Ways that Sydney is better than New York

EFTpos: EFTpos is a service whereby you can pay for items in a shop using your ATM card. This does not mean you are using a credit card with a Visa or MasterCard logo. I was never comfortable with one of those cards since credit card fraud is not at all uncommon. When a charge is made on one of those cards the money is debited directly form your bank account. Using EFTpos the account is still immediately debited but the transaction still requires your PIN, rather than just requiring a signature. The other thing is that you can pay for just about everything with EFTpos. I think the only places you can’t use it are vending machines and of course people would be annoyed if you used EFTpos to pay for something small like a newspaper.

B-Pay: B-Pay is a system for paying your bills via telephone. You call up your bank and log into your account, then you enter the biller’s ID number and the reference number of the bill and how much you want to pay. You are given a transaction reference number and you are done. The recipient gets the money almost immediately. We use B-Pay for utility bills as well as paying our rent. For the bank this has the advantage that it doesn’t require someone to process the checks, for the biller it has the advantage that the funds are guaranteed and are paid quickly. The advantages are similar to doing online banking but for a computer security nerd like me it has the advantage that one is placing ones trust on the PSTN (the public telephone network) rather than on the internet. While both have security risks, I feel the internet is more subject to “eavesdropping” than the PSTN and these days the internet is a greater focus of internet hackers.

With B-Pay and EFTpos we have yet to need checks. That is good because we haven’t gotten any checks yet, after having had our account for almost four months! I’m not sure how one would give money to a friend other than withdrawing cash, or how one would transfer money between accounts at different banks.

Mailboxes: This is a small convenience but mailboxes are bright red and easier to spot. The other thing is that while the boxes are constructed similar to the American ones: a large box with a rounded top and a flap that opens for putting in your envelopes, there is a slot in the flap so that if all you need to do is post an envelope you don’t need to use two hands you can simply pop it in one-handed.

Café service: This one struck me as such a simply and obvious thing once I saw it. When you go to a café in Europe the waiters take your order and you pay either when you place the order or when you get your food, so that they don’t have to worry about people leaving without paying. In Australia, since a lot of the cafes offer different dishes each day, you go up to the counter to make your selection and pay. The clerk gives you a numbered card which you bring with you outside and place on your table. Since your order card shows what number is on your table the clerks know who gets which sandwich or pastry once it is ready. In the States they would make you wait around while they toast the bagel or make the cappuccino.

Back to January 2004

Last revised: January 2004