Electronic Payments

millertime78

Hi All

Where possible I make all payments online/ use Laser & credit card and minimise the amount of cash I carry/use. Yet it baffles me how many companies refuse to accept online payments - Teagasc is the latest example of this. Incredible that a state body like this only accept cheques or cash. Its probably the reluctance to give out bank details that prevents this. The bank details should be printed on the invoice/statement for any self respecting business in this day and age!! The sooner cheques are obsolete the better!

Anyone have any views??

snowman707

a company i deal with with recently informed me that in future they will only be accepting payment via direct debit and aked me to sign a direct debit mandate, excuse given that their insurance company would not allow their reps to carry cash or cheques,

after refusing to sign the d/d mandate they are now issuing me with a lodgement book and I will have to lodge the payments into their account. just fine by me they will now be paid about twice a year instead of 4 or 5 times. they can take it or lump it as far as I'm concerned.

we try to pay most bills on line or via plastic but I think that the cheque book will be need for some time yet

Bitten & Hisses

Direct Debit is the work of the devil IMHO. There is way too much scope for error and the "Oh sorry that was a mistake. Sure we'll sort it out next month" attitude of some companies is simply not good enough. Electronic payments, Laser, etc., fine, but giving someone what is effectively permission to take whatever amount they want from your account whenever they want is, for me, a non-runner.

millertime78

I agree regarding Direct Debits.....they should be used very sparingly. However once off payments should be done online. Fastest most efficient way of paying imo.

Username John

millertime78 wrote: »

Hi All

Where possible I make all payments online/ use Laser & credit card and minimise the amount of cash I carry/use. Yet it baffles me how many companies refuse to accept online payments - Teagasc is the latest example of this. Incredible that a state body like this only accept cheques or cash. Its probably the reluctance to give out bank details that prevents this. The bank details should be printed on the invoice/statement for any self respecting business in this day and age!! The sooner cheques are obsolete the better!

Anyone have any views??

I would have said I was a huge fan on online payments, however when I started farming (recently enough) I got a cheque book.

I find it incredibly useful. Helps me track what I spend, and on what I spend it on. Laser would do the same, but my chequebook holds all my receipts together nicely, rather than random slips of paper from laser, that seem to multiple by themselves.

Cheques are handier, most people will take a cheque, whereas not everyone has laser / credit card facilites.

Plus - it allows me to keep my farm expenditure separate, from my personal expenditure. But I guess seperate laser cards would do the same thing, altho with more hassle...

Now - am not saying online payments dont have their place. I agree online payments are useful, but you cant expect everyone to use this method (although you would expect Teagasc to in all fairness)

For me - cheque book does exactly what I need, and I wouldn't be in any rush to get a laser card / credit card for my farm account... so lets not make em obsolete just yet

JohnBoy

As someone getting into farming I'm amazed at the use of cheques, I wouldnt accept a cheque from some randomer unless it was printed on the back of a note.



unless it's in my hand or in my account it's not money to me.


Whatever about accepting online payments (which do have a certain admin overhead to recieve) I dont understand how teagasc dont accept frickin plastic.

that's madness