Electronic Money Transfer options in the states?

Hey Guys. I'm in Canada and we have this system called Interac EMT that allows us to transfer funds electronically and instantly between anyone with a Canadian Bank account where there bank subscribes to Interac. I think all Canadian major banks do. There are NEVER any services charges.

So I'm wondering if there's a service in place to allow people to transfer funds between any US bank accounts without a service charge just like in Canada.

From what I've seen, Americans only have PayPal? I personally hate PayPal's fees and the Premier status you have to pay for before you can accept credit card payments.

There IS more flexibility with PayPal in that you don't need to start a bank account, you can deal in multiple currencies and leave shipping instructions in a note attached integral to the transfer, etc. That flexibility does come at a price though and when you're selling low buck items it seems to be a nuisance but with big dollar purchases (>$1K USD) one is out a significant amount IMO.

So are there any feasible options, in your mind, and how can I, as an avid PayPaller, get off this nickel and diming boat? I will still use PayPal for outside of NA transactions as it's a heck of a lot better than, say, a Western Union money transfer... yes, I had a not-so-good experience there. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

I just noticed we even have a /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/paypal.gif smilie here!

Not likely to happen anytime soon. The US banking system is unique, and in some respects it is caught in a time warp. In Canada, The Bank of Montreal in Montreal is the same bank that is in Vancouver or Calgary or Toronto. Compared to the US, the banking systems in most countries are very compact. Since the Depression, US banks have been prohibited from doing business across state lines (the McFadden Act). In fact until fairly recently, in some states you couldn't even have branches! Legally Bank of America in Arizona is NOT the same as Bank of America in any other state. They are both owned by the same holding company, but they are in fact incorporated as independent corporations. The result is there are a truly vast number of banks in the USA, and that creates considerable complexity in what should be a simple process.

In effect large corporations do it today with something called an Automated Clearing House, or ACH, but I don't know of anyway for individuals to send money using an ACH. PayPal sends and receives money from Bank accounts with an ACH, that's done for them by Wells Fargo Bank in San Francisco.

Re: Electronic Money Transfer options in the state

I can only imagine the flaming hoops that BoA has to jump through on the backend to avoid trouble with 50 different sets of state regulatory agencies with their online banking.

What was the purpose of the McFadden Act?