MarQ
I know the YouTube glitterati are hyperventilating that the banks are going to crash "any minute now," and have been for years (decades), but something really strange happened to me today and just thought I'd ask if anyone else had things going a little weird.
I use online bill pay, have done so ever since my bank came out with it decades ago. I have never had a problem with it. But you know how sometimes you add a new bill to the system and it tells you that they have to cut a physical check and mail it? I guess that's understandable when it's a smaller business or something.
Today I was paying my list of bills, entered them all into the form (there were only five of them), and when I submitted it, I got an error message that four of the five bills were rejected because I had submitted incorrect calendar dates. (The fifth bill was to the same bank, since it was a credit card payment.) I went in and changed the dates to the new suggested arrival date, which was 3 days later than the original. When I submitted again, all of these listed their delivery method as "mail physical check."
I pulled out the last few months payment printouts, and the same payees had delivery method listed as "Electronic Payment" (average arrival 1-2 days), have now changed to "Mail" (average arrival 3-5 days). That makes a big difference on whether or not your bills are paid on time, especially since often these companies hold a physical check for 10 days to make sure it clears. These are not small local businesses... it's Cox Communications, Bank of America, AT&T, etc., who have been on my billing list for years and have always accepted electronic payments.
I spent 30+ minutes on the phone with them (being transferred twice) and the answer was that the Bank does not determine the delivery methods for each company, the payment system—FiServe—does. Well I looked up FiServ and they are an electronic billing and payment service. The CSR told me they have used FiServ for many years (she didn't know how long, but in other words, it's not "new.") If they are an electronic billing system, why are they cutting paper checks and mailing them like it is 1998? She had no answer, but kindly provided me with the FiServ CS number, and now it is too late to call them. She told me that sometimes this happens when addresses or marital status changes, but nothing in my profile has changed.
I just know through reading and podcasts that there are whacky things anticipated via the electronic payment systems. Is anyone else starting to notice cracks in the foundation? Because if this is how they are going to do things, I could just write all those checks myself, or switch banks to one that is living in the modern world.
Beginning Sept. 1, the European Union has banned an ingredient commonly found in gel nail polish.
The banned substance, TPO (trimethylbenzoyl diphenylphosphine oxide), gives nails a super glossy sheen and a quick dry time under UV or LED light. However, it has been deemed toxic in the EU after several studies have shown that it can cause fertility issues and adversely affect reproductive health.
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4338823/posts