[consulting] being a listed consultant

[Karoly Negyesi]

> That may be correct....for the United States. Cheques are *very*
> uncommon in Europe, and electronic transfers / wire transfers are
> commonplace.

My Hungarian bank once explained that if I get a cheque drawn on a US  
bank, then they will send it by post to said bank which will do a wire  
transfer! Really. No kidding. Of course this costs me lots o' money AND  
time. Really. I pay a ton of money to be served slowly.

> Also, here in Canada we have a business account with our bank with
> full access online to business functions like wire transfers, money
> exchange, etc. We can set up templates for wire transfers and once
> they've been approved (up to a certain amount) it takes a minute or
> two to send them in the future.
>
> Good thread on "banking and payments around the world" :P

Internet banking is the future though it's just painful to watch the banks  
crawl: I sit here in Berkeley and can reach my various accounts scattered  
around the globe easily. However, I transfered funds within a certain bank  
on Friday from one account to the other and it has not been yet processed.

The downside of IBAN transfer (or SWIFT transfer if you want -- this is  
the real name for wiring money internationally) is that if you make the  
tiniest error then your money will bounce back after a significant time  
minus serious fees . Ouch! Do not typo that company name, folks. Even if  
you do it correctly, it's everything but SWIFT -- from one day to six  
weeks it can take whatever time, there is no guarantee, no easy way to  
track.

Seriously, I have thought more than once that I will simply ask gold  
bullion coins to be shipped via UPS or similar as payment. However, there  
is some loss between the buy and the sell price -- it's about 2%, and of  
course the shipping costs can be pretty high if shipping to big distances  
despite the weight is next to nothing (1 ounce of gold is 28 grams and it  
worths 672USD). But, unlike the banks, couriers will strive hard to get  
the thing to you, a simple typo will not stop the process for six weeks  
and introduce a 100 EUR loss and it's *trackable*.

Regards,

NK