+2

+3

With knobs on.

Dave; what are the penalties like for unauthorised overdraught and bouncing cheques?

The banks over here have always maintained they can only offer free banking because of the fees they charge to people who fall fowl of the rules. Now those fees are being challenged, we're quite possibly faced with a similar system to yours. That's to say; like it was over here in the 1970s.

Not sure, I haven't exceeded my overdraught, but I think the rates are much higher and you can't use the account again, until the you pay into the account to drop below the overdraught limit.

I think, generally, you pay about €13 for each rejected transaction (direct debits and standing orders) and they will contact you on the telephone number that you register with them.

There aren't any cheques over here, at least you don't get a cheque book, you need to specifically ask the bank to print you some. I've never had a need for a cheque over here.

Thread bump, but the machines where I work will accept pretty much anything UK based.

AmEX is out.

On a side note, the ones where I work have to 'ring' the central thingy(:)) and check to make sure the money is there and its not fraudededed. This takes quite a long time. My boss rung up about why ours took so long and supermarkets don't, and they said that supermarkets are generally not bothered if they lose a few hundred here and there. Small garden centres, on the other hand, actually have to have it validated.

The PDQs in large stores connect by ISDN or over the Internet. They certainly do check, because I've had my card declined before. Or maybe I just look a bit shady?

Yours probably dials up like an old analogue modem over a normal phone line.

Indeed *every* transaction is checked with the bank first for authorisation. The tills in the supermarkets are so advanced they even tell the cashier if the bank suspects fraud or wants the card retained by the store (the customers LOVE that!).

Authorisation can certainly take time, even in the supermarkets.

That is one of the benefits of having bundled DLS and ISDN in one package over here, most establishments have ISDN, so it is relatively quick to authorise these days.