"Steve Lusardi" wrote in message
...
Edgar,
I did not mention this because "Online Transfer /Direct Debit" is either
not available or very expensive in the US and like other responders, all
methods can have their problems, I have had many more problems with Online
Direct Debit than I have with PP. Furthermore, Direct Debit transactions
that involve a currency conversion is MUCH more expensive than a CC
transaction.
Steve

Online transfer is simple and easy where I live. But this is not Direct
Debit as I understand it
DD as I know it is where you give someone to whom you make regular payments
for subscriptions etc.authority to claim what they consider is due to them
directly from your account without prior reference to you.
I agree with your comment about the cost of currency conversion.
But even online transfer has its snags. When you make a transfer the money
disappears from your account instantly and yet it takes 4 days to reappear
in the account of your supplier so in the meantime it is earning interest
for the bank. They could, if they wanted to, make the transfer just as
quickly as they made the debit .
One problem now even with banks and other such institutions in UK is that if
you ring up with a query you often find yourself talking to a call centre
that has been relocated to India. Many of them think they are talking
English but are quite incomprehensible on the phone. My wife has just
received an apology and £30 compensation from her UK bank because of all the
time she had to spend on the phone trying to get people in India to sort out
a problem that the bank itself had caused in UK!