International payments Thread poster: Ann VDP
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Ann VDP
Local time: 00:53
French to Dutch
+ ...
Dear all,
I came across the following article in a discussion group.
The person who wrote this appears to be some kind of financial authority world wide.
\"There IS a standard exchange rate used throughout most of the Western world, and that is the daily Interbank rate. Any finance institution not using this rate is automatically, again IMHO, under suspicion of
semi-fraudulent practices.
The standard credit card... See more Dear all,
I came across the following article in a discussion group.
The person who wrote this appears to be some kind of financial authority world wide.
\"There IS a standard exchange rate used throughout most of the Western world, and that is the daily Interbank rate. Any finance institution not using this rate is automatically, again IMHO, under suspicion of
semi-fraudulent practices.
The standard credit card conversion rate is normally that day\'s Interbank rate + 2%
Not everyone charges this, but it is a good guide, and that should be the guide that you use in dealing with customers.
I\'m afraid that there is just too much negative information on the internet
about PayPal for me to ever feel confident in its continued existence. When people have gone to the extent of putting up an extremely large website with all of the complaints against them, and when a class action has been launched in the US against them, I\'m afraid I\'m too much of a \'Shylock\' to ever trust my money to such a Mrs Doubtfire organisation.
There ARE other alternatives out there ... in fact, here in Australia we have a couple of burgeoning alternatives which are quickly growing international, and through which you can use your actual bank account to pay
bills without having to have a credit card (which, years ago, I stopped using because of hitherto mentioned \'Shylockishness\' 
Two of these are the (German or Swiss-based, I think) AnyPay (www.anypay.com) and the Australian operation PayMate(www.paymate.com.au)which allows direct transfer in cash from your bank account
to any e-mail recipient in the world.
But, one of the most exciting alternatives is the (newish)International Internet bank transfer process, where you can transfer money direct from your bank account to another, participating, bank account anywhere in the world in a matter of nano-seconds.
I feel that this will become the norm with internet transactions within the very foreseeable future, but won\'t necessarily replace the credit card mentality of the bulk of people today...but it is a great
boon to those of us who still believe in the cash economy.
The best, safest and most economical way to transact credit card purchases over the internet is via your own merchant account ... both you and your
client can rest happy in the fact that any currency conversions are done at
the Interbank rate (+ or - whatever fee your bank applies to C.C.
transactions), and the sword of Damocles that seems to be hanging over PayPal has no effect on you or your transaction.
Remember, PayPal is not registered with the US Federal Reserve, they do not have to operate by either the US or international banking standards, and as a dot.com company - given the recent and continuing dot.com
bomb - there is absolutely no security there for you.
Just my two & threepence worth.
David J Thomas
Aussie Teddies
Australia\'s Only Teddybear Artist Portal Site
e-mail me at [email protected]
Visit our website at ▲ Collapse
| | | | Ralf Lemster 
Germany
Local time: 00:53
English to German
+ ...
| Take this with a bucket of salt.... | Mar 25, 2002 |
Thanks for putting this up, but I very much doubt the assumption of any financial authority in this article...
One simple reason: \"THE interbank rate\" does not exist. Interbank rates are exchange rates quoted between banks on a worldwide, and continuous basis (in fact, some argue that the main currency pairs are the only truly global financial markets - you can trade euros against dollars approx. 22 hours every day). Now *which* interbank rate is your bank to use? Foreign ... See more Thanks for putting this up, but I very much doubt the assumption of any financial authority in this article...
One simple reason: \"THE interbank rate\" does not exist. Interbank rates are exchange rates quoted between banks on a worldwide, and continuous basis (in fact, some argue that the main currency pairs are the only truly global financial markets - you can trade euros against dollars approx. 22 hours every day). Now *which* interbank rate is your bank to use? Foreign exchange rates change every second - there are a few reference rates (\"fixings\"), but that doesn\'t help you much if you need to convert, say, Czech korunas into Aussie dollars.
Also, as far as the grand idea of moving money \"in nanoseconds\" is concerned, that\'s a great concept - but I\'m missing the concrete technical implementation here. This is an idea that the entire world foreign exchange market in the world has been working on for about a decade, and is slowly coming to fruition with an institution called CLS (continuous linked settlement). Now this is for professional market participants moving billions every day, but not for retail. The devil is in the detail - try and make a payment from, say, Japan to the US: which currency will you use, and how do you deal with the time difference (unless banks are open to move payments 24/7, this won\'t work)?
Whether we like it or not, the banks are likely to stay with us for some time...
Just my two (euro) cents\' worth... ▲ Collapse
| | | | Ann VDP
Local time: 00:53
French to Dutch
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
... but I am still looking for some kind of a solution (as are so many of us, I presume) to cash money from overseas customers.
His view on PayPal is, however, interesting...
I would have appreciated some extra pointers as well, but I guess there is not much more to be said about it, at least for the time being.
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