On Sat, 28 Jun 2008 15:39:45 -0500, Stephen Sprunk
wrote:

Another major difference I'm sensing is transaction limits. My debit
card has daily limits of USD 500 for ATM and USD 1000 for ATM+POS, which
seems to be typical. In contrast, credit cards will generally let you
charge up to your credit line in a single day, and that could be
thousands or tens of thousands of dollars.

Ah, my "convenience card" (i.e. in my case, Canadian Imperial Bank of
Commerce's ATM access and credit card) limits me to $1,000/day
withdrawal from my chequing account, but also allows me to bill up to
$11,000 in a "single transaction" to my credit card account.

I guess I'm a trusted client... but I still do not have, nor want,
debit card access.


In the UK, it's usual for there to be a daily limit for ATM (250 quid
springs to mind for mine, and you can have them reduced - many
students living in bad areas do this to reduce the impact if they get
mugged and taken at knifepoint to the ATM), but it's not usual for
there to be a POS hard-limit, just an unpublished and potentially
variable one at which a transaction might be "referred" to confirm it
is genuine.

With credit cards, however, we're closer to the US - my main card pays
me 0.5% to use it, and there is no annual fee. In the UK it is
similarly unusual for there to be a monthly charge for a current
account other than those with bundled premium services; some (like
mine) even pay credit interest. The way the money is made is by way
of charges and interest for those who overdraw their accounts or
borrow on credit cards.

Neil

Nobody wrote:
On 27 Jun 2008 19:52:56 GMT, Rian van der Borgt
wrote:
Here in Belgium, bus/tram drivers are also very reluctant to eccept 50
euro notes, simply because they often don't have enough change for them.

Most buses in the UK do not accept GBP20 notes for the same reason.

And then in this section of North America at least (Metro Vancouver),
you have to have EXACT coin change to pay on board a bus...

AFAIK, that is the case for all buses in the US as well. Exact cash
fares are required, though many systems will let you overpay if you
don't demand change (i.e. they'll let you pay USD2 for a USD1.50 fare).

There are many reasons for this. The most obvious is that making change
increases dwell time, which slows the bus down. The more important one,
though, is that this way the driver does not handle any money; the fare
goes directly from the passenger's hands into a lockbox, which reduces
the risks of both driver theft and robbery.

ticket machines at SkyTrain/SeaBus stations will accept bills to $20
and make change, as well as accept credit/debit cards... once the fare
is paid, the ticket/transfer is valid across the whole transit system
(bus/train/ferry), depending on the zone/s paid for.

AFAIK, all TVMs in the US and Canada will accept $20 bills. The problem
with doing that is the change you get: a USD1.50 ticket here means
twenty coins (18x$1, 2x25c) in change from a USD20 bill, and that's
enough weight and bulk to seriously annoy you. As a result, I rarely
see anyone using bills larger than $5 at our TVMs.

S

Canadian $2 coins (twoonies) and $1 coins (loonies) get rid of a lot
of that jingle-jangle!

Given that Metro Vancouver's base fare is $2.50 (i.e. one zone) or
$3.75/two zone, or $5/three zone, the change factor becomes relatively
minimal.

If those charges seem large, "fare saver" books and monthly passes
offer substantial discounts.

For example, a "ten-ticket" single-zone fare-saver booklet costs $19,
or $1.90/trip and is totally transferrable within the one zone, or
tri-zone system-wide after 6.30 p.m. and all day Sats/Suns/public
holidays.

An adult unrestricted daypass system-wise (all three zones but only
available after 9.30 a.m.) is $9.

Monthly fare cards by zone crossing for unlimited use are $73/99/136,
with a flat concession card at $42 anywhere, anytime for oldies and
kiddies.

The transit system (three zones) stretches from Lions Bay in the far
NW, to deep Langley in the far SE -- somewhere in the region of 75km
or more -- and all the way south to the Ammurican border -- though it
is concentrated in the "core" municipalities of the North Shore,
Vancouver city, Burnaby, New Westminster, Tri-Cities (in the NE),
Surrey/Delta, and Richmond.

And then in this section of North America at least (Metro Vancouver),
you have to have EXACT coin change to pay on board a bus...

AFAIK, that is the case for all buses in the US as well. Exact cash
fares are required, though many systems will let you overpay if you
don't demand change (i.e. they'll let you pay USD2 for a USD1.50 fare).

Exact change or season ticket or day ticket is about standard thought North
America, as been for at least a decade.

Same as single or perhaps two zone fares.

And, of course, transfer tickets to enable your to change buses without
having to pay again.


--
Cheers

Roger T.
Home of the Great Eastern Railway at:-
http://www.highspeedplus.com/~rogertra/
Latitude: 48° 25' North
Longitude: 123° 21' West

"Nobody" wrote in message
...

Canadian $2 coins (twoonies) and $1 coins (loonies) get rid of a lot
of that jingle-jangle!

Any truth to rumours that the Canadians plan to introduce a 5-dollar coin
for general circulation?

On Sat, 28 Jun 2008 22:37:39 +0100, Roland Perry
wrote:

I don't get that impression at all. Especially as many of the more
aggressively marketed cards are not associated with conventional banks.

(eg Egg, Goldfish, Capital One etc).

I think what he said can be applied to mainland Europe, though. The
UK seems to be half-way between the US and mainland Europe in banking
terms, as it also is on many political issues.

Neil

--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.

In message , at 23:47:11 on
Sat, 28 Jun 2008, Charles Ellson remarked:
I get the impression that folks in Europe only get credit cards from
the bank that they have checking/savings accounts with.

I don't get that impression at all. Especially as many of the more
aggressively marketed cards are not associated with conventional banks.

(eg Egg,Citigroup

Goldfish,

Barclays Bank

Yes, it is now owned by Barclays, but previously by Lloyds TSB, and it
is not "associated" with Barclays current accounts, in the same way that
Barclaycard is. And especially not when originally launched 15 years ago
by the "Goldfish Bank".

(The same is true of Morgan Stanley Cards; launched independently,
transferred to Goldfish Bank, itself now owned by Barclays).

Capital One etc).

--
Roland Perry

Canadian $2 coins (twoonies) and $1 coins (loonies) get rid of a lot
of that jingle-jangle!

Any truth to rumours that the Canadians plan to introduce a 5-dollar coin
for general circulation?

Yes. Seriously under consideration due to pressure from the vending machine
lobby.


--
Cheers

Roger T.
Home of the Great Eastern Railway at:-
http://www.highspeedplus.com/~rogertra/
Latitude: 48° 25' North
Longitude: 123° 21' West

In message , Nick Leverton
writes

That's three people mentioning 1970, but surely the 50p came in in
1969? That's certainly when the bulk of the original ones were dated.

The ten shilling note and the 50p piece co-existed for a little while.
I remember at a primary school fete paying for an item with a 10/- note,
and getting a 50p (plus some pence) in change. To this day I don't know
whether the stallholder mistook the ten bob note for a pound or whether
they assumed the then-new 50p was worth less than it was ! It must have
been in late 1969 or early 1970 because I changed to secondary school
in September of the latter year.

At the time, I remember a lot of complaints that the new 50p and 2s/10p
were too similar and could be confused, especially by older people. I
think originally the only difference was that the 50p was very slightly
larger and had the pointy sides whereas the 2s/10p was round.
--
Steve Fitzgerald has now left the building.
You will find him in London's Docklands, E16, UK
(please use the reply to address for email)

"Steve Fitzgerald" ] wrote in message
...
In message , Nick Leverton
writes

That's three people mentioning 1970, but surely the 50p came in in
1969? That's certainly when the bulk of the original ones were dated.

The ten shilling note and the 50p piece co-existed for a little while.
I remember at a primary school fete paying for an item with a 10/- note,
and getting a 50p (plus some pence) in change. To this day I don't know
whether the stallholder mistook the ten bob note for a pound or whether
they assumed the then-new 50p was worth less than it was ! It must have
been in late 1969 or early 1970 because I changed to secondary school
in September of the latter year.

At the time, I remember a lot of complaints that the new 50p and 2s/10p
were too similar and could be confused, especially by older people. I
think originally the only difference was that the 50p was very slightly
larger and had the pointy sides whereas the 2s/10p was round.
--
As far as the 2s and 10p coins were concerned, would it have really been an
issue? I mean, the 10p coin was the same size as the 2s coin and had the
same value for about 10 years, if memory serves.

In message ,
writes
At the time, I remember a lot of complaints that the new 50p and 2s/10p
were too similar and could be confused, especially by older people. I
think originally the only difference was that the 50p was very slightly
larger and had the pointy sides whereas the 2s/10p was round.

As far as the 2s and 10p coins were concerned, would it have really been an
issue? I mean, the 10p coin was the same size as the 2s coin and had the
same value for about 10 years, if memory serves.

That wasn't the complaint - I referred to the 2s/10p coins together to
indicate them being considered a single entity - the complaint was
between these and the new 50p.
--
Steve Fitzgerald has now left the building.
You will find him in London's Docklands, E16, UK
(please use the reply to address for email)