Random times or places you've become overwhelmed in America...

[Nich-Nick 3,353]

I suppose there are a lot of people in this country who may not even qualify for credit and have to use checks. Or they don't embrace new technology easily and want to write checks. I tend to pay bills online via credit card or BillPay out of my bank account. About the only checks I have to write are to my yard guy, but he probably doesn't qualify to be in this country.

For the photo deposit you have to log in with a password to the bank app, so can only deposit to that account.

The latest thing we are just beginning to use is ApplePay. You hold your phone up to the credit card swiping device and it pays with our Visa card. It didn't work yesterday in Best Buy. We asked the guy what was the deal with techno savvy Best Buy since it even works in Petco.

[N-o-l-a 7,167]

The latest thing we are just beginning to use is ApplePay. You hold your phone up to the credit card swiping device and it pays with our Visa card. It didn't work yesterday in Best Buy. We asked the guy what was the deal with techno savvy Best Buy since it even works in Petco.

I worked in Circuit City back in 2007/2008 before they closed and we still many times used old fashioned card imprint or like the first generation signature imprint machines.

Must be why they went bankrupt.

[M and C 32]

My bank is cool. I use their app, take front and back photos of the check with the phone, and it deposits into my account without ever leaving home.

I'm so used to online banking even before I got here that I was actually the one who helped my husband (the USC) to transition and use the mobile app to deposit checks.

[S-C 21]

I suppose there are a lot of people in this country who may not even qualify for credit and have to use checks. Or they don't embrace new technology easily and want to write checks. I tend to pay bills online via credit card or BillPay out of my bank account. About the only checks I have to write are to my yard guy, but he probably doesn't qualify to be in this country.

For the photo deposit you have to log in with a password to the bank app, so can only deposit to that account.

The latest thing we are just beginning to use is ApplePay. You hold your phone up to the credit card swiping device and it pays with our Visa card. It didn't work yesterday in Best Buy. We asked the guy what was the deal with techno savvy Best Buy since it even works in Petco.

I get some people wouldn't want to transition to the newer technology. I have no issue with having the option to pay by cheque. It's more that it is the only option, or worse, that it's the cheaper option. How it's the cheaper option when the person you are paying actually needs to spend time to deposit it and then record the payment, as opposed to just receiving the money in your account and having an automatic receipt, is beyond me.

I remember back in Australia they were bringing in something like that when I left. It wasn't ApplePay, but it was similar, with the whole phone to pay business. It will be interesting to see if it takes off.

[TBoneTX 43,048]

Lively discussion here about banking and financial techniques, folks, but let's start sticking closer to the OP. Thanks!

[Ketsuban 1,034]

Our apartment community charges $25 to pay your rent online while writing a check and hand delivering it to the office is free.

I don't know why anyone would waste $25 just for the convenience. It's absurd that they even charge that ridiculous fee.

That's the same for us. I guess it's a widespread thing...

[Ketsuban 1,034]

I haven't moved over yet, but I get overwhelmed by how every time I say anything, no one can understand me. I end up just not talking at all and it makes me dread visiting my husband's family because I just sit there in silence the whole time. They do try and include me but it's just futile

[N-o-l-a 7,167]

Dear British people who no one seems to be able to understand,

what is your regional accent? I am curious.

[AKSinghSingh79 143]

Not many people understand my husband either. It's a combination of his accent and the syntax he uses to speak. He still speaks using the Indian English way which is adverse to using past or future tense, i.e. "I am going there tomorrow most probably." Or "I am calling them from last so many days but they are not picking my phone."

It's funny that some of you mentioned dialects in the native language carrying over to English.

The part of India my husband is from speaks a dialect of Hindi that completely omits the "za" sound and replaces it with "ja". Bazaar becomes bajaar. He omits the za sound in English too coming up with gems such as "jipper", "jebra" and "joo".

[Nich-Nick 3,353]

Dear British people who no one seems to be able to understand,

what is your regional accent? I am curious.

Oxford accent. It is very mild and understandable by everybody except crackling drive-thru speakers with traffic noise in the background, mainly because he refuses to speak up. Say in your best British accent: "I am not going to shout at that stupid box". That's our scenario.

[landr 126]

My accent is originally from northern England but watered down from decades of living in London. However, I've never had any problems with people not understanding my accent. Usually the misunderstandings stem from differences in terminology.

With regard to the OP, the US banking system, especially customer service, has been my bugbear. It's archaic, bureaucratic and slow.

[N-o-l-a 7,167]

Oxford accent. It is very mild and understandable by everybody except crackling drive-thru speakers with traffic noise in the background, mainly because he refuses to speak up. Say in your best British accent: "I am not going to shout at that stupid box". That's our scenario.

I take back my initial guess of really terrible regional accents and I'm going to go with pitch. If your Oxfordshire is anything like my aunt's the pitch could break a wine glass. Americans and people like my husband have much lower pitches (well not than like Yorkshire and to me, my husband's Danish accent is a dead ringer for my grandfather's Yorkshire one) and I wonder if our drive through microphones are adjusted for this.

I wonder if I am the only one who noticed that they used to make the pitch higher or something on American shows shown on British TV? Might have totally been my imagination.

My accent is originally from northern England but watered down from decades of living in London. However, I've never had any problems with people not understanding my accent. Usually the misunderstandings stem from differences in terminology.

Ah-ha, so people understand your accent at drive throughs, yes?

[yuna628 9,528]

Dear British people who no one seems to be able to understand,

what is your regional accent? I am curious.

My fiancé has a Geordie accent but I've always been able to understand him perfectly fine. His family on the other hand.... it would always take a few weeks in of a visit to catch on. These days he's visited so much everyone understands him, even our town locals. Some days on occasion there will be one that will give him a deer in the headlights look. I'm confident my parents will not be able to understand his parents. Oh well, we'll just have to translate. ;-)

I can imagine it would be hard for an American to figure out ''I divvn't know like, hoo ye gannin, y'areet hinny?'' Thankfully he knows how to reel that accent in else it would be really amusing.

[landr 126]

Ah-ha, so people understand your accent at drive throughs, yes?

Truth-be-told, I haven't tested that. I don't have my EAD yet and I don't drive anyway, so my husband drives and orders for both of us.

As an aside, I don't get overwhelmed by choice at restaurants and supermarkets as I love to try different food. However, the portion sizes were a little overwhelming at first. But I'm slowly learning that it's okay to leave food on my plate and to-go boxes are standard in most establishments.

[namour7997 2]

Being a foreigner has its ups and downs, just remember to keep swimming.