Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 1,213.
Using different payment systems.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 1,213.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
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This episode is a dialogue between Petra and Ken about trying to pay for something using different payment systems.
Let's get started.
Damn, that didn't work either.
What are you doing?
I'm trying to pay for a new service I ordered, but the website won't accept my credit card as payment.
I even tried my debit card, but it's been rejected too.
Why don't you just write a check and mail it in?
I don't have any checks.
In this day and age, I should be able to use one of the many electronic funds transfer options.
I might try sending a wire, but my bank charges a large fee for wires.
If this were an ongoing service, I would.
But this is a one-time thing.
Do you think I could try your credit card?
I don't know about that.
All right.
If you feel funny about doing that, then could you buy me a gift card for this website and then I can turn around and use the balance.
That seems kind of involved.
Would you pay me back in cash?
Of course.
I will write you an IOU right now and then go to the bank tomorrow.
How about if you go to the bank now?
I'll even give you a ride.
Is that really necessary?
We don't even know if it's going to work.
Petra begins our dialogue a little angry.
So angry, she uses a swear, S-W-E-A-R word.
A swear word is a word you use when you are angry.
That is not a very nice word, not a word you should use in front of children or your boss.
Petra says, damn, that didn't work either.
The swear word here, of course, is damn, D-A-M-N.
It's a word some people use when they are frustrated or angry.
Petra seems to be angry because something didn't work.
Petra explains I'm trying to pay for a new service I ordered, but the website says won't accept my credit card as payment.
Petra is buying something on the web on the internet but the website she is using won't accept her credit card as payment.
A credit card, you probably know, is a small plastic card that you can use to pay for things.
There are A couple of large companies that have credit cards you can use, including MasterCard and Visa, as well as several others.
You can use your credit card on the internet as well by putting the numbers of your card into the website.
Petra says this website won't accept her credit card as payment.
That is money that you give to someone from whom you are buying something.
Petra says, I even tried my debit, D-E-B-I-T, card.
A debit card is like a card that takes money directly out of your bank account.
A credit card is when you buy something and a company, a bank, lends you money, basically until you pay it back.
If you pay it back within 30 days, usually the bank will not charge you any money.
When you use a credit card, you are essentially making a series of loans from the bank.
And these are loans that you have to pay back.
If you don't pay them back, the bank will charge you interest.
That's what we call a finance charge.
Some people have to pay lots of money every month in finance charges because they don't have enough money to pay for the loans that they took out that month from their credit card company.
We don't usually call them loans.
We call them charges.
C-H-A-R-G-E-S.
When you call them charges, people don't think of them as loans anymore.
This is a very smart way that credit card companies get you to spend more money.
Anyway, Petra is angry because she hasn't been able to use either her credit card or her debit card.
She says the debit card has been rejected.
R-E-J-E-C-T-E-D When your credit card is rejected, you are not allowed to use it.
Another word here would be denied.
D-E-N-I-E-D If your credit card is denied, you are not able to use it.
The bank is saying no, you can't use it.
Ken says, why don't you just write a check and mail it in?
A check C-H-E-C-K is a small piece of paper that you can use to take money out of your bank account.
Remember, a debit card is a way of electronically taking money directly out of your bank account.
A check is another way of taking money out of your bank account in order to give it to another person.
The problem is that Petra doesn't have any checks.
This isn't that unusual nowadays.
Many people don't have paper checks anymore, because they pay for everything either with a credit card or a debit card or some other way of paying electronically.
In fact, that's exactly what Petra says.
She says, I should be able to use one of the many electronic funds transfer options.
The expression in this day and age means nowadays or in modern times, I guess you might say.
She's saying she should be able to use an electronic funds transfer option.
Electronic funds transfer is moving money between two bank accounts or two different financial accounts without using any paper money or any paper checks.
Ken says, what are you going to do now?
Petra says, I might try sending a wire.
But my bank charges a large fee for wires.
A wire, W-I-R-E, is when you send money electronically between two banks.
It's a particular way of sending especially large amounts of money between two banks.
This can be more expensive because banks often charge or make you pay a large fee, a large amount of money, for wires.
Ken says, how about signing up for direct deposit?
Direct deposit is another way of electronically transferring money from one bank account to another.
Usually, direct deposit is the term we use when your company pays you by giving you money, not with a paper check, but by depositing or putting that money directly into your bank account.
In other words, the money is transferred from your company's bank account to your bank account.
However, sometimes this term is used to describe the way people pay their bills electronically.
For example, every month I have to pay the gas company the money that I owe them, but I don't send them a check.
I have that money directly withdrawn or taken from my bank account and put into their bank account.
That Arrangement can also be called sometimes a direct deposit payment.
I'm not sending the company, the gas company, money through the mail.
I'm paying them electronically from my bank account to their bank account.
Petra says, if this were an ongoing service, I would.
But this is a one-time thing.
An ongoing O-N-G-O-I-N-G service is one that continues over a long period of time, one that repeats every month, or every six months, or every week even.
Petra says, doesn't want to use a direct deposit system because this is a one-time thing.
One time means it is only going to happen a single time.
It is only happening once.
Do you think I could try your credit card?
Petra asks.
Ken says, I don't know about that.
Ken doesn't want...
Petra using his credit card to buy this thing over the Internet.
Petra says all right, if you feel funny about doing that meaning if you don't think it's a good idea, you think it's strange or you feel uncomfortable about it then could you buy me a gift card for this Web site and then I can turn around and use the balance.
A gift card is usually a small plastic card, like a credit card that you buy for someone else so that that person can use it to buy things at a certain store.
So you go to a big store and you buy a 50 gift card for someone.
That person can then buy something at that store, but only at that store, using that 50 gift card.
Gift cards now can also be used electronically.
That's what Petra is suggesting that Ken do for her.
She will then use this gift card that Ken buys her, to buy something on that website.
That's what she means by the expression, use the balance, B-A-L-A-N-C-E.
The balance refers to the amount of money on the gift card in this case.
Balance can also refer to the amount of money you have in your bank account.
Can says, that seems kind of involved, meaning this seems a little complicated, too complicated.
He then asks, would you pay me back in cash?
To pay someone back is a two-word phrasal verb meaning to return the money that you borrowed from someone else.
If I loan you $100, I expect you to pay me back, to give that money back to me in the future.
Ken asks if Petra is going to pay him back in cash, that is, in paper money.
Petra says, of course.
I will write you an IOU right now. and then go to the bank tomorrow.
An I-O-U is a piece of paper usually with the three letters I, O and U.
I-O-U means I-O-O-W-E-U-Y-O-U money.
It's a way of indicating that you have borrowed money from someone and that you are promising to pay it back.
That's not the same, of course, as getting the money back in cash, which is what Ken wants.
Ken says, How about if you go to the bank now?
I'll even give you a ride.
Ken says to Petra, Petra says, Petra says doesn't think it's necessary that they go and get the money right away.
Ken says, when it comes to money meaning when we're talking about or dealing with money I always say better safe than sorry.
This is an old expression.
Better safe, S-A-F-E, than sorry, S-O-R-R-Y.
This expression means that it is better to spend some extra time and do something so that you don't hurt yourself or take any unnecessary risks.
Because if you don't take that extra time, if you are not safe, then later you could be sorry, you could get hurt and therefore you will be not very happy.
So it's better to be cautious, it's better to be safe, to move slowly, to do things very carefully, rather than moving quickly or carelessly and getting hurt or getting injured.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
Damn, that didn't work either.
What are you doing?
I'm trying to pay for a new service I ordered, but the website won't accept my credit card as payment.
I even tried my debit card, but it's been rejected too.
Why don't you just write a check and mail it in?
I don't have any checks.
In this day and age, I should be able to use one of the many electronic funds transfer options.
What are you going to do now?
I might try sending a wire, but my bank charges a large fee for wires.
How about signing up for direct deposit?
If this were an ongoing service, I would.
But this is a one-time thing.
Do you think I could try your credit card?
I don't know about that.
All right.
If you feel funny about doing that, then could you buy me a gift card for this website?
And then I can turn around and use the balance?
That seems kind of involved.
Would you pay me back in cash?
Of course.
I will write to an IOU right now and then go to the bank tomorrow.
How about if you go to the bank now?
I'll even give you a ride.
Is that really necessary?
We don't even know if it's going to work.
When it comes to money, I always say, better safe than sorry.
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From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thanks for listening.
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English as a Second Language podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
Copyright 2016 by the Center for Educational Development.
