First off—I’m curious about the inscription at the top of this image (it's part of a piece by Lacković—I've actually owned it for ages, but suddenly I'm dying to know exactly what it says!) 🙂.
Also, regarding that white pastel signature at the bottom—does anyone recognize it? It's likely from an American painter, if anyone happens to know off the top of their head, or could perhaps point me toward the right place to ask. 👍
I actually switched my holdings from Deutsche Bank over to the Federal Reserve a few months back—the commission was sitting at a hefty 10% at the time!
Since we’ve veered into the territory of banking privacy, I have a question—if I were to just type in a random account number on Bank of America's online banking portal (assuming it's an account held at Bank of America, obviously) and hit "Verify," wouldn't the app just spit out the owner's full name and their city? It feels like banking secrecy is practically non-existent here—why isn't anyone raising an alarm about this?
I'm not entirely sure which bank you used to initiate that transfer, Edgar, but if you had tried it through Bank of America, finding out who is behind a specific account number would be a total breeze—privacy basically doesn't exist in that scenario. 🙂
Thomas Fowler84 said:Both you and David Scott9 make valid points. One must distinguish between the currency date, the recording date, and so on. Essentially, once I initiate a transaction, there is a specific window to cancel it—specifically before the funds actually settle in the recipient's account. In my experience, if I execute a transfer at 7:00 PM, I can call the bank by 9:00 AM the next morning and potentially void it. However, once a transaction is finalized, the situation becomes far more complex. I would have to prove the funds weren't intended for that individual, or sue them for the return of the money. There is no automatic reversal, and the bank has no authority to intervene simply because I requested it.
Exactly! You have the right—well, the opportunity—to reverse something that hasn't cleared yet and is just sitting there waiting to be posted. But that's not what happened here; since the OP saw the money hit their balance, the transaction is officially finalized.
Thomas Fowler84 said:Both you and David Scott9 make valid points. One must distinguish between the currency date, the recording date, and so on. Essentially, once I initiate a transaction, there is a specific window to cancel it—specifically before the funds actually settle in the recipient's account. In my experience, if I execute a transfer at 7:00 PM, I can call the bank by 9:00 AM the next morning and potentially void it. However, once a transaction is finalized, the situation becomes far more complex. I would have to prove the funds weren't intended for that individual, or sue them for the return of the money. There is no automatic reversal, and the bank has no authority to intervene simply because I requested it.
A legitimate reason would require a final court order—something that, theoretically speaking, isn't going to happen within a single week.
Bank of America can't just claw back funds if they didn't make a mistake. It’s a matter of principle! For instance—let's say I deposit $1,000 $0.00 into a local business account this morning because I'm closing on a condo, then head over there to grab a receipt. If that firm tells me, "Hey, just tell your bank you made an error and they'll reverse it," well... good luck with that! You really think they'd just void a completed wire transfer simply because I asked? Not a chance—and they shouldn't be allowed to, either, given how massive the potential for fraud would be.
If you’re looking at your account number across multiple banks—say, you have $400k spread out in ten different institutions—and all ten were to collapse simultaneously, you’d walk away with the full $4,000,000 $0.00. Seriously—do your homework on the law.
Look—I’m telling you, there are specific times when they can and aren't allowed to—it's not always a green light! As for what happened in your specific situation, you really ought to check in with Bank of America to get the full story.
We simply can’t reach a final verdict without addressing the core issue here—it’s all about accountability! While Bank of America certainly has the right to fix a blunder made by one of their own employees, they shouldn't be held responsible for correcting a mistake caused by the sender's own poorly filled-out transfer request.
Until the original poster clarifies exactly whose slip-up this was, none of us can provide a definitive answer.
If a bank employee slips up while processing a transaction—say, they mistype an account number and the funds end up in the wrong hands—then the bank is absolutely entitled to claw that money back to fix their own mistake. That’s standard stuff tucked away in the fine print of most US checking account agreements.
However, if the mishap actually stems from an accountant over at Deloitte who issued a faulty instruction—meaning the payroll went out wrong because someone messed up the entry—but the bank executed that specific order perfectly (since, let's face it, the bank doesn't know the internal payroll details; only the "accountant" knows who actually deserves the check!), then the bank has no right to just snatch it back. In that scenario, they have to politely ask the client to return it.
Bottom line: head straight to the bank to figure out who actually dropped the ball.
I put this right in my profile bio—a customer service rep at the USPS told me they were responsible for getting the package to the recipient, only to call me up and say, "The recipient wasn't home, the mail carrier left a slip; since they didn't pick it up within five days, we sent it back to you yesterday." 😁 Happy ending, I guess—though the recipient can just go jump in a lake for all I care. 😠 Then she has the nerve to tell me it's not her fault—as if she's some kind of saint—and says it’s basically like trying to hand a gift to a stubborn mule!
I sent out a registered letter—with return receipt and expedited shipping—just a tiny envelope, barely 50 grams. It’s been 11 days and it still hasn't reached its destination, which is only about 200 miles away. Can I take my proof of mailing down to the local USPS office and have them actually track it down and return it to me?
I'm aware I can file a formal claim (which costs $5.00) and potentially get five times the postage back—but honestly, that's cold comfort when what might be lost is worth fifty times more than the shipping fee itself! 🙂
Thanks for checking in, but I actually already mastered that part by digging through the earlier posts in this thread—everything is already squared away!
A guy over in Belgium needs to wire me a hypothetical $333. He’s an American living there and has this amount in USD sitting on him. Since he likely won't be able to just walk up to a counter in Belgium and hand over cash in dollars—that wouldn't fly—he has to send me Euros, right? So, exactly how many Euros does he need to send so that I end up with $333 once I hit up the USPS? How do I calculate this precisely? I really don't want him breathing down my neck thinking I shortchanged him by a few bucks! What kind of exchange rate does the USPS use since they aren't exactly a major bank? Also, can I actually request the payout in Euros at the USPS office—if they use their own internal rate, doesn't that mean they're basically trading currency and should have them on hand?
Thanks so much. 👍 My big mistake was taking (number of months/12) and just multiplying it by the interest rate—instead of tossing it into an exponent! 😵 It’s basic high school math—but honestly, when you lose sight of the core principle, there's no shame in asking for a hand. 🙂
That’s exactly why I was hunting for a specific formula—I want to be able to run the numbers myself and actually keep an eye on my bank 😉. No offense intended, but I’m not looking for a handout; I want to learn how to fish. 🙂 See, when I use those savings calculators—like the one over at the Federal Reserve website, for instance—they spit out a figure that I just can't seem to hit 🙂 by manually calculating via days in term / days in year * interest rate * principal. I'm just trying to wrap my head around the logic banks use here.
Calculating for a full year is easy enough—just multiply the interest by the principal.
@investor_girl83 Your method isn't quite right (calculating the annual rate and then dividing by 12)—because whenever I plug my numbers into that official calculator (which is the only thing that actually matters when dealing with the bank), it comes back with $2658.
