[lonesword]

Are you saying that the USA is still far behind the EU banking system? That's news to me - I've always assumed that banking, of all things, would be far superior in the US. I've always imagined that the experience in the US, at least compared to German banks, would be one of slick apps and super-friendly paperwork because 1) banks want your money 2) something something capitalism.

When I want to do a domestic transfer in Germany, if the recipient's bank does not accept SEPA Instant Pay (looking at you, Baader Bank), then it takes around 2-3 _days_ for my funds to get to the other person. That's insane. In India, our slow transfer (It's called NEFT. UPI is the new shiny instant transfer system) takes at most a day and even before UPI no-one was using NEFT because there were faster alternatives. I've always thought that the slow fund transfers were a German thing and that the US would be better. Guess the grass is not greener on the other side.

[soco]

As you noticed, the involved banks must accept SEPA for that. And it's another dimension to do that across many country borders and so many local banks, while in India everything happens in the same jurisdiction, I assume (same for USA for that matter)