with a cat to that part of the UK. And I'm not one to place my cat in cargo..that's a no no for me. So tks for sharing what you did and all that you can! Appreciated! Hope your family are all well. Kids are getting big! Blessings and 🩷
Thank you for sticking around! It’s been an insane couple of years but I’m trying to get back into, or start, regular videos. A dedicated video about bringing cats over is coming as well. I did start making a video about it but then one of the cats passed away from cancer so I couldn’t finish it for awhile. I might try to do that video in the next couple of weeks, I’ll have to see how much time I have lol
I agree with you, although I have noticed some ‘slight’ improvements in the US - because of Covid! Tap and pay is much more common now. Everything else is still 30 years behind UK - including mobile networks 😂
In shops they often accept cash. You just take the item to the counter, the price displayed on the shelf is what you pay, no tax is added. Then you whop your wad on the counter.
Yes but evidently many places don’t like to take English notes, and vice versa if you’re in England. I’ve never personally experienced that but I’ve heard it from several people lol
@@peterkonradort It tends to only be a problem further south and with inexperienced staff we have a total of seven banks licensed to produce their own currency designs - 1 in England. 3 in Scotland, 3 in Northern Ireland (first trust stopped issuing notes a couple of years ago) each in 4 different sizes giving 28 different designs, and a staff member might not be familiar with all of them, I'm aware of which banks they are but I'm not familiar with the current designs and anticounterfeiting measures for each of them.
About the time that the US was starting to use chip and pin Europe was beginning to use contactless. The big difference between UK and US banking is of course the fees, so US banking will drag their heels when it comes to providing a service that they can't charge for!
Although I’m British, I lived and worked in the US between 2012-2014. Apart from not being able to get a credit card in the US, apparently ‘cos I didn’t have a credit history in the US, I didn’t have a problem setting up a US bank account and getting a bank (debit) card. However, I was surprised it was so backward. Chip and PIN was standard across most of UK and Europe at the time, whereas the US was still signing payments. Also, self-checkouts at supermarkets was common on 5his side of the Atlantic, only introduced whilst I was over there, and not common. I was surprised how ‘backward’ the US was.
Interesting, yeah as a newly arrived American in Scotland the banking system here is not one of my favorite things. It was incredibly difficult to even open an account with any of the major banks, we had to create a Wise account to have a place to put my paycheck. My primary complaint is that interest bearing accounts here arent really a thing. The rates are abysmal, and often have restrictions like caps on the interest or you limits like you get a decent rate for only the first few months before dropping to nearly 0. We find it unnerving still to hand out our banking info to random strangers to get payment for things.
Yeah it is a bit of a pain when you first move here but once you’re set up it’s fine. As far as interest rates go, I never got more than like 1 or 2% on savings in the states. And right now Monzo savings accounts are like 4% so I consider that relatively good
You have to remember that you're only giving the sort code of your bank and your account number. With that info people can pay money into that account but nobody could withdraw money out of it with such little info. You'd need passwords and security checks and all sorts.
It's called security. UK Banks legally need to identify who you are - Money laundering, Organised crime, Terrorism laws. Interest rates are based on the central bank interest rate, so as the UK and US don't have the same central bank ...... Yes the US has a "Fred Flintstone" Banking system, probably due to every Town having it's own Bank, instead of over hear where there are Nationwide chains. I am told that's why travellers cheques are such a big thing in the US. As someone in LA will have never heard of a bank from NY.
I much prefer the US banking system over the UK - The US is so much easier to set up an account , you can just walk right in and get on with it - in the UK you have to make an appointment for the following month on a Tuesday at 11.30am and then if you want to withdraw what they consider ''a large sum'' of cash £1000 then the Spanish inquisition starts - ITS A FRIKIN NIGHTMARE - I set up a new account depositing a large check , i then asked the teller when could i with draw the cash - she told me they couldnt let me have that much cash , 10 seconds after i'd just handed her a check made out to me from a frikin law firm - i was only allowed to have my ''daily allowance'' from the ATM and so i proceeded to go to the ATM everyday for the next 4 months - BANKING HERE IS A FUKCIN NIGHTMARE
Troll. I live in UK. Iv never heard of anything your saying. I opened all my accounts within an HR, 3 separate accounts, 1 bank. Clueless American who hasn't even got the bollox 2 put his name in profile.
Hello Peter, for most ordinary people in the UK their bank will be a building society which is owned by the customers so there are no shareholders, and so no profit motive.They offer much the same as banks. In particular they offer travel insurance at extremley good premiums and as Brits travel overseas a lot then travel insurance, particularly annual policies, are essential. For example, our Nationwide annual worldwde travel insurance for unlimited holidays, including me and my wife, both over 65, and with our existing medical conditions, and car breakdown and loss or damage to our mobile phones costs ...... £298. This is £13 a month plus an annual top up for age etc, totally only £298. We go on many cruises a year so the insurance is peanuts.
Cheques are practically non-existent in UK
If you get a refund from the Inland Revenue it comes as a cheque.
Living in Italy, near the Swiss border, on a British pension I have an assortment of bank accounts, but the most useful is a multi currency account in which I can hold balances in up to 50 different currencies and switch money from one to another with very low commission. Comes with a debit card which can be linked to Apple Pay or Google Pay if you prefer to wave your phone at people. You can also set your own spending limits, direct debits, regular conversions or use it to send money to anyone in any of the currencies you choose. Do these accounts exist in the U.S? I doubt it, as you seem to be still in the era of writing cheques. There's no charge for the account, no charge for the card and they pay interest monthly on balances, too.
Investment Accounts cards generally don't have contactless chips and can't be used as a debit card would in store.
In the UK the government pressured the banking industry to implement free fast payments between 2000 and 2005, basically if the industry didn't create their own fast payment system the government would legislate to create an independent one.
This is excellent to know! Yes I agree, why is US so behind or make things SO complicated or soo many choices!?? And make money off if high fees! Or fees for EVERYTHING! Great video ! Very very informative!! Thank you! ❤️
Thank you! Yeah it’s pretty ridiculous and I barely even scratched the surface in this video. I’m sure I’ll do another video with more detail at some point, I could probably make an entire video just about overdraft fees lol
@peterkonradort lol I bet you can! I'm working my way over there slowly but surely! God willing. Tks again. You were my first UA-cam video I watched when I first began to entertain the idea of moving to Scotland . Waited 2yrs on an update! Lol ☺️ but during that time I've been doing my research. You are the only video that shed some light on traveling with a cat to that part of the UK. And I'm not one to place my cat in cargo..that's a no no for me. So tks for sharing what you did and all that you can! Appreciated! Hope your family are all well. Kids are getting big! Blessings and 🩷
Thank you for sticking around! It’s been an insane couple of years but I’m trying to get back into, or start, regular videos.
A dedicated video about bringing cats over is coming as well. I did start making a video about it but then one of the cats passed away from cancer so I couldn’t finish it for awhile. I might try to do that video in the next couple of weeks, I’ll have to see how much time I have lol
@peterkonradort ohhh so sorry to hear about your cat. My condolences. ❤️ stay well.
I agree with you, although I have noticed some ‘slight’ improvements in the US - because of Covid! Tap and pay is much more common now.
Everything else is still 30 years behind UK - including mobile networks 😂
In the US our banks have Zelle, to send money instantly person to person, with only a phone number. We have had it for a couple years.
In shops they often accept cash. You just take the item to the counter, the price displayed on the shelf is what you pay, no tax is added. Then you whop your wad on the counter.
Yes but evidently many places don’t like to take English notes, and vice versa if you’re in England. I’ve never personally experienced that but I’ve heard it from several people lol
@@peterkonradort I think you might have problems with Guernsey, Jersey and Scottish notes particularly with younger counter staff.
@@peterkonradort
It tends to only be a problem further south and with inexperienced staff we have a total of seven banks licensed to produce their own currency designs - 1 in England. 3 in Scotland, 3 in Northern Ireland (first trust stopped issuing notes a couple of years ago) each in 4 different sizes giving 28 different designs, and a staff member might not be familiar with all of them, I'm aware of which banks they are but I'm not familiar with the current designs and anticounterfeiting measures for each of them.
About the time that the US was starting to use chip and pin Europe was beginning to use contactless.
The big difference between UK and US banking is of course the fees, so US banking will drag their heels when it comes to providing a service that they can't charge for!
Although I’m British, I lived and worked in the US between 2012-2014. Apart from not being able to get a credit card in the US, apparently ‘cos I didn’t have a credit history in the US, I didn’t have a problem setting up a US bank account and getting a bank (debit) card. However, I was surprised it was so backward. Chip and PIN was standard across most of UK and Europe at the time, whereas the US was still signing payments. Also, self-checkouts at supermarkets was common on 5his side of the Atlantic, only introduced whilst I was over there, and not common. I was surprised how ‘backward’ the US was.
Interesting, yeah as a newly arrived American in Scotland the banking system here is not one of my favorite things. It was incredibly difficult to even open an account with any of the major banks, we had to create a Wise account to have a place to put my paycheck.
My primary complaint is that interest bearing accounts here arent really a thing. The rates are abysmal, and often have restrictions like caps on the interest or you limits like you get a decent rate for only the first few months before dropping to nearly 0.
We find it unnerving still to hand out our banking info to random strangers to get payment for things.
Yeah it is a bit of a pain when you first move here but once you’re set up it’s fine. As far as interest rates go, I never got more than like 1 or 2% on savings in the states. And right now Monzo savings accounts are like 4% so I consider that relatively good
you can get over 4% fot instant access in th UK.
You have to remember that you're only giving the sort code of your bank and your account number. With that info people can pay money into that account but nobody could withdraw money out of it with such little info. You'd need passwords and security checks and all sorts.
It's called security.
UK Banks legally need to identify who you are - Money laundering, Organised crime, Terrorism laws.
Interest rates are based on the central bank interest rate, so as the UK and US don't have the same central bank ......
Yes the US has a "Fred Flintstone" Banking system, probably due to every Town having it's own Bank, instead of over hear where there are Nationwide chains.
I am told that's why travellers cheques are such a big thing in the US. As someone in LA will have never heard of a bank from NY.
I much prefer the US banking system over the UK - The US is so much easier to set up an account , you can just walk right in and get on with it - in the UK you have to make an appointment for the following month on a Tuesday at 11.30am and then if you want to withdraw what they consider ''a large sum'' of cash £1000 then the Spanish inquisition starts - ITS A FRIKIN NIGHTMARE - I set up a new account depositing a large check , i then asked the teller when could i with draw the cash - she told me they couldnt let me have that much cash , 10 seconds after i'd just handed her a check made out to me from a frikin law firm - i was only allowed to have my ''daily allowance'' from the ATM and so i proceeded to go to the ATM everyday for the next 4 months - BANKING HERE IS A FUKCIN NIGHTMARE
Troll. I live in UK. Iv never heard of anything your saying. I opened all my accounts within an HR, 3 separate accounts, 1 bank. Clueless American who hasn't even got the bollox 2 put his name in profile.
It's harder in the UK to prevent money laundering.