ACH transactions

[Tommy Trussell]

On Thu, Jul 30, 2009 at 6:36 PM, Jan Claeys<lists at janc.be> wrote:
> Op maandag 27-07-2009 om 00:36 uur [tijdzone -0500], schreef Tommy
> Trussell:
>> Debit and Credit cards are pretty much the same as you described,
>> including the way government food program payments are distributed.
>> (People still call them "food stamps" but instead of the scrip that
>> used to be sent out, plastic Debit cards provide access to each
>> family's allotment.)
>
> Not exactly, in Belgium (in most cases--if you aren't in some special
> programme for people who have proven not to know how to spend their
> amount of money properly) you get an amount of money from the government
> and you can use it as you want.
>
> Issuing special debet cards sounds like everybody else in the shop will
> know where they got "their money" to survive...

Actually it is the other way around -- the new system preserves
people's dignity. Many people already pay for food using credit and
debit cards. SO people on a government food program swiping their card
through the card reader look no different from the people who are
swiping their bank card through the card reader. When they used to
handle paper "food stamps" it was painfully obvious because the scrip
looks quite different from standard currency.