Can we talk about TIPFLATION for a minute?

[mjkacmom]

Uhhh...I don't think that there is a single post in this thread in which the poster stated that they want tipping to completely go away. People are sick of the tip-begging from places that don't traditionally ask for tipping.

A restaurant in our town has this statement in tiny print on the bottom of the menu: "A 3% hospitality charge is added to all checks to benefit our kitchen team. This is not in lieu of a sever gratuity". This is ridiculous - just pay your kitchen staff a decent wage! I will not be patronizing that restaurant.

I was responding to the article which mentions folks want tipping to go away for good.

 

[tvguy]

Just curious - in the States is there no way to electronically transfer money directly out of your bank accounts without a 3rd party service like Venmo or PayPal? Through Canadian banks it’s a simple matter of using a standard on-line banking function that transfers to anyone via email and the recipient deposits it the same way. No fees charged to either party. It’s so common here as to be ubiquitous.

Just curious - in the States is there no way to electronically transfer money directly out of your bank accounts without a 3rd party service like Venmo or PayPal? Through Canadian banks it’s a simple matter of using a standard on-line banking function that transfers to anyone via email and the recipient deposits it the same way. No fees charged to either party. It’s so common here as to be ubiquitous.

I'm not sure that is correct. Banks would go bankrupt without some sort of fee for providing services.
https://www.nerdwallet.com/ca/banking/bank-fees-and-charges

 

[SC Minnie]

I saw this today in a shop and made me think of this thread.

 

[Mousemom234]

To add to this...I just went out to eat and was charged 3% for using my credit card! …

I’ve seen that at some local produce markets recently. A small sign apologizing for it at the register. I don’t mind, because I’m supporting a small local business, in an environment where most people used to pay cash.

I also had the opposite at a new-to-me restaurant. The menu stated at the bottom that there was a 4% cash discount. I’m assuming the cc fee was already built in to the prices.

 

[ronandannette]

Not always true. See CIBC for example where it is only free for some accounts and TD implies it isn't free to send for any type of account.

https://www.cibc.com/en/personal-banking/ways-to-bank/how-to/send-interac-e-transfer.html

https://www.tdcanadatrust.com/easyweb5/messages/tip_message3.jsp

There was a little superscript denoting the various types of TD accounts that include e-transfer for no extra charge, down at the bottom in teeny print. In general, perhaps "free" was the wrong way for me to describe it. It's actually more that these and other electronic transactions are included in service packages by monthly account fees.

Question, if you don't mind: I've never tried e-transferring to anyone internationally. Do you know if you would be able to receive one and deposit it locally (wherever that may be)?

I'm not sure that is correct. Banks would go bankrupt without some sort of fee for providing services.
https://www.nerdwallet.com/ca/banking/bank-fees-and-charges

There are TONS of other ways for Canadian banks to make money. Account service fees, foreign exchange fees, wire transfer and certified funds fees, mortgage-and-loans interest, profit on investing depositors' funds, credit-card interest and fees, fees for selling and managing investments...and probably many more that I'm not even aware of.

 

[tvguy]

There are TONS of other ways for Canadian banks to make money. Account service fees, foreign exchange fees, wire transfer and certified funds fees, mortgage-and-loans interest, credit-card interest and fees, fees for selling and managing investments...and probably many more that I'm not even aware of.

And I suspect you are paying for those transfers as an account service fee. Maybe a flat rate, but nothing is free.

 

[ronandannette]

And I suspect you are paying for those transfers as an account service fee. Maybe a flat rate, but nothing is free.

{{sigh}} OK tvguy...you're right. Not free - "included" is a more appropriate term. Just like meals are "included" in a cruise fare and public health care is "included" in personal income taxes.

 

[tvguy]

Okay. Just got an e-mail that my credit card had been billed for my DIGITAL ONLY newspaper subscription.
Here is what it said:

This is your receipt for $29.99 including $.00 tip for your subscription to The Sacramento Bee,

Who gets the tip for a digital subscription?

 

[dvcgirl67]

Just curious - in the States is there no way to electronically transfer money directly out of your bank accounts without a 3rd party service like Venmo or PayPal? Through Canadian banks it’s a simple matter of using a standard on-line banking function that transfers to anyone via email and the recipient deposits it the same way. No fees charged to either party. It’s so common here as to be ubiquitous.
.

Interesting....I'm not aware of any such ability if it exists here. I mean, other than moving money between our own accounts which we can do seamlessly. I only became away of moving money quickly when Venmo came online. And then there have been others....Zelle (which my husband doesn't like due to security concerns), and Cash App.

I have a personal Venmo account, but then opened a separate one for my business, which is noted as a service business....and that's why they charge the 2%. I believe a lot of people were using personal Venmo's for business transactions, but they started to crack down on that. And I don't mess with the IRS . It seems that the way Venmo mostly makes its money is by allowing the recipient to access the cash immediately for a fee....as opposed to allowing for a free transaction/tranfer that may take 1-3 days.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Interesting....I'm not aware of any such ability if it exists here. I mean, other than moving money between our own accounts which we can do seamlessly. I only became away of moving money quickly when Venmo came online. And then there have been others....Zelle (which my husband doesn't like due to security concerns), and Cash App.

I have a personal Venmo account, but then opened a separate one for my business, which is noted as a service business....and that's why they charge the 2%. I believe a lot of people were using personal Venmo's for business transactions, but they started to crack down on that. And I don't mess with the IRS . It seems that the way Venmo mostly makes its money is by allowing the recipient to access the cash immediately for a fee....as opposed to allowing for a free transaction/tranfer that may take 1-3 days.

My bank now allows you to do transfers to people's bank accounts at other banks.

They also have a way to send money like paypal, venmo, etc called popmoney which according to the FAQs "There is no fee assessed by Popmoney to receive and deposit a payment into your Eligible Transaction Account."

I've only ever used internal transfers so not sure how the other two methods work

 

[dvcgirl67]

My bank now allows you to do transfers to people's bank accounts at other banks.

They also have a way to send money like paypal, venmo, etc called popmoney which according to the FAQs "There is no fee assessed by Popmoney to receive and deposit a payment into your Eligible Transaction Account."

I've only ever used internal transfers so not sure how the other two methods work

Interesting....I'll have to look into it....or maybe just hire you to take care of my "books". .

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Interesting....I'll have to look into it....or maybe just hire you to take care of my "books". .

lol. I've actually never heard of popmoney or I guess paid attention to the other transfer options since I only ever do internal these days.

True story when we lived at the rental house we paid our landlord (who lived a few hours away) by bill pay through our bank (just set it up online). The second rent check she called to tell us she didn't receive it and we're like well we sent it to this address just like the first one. Turns out she moved and didn't tell us

After that she gave us her bank account information (which was from Bank of America) and my husband just went to a local bank and directly deposited it into her account. Would not at all suggest that for your business just thought she was a way too trusting of a landlord, but it did do the trick and she always got her rent.

 

[dvcgirl67]

lol. I've actually never heard of popmoney or I guess paid attention to the other transfer options since I only ever do internal these days.

True story when we lived at the rental house we paid our landlord (who lived a few hours away) by bill pay through our bank (just set it up online). The second rent check she called to tell us she didn't receive it and we're like well we sent it to this address just like the first one. Turns out she moved and didn't tell us

After that she gave us her bank account information (which was from Bank of America) and my husband just went to a local bank and directly deposited it into her account. Would not at all suggest that for your business just thought she was a way too trusting of a landlord, but it did do the trick and she always got her rent.

Well, you're a trustworthy couple for sure....not many landlords would allow for that arrangement .

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Well, you're a trustworthy couple for sure....not many landlords would allow for that arrangement .

I guess so lol. It certainly never was a thought in our mind that anyone would do that that's for sure

 

[DisneyHardin]

My bank now allows you to do transfers to people's bank accounts at other banks.

They also have a way to send money like paypal, venmo, etc called popmoney which according to the FAQs "There is no fee assessed by Popmoney to receive and deposit a payment into your Eligible Transaction Account."

I've only ever used internal transfers so not sure how the other two methods work

I need to check if my banks have that now. We have checking accounts at 2 different banks and when I need to transfer money, I write a check and then mobile deposit it at the other bank. Being able to do it electronically would be awesome.

 

[GreatLakes]

I need to check if my banks have that now. We have checking accounts at 2 different banks and when I need to transfer money, I write a check and then mobile deposit it at the other bank. Being able to do it electronically would be awesome.

If you are sending money between two accounts you own any financial institution will have a way to do it electronically. Most will be ACH while some will ride on debit rails. Unless you bank somewhere very small (like a single branch community bank or credit union) you will have this option.

As for paying other people electronically the vast majority of banks have a way to do that free now using one of many options (Zelle is the most common). I don't do any banking in Canada but it sounds like some of the posters here are talking about a Bank of Canada payment system like the upcoming FedNow service.

 

[SirDuff]

There was a little superscript denoting the various types of TD accounts that include e-transfer for no extra charge, down at the bottom in teeny print. In general, perhaps "free" was the wrong way for me to describe it. It's actually more that these and other electronic transactions are included in service packages by monthly account fees.

Question, if you don't mind: I've never tried e-transferring to anyone internationally. Do you know if you would be able to receive one and deposit it locally (wherever that may be)?

There are TONS of other ways for Canadian banks to make money. Account service fees, foreign exchange fees, wire transfer and certified funds fees, mortgage-and-loans interest, profit on investing depositors' funds, credit-card interest and fees, fees for selling and managing investments...and probably many more that I'm not even aware of.

Not with e-transfer But in case you ever need it, I use Wise for international transfers. There are fees but after adding in the fees, the exchange rates are much better than what banks give (at least any banks that I bank with).

And perhaps I just have a very basic Canadian banking package (which makes sense since I rarely need to do anything with it and I have no monthly fees) but I do get charged (I think $1.50) to make an e-transfer from it, which I do maybe once or twice a year when I’m at home.

 

[SirDuff]

Well, you're a trustworthy couple for sure....not many landlords would allow for that arrangement .

I don’t know what info was actually given but’s that totally normal where I live (European country). You get SWIFT/IBAN information which is enough to set up a bank transfer but not enough to do any nefarious. Cheques are totally unheard of here.

Even bills are sent with a standard payslips with a QR code that you scan with your banking app and pay. You can also go to the Post Office and pay with cash (even if you don’t bank with the Post Office). Until recently, you could take the payslips to “automats” which are like ATMs but scanners and scan it and pay there (like ATMs, each bank has it‘s own automats) but those have been stopped.

 

[ronandannette]

I don’t know what info was actually given but’s that totally normal where I live (European country). You get SWIFT/IBAN information which is enough to set up a bank transfer but not enough to do any nefarious. Cheques are totally unheard of here.

Even bills are sent with a standard payslips with a QR code that you scan with your banking app and pay. You can also go to the Post Office and pay with cash (even if you don’t bank with the Post Office). Until recently, you could take the payslips to “automats” which are like ATMs but scanners and scan it and pay there (like ATMs, each bank has it‘s own automats) but those have been stopped.

QR codes on bills sounds like a good idea, especially for random ones that aren’t already set up on one’s recurring auto-pay.

 

[Stratman50th]

I never tip on a credit card. We always have cash to tip the server. My standard is 20% if the service was good. If the restaurant employees tip share, the split of the cash tip is on them to be honest with the runners, bus people and kitchen staff.
An area where I always tip that I personally haven't seen others do (I'm sure it happens but I rarely see cash on the table) is at a buffet. The people who regularly keep the tables clear really hustle and deserve something extra.