Tuesday, 30 November 2010

How to find out the SWIFT code of a bank?

The easiest way to find out the SWIFT code of your bank is to look at your bank statement. In most cases there will be the BIC, this is same thing as the SWIFT code.

Alternative ways to find out the SWIFT code are: to contact relevant bank or look for it on their website.

The BIC is a standard identifier for banks. It is issued by SWIFT* and should be used on all international payments. A BIC is either 8 or 11 digits long.

You would use BIC when you are or someone else (e.g. your relative, customer etc.) instructing a foreign bank to make payments to your account.

An IBAN code is always used in conjunction with a Bank Identifier Code (BIC).
IBAN is a standardised way of identifying a bank account – it stands for International Bank Account Number. Using an IBAN cuts down errors and delays.
An IBAN is also a legal requirement when you make or receive payments across country borders in the European Union (EU), European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland.

*SWIFT

SWIFT is the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, a member-owned cooperative through which the financial world conducts its business operations with speed, certainty and confidence. More than 9,000 banking organisations, securities institutions and corporate customers in 209 countries trust us every day to exchange millions of standardised financial messages.

SWIFT enables its customers to automate and standardise financial transactions, thereby lowering costs, reducing operational risk and eliminating inefficiencies from their operations. By using SWIFT customers can also create new business opportunities and revenue streams.

SWIFT is solely a carrier of messages. It does not hold funds nor does it manage accounts on behalf of customers, nor does it store financial information on an on-going basis. As a data carrier, SWIFT transports messages between two financial institutions. This activity involves the secure exchange of proprietary data while ensuring its confidentiality and integrity.

Please visit www.swift.com for more information.

Mastercard debit card without credit check

Wednesday, 20 October 2010

How to check if particular bank account can receive Faster Payments? (United Kingdom)

How to check if the account you are sending a payment to can receive Faster Payments*?
- Well, actually for this you will need to check if the sort code associated with the account can receive Faster Payments.

More of us are using automated payments, whether that means making an internet payment via our online banking or using a Direct Debit to pay a regular bill. It is increasingly important that we are able to make automated payments smoothly and efficiently.
To help achieve this, the Payments Council has created a Sort Code Checker for the UK Payments website – which acts as a one-stop-shop for the payments industry.
The Sort Code Checker is an online resource that lets you check that the sort code you are sending a payment to can receive Faster Payments, Bacs Credits and CHAPS Payments, as well as confirm that you can set up a Direct Debit instruction on your account, and whether you can clear a cheque or pay a paper credit to that account through the cheque & credit clearing.

The Sort Code Checker uses the latest industry data, which is updated weekly, in line with industry practice.

Click here to access the Sort Code Checker

*Faster Payments

The Faster Payments Service allows customers to make faster electronic payments, typically by phone or online banking, to transfer money between accounts or pay bills, or make regular standing order payments.

When Faster Payments was launched in May 2008 it was the first new payments service to be introduced in the UK for more than 20 years.

Thirty five organisations are Participants of the scheme, and over 400 other financial institutions are able to offer the service, making Faster Payments available to more than 52 million current account holders in the UK.

Faster Payments celebrated its 10th birthday in 2018. During this time, over 9 billion payments had been sent using the service, worth a combined value of over £6 trillion! Virtually all internet and telephone banking payments in the UK are now processed through Faster Payments.

Sunday, 10 October 2010

How to check MOT status and history of a vehicle? (United Kingdom)

You can check if an MOT certificate is legal or if a vehicle has failed an MOT test by doing an MOT check online. This will give you details about past tests.

Check the current MOT status of a vehicle

You can check the current MOT status of any vehicle online. This might be one that you own already or a second hand vehicle that you are thinking of buying.
The online MOT status check gives you information about:

the date of the last test
mileage on the vehicle at the time of the test
the expiry date of the test

You can compare the online information against the paper certificate to make sure it’s genuine.

Click here to do MOT status check

Check the MOT history of a vehicle

To find out details of previous MOT tests on a vehicle you can do an online MOT history check.
You can only look up information online going back to 2005 when the MOT Scheme was computerised.
The MOT history check will give you the following information:

full test details
mileage at the time of each test

Click here to do MOT history check

You can find out more details about the topic from official government portal here.

Friday, 1 October 2010

How to check if a vehicle is insured? (United Kingdom)

Use following website: http://www.askmid.com/

http://www.askmid.com - the Motor Insurance Database (MID) is the only central record of all insured vehicles in the UK and is updated over 10,000 times an hour.

If your vehicle does not appear on the MID then it can be stopped and seized by the police. You can check if your vehicle is on the database of insured vehicles for FREE*.

If you have been involved in an accident and need to check the other vehicle is insured, then you can search askMID for a small charge. You will need to have the accident date to hand. Once you have registered some details, you can search to confirm the insurance of the vehicle for your claim to be made with that insurer.

Please note, from personal experience, it does not appear to be that the database shows vehicles which have short term insurance policies (e.g. 24 hour insurance policy), particularly when these are used within 24 hours of their purchase.
* Free check was available on the time of publication, but there is currently a small charge for any car insurance check.

Sunday, 19 September 2010

How to read web pages in foreign language?

The easiest way to translate websites into your language - is by using quick free tool from Google - Google Translate: https://translate.google.com

Google's online language translation service instantly translates text and web pages.
Google Translate is a free online translation service that provides instant translations between 57 different languages. It can translate words, sentences and web pages between any combination of our supported languages. Google Translate helps to make information universally accessible and useful, regardless of the language in which it’s written.

Google Translate currently supports 57 languages:

Afrikaans
Albanian
Arabic
Belarusian
Bulgarian
Catalan
Chinese
Croatian
Czech
Danish
Dutch

English
Estonian
Filipino
Finnish
French
Galician
German
Greek
Hebrew
Hindi
Hungarian

Icelandic
Indonesian
Irish
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Latvian
Lithuanian
Macedonian
Malay
Maltese

Norwegian
Persian
Polish
Portuguese
Romanian
Russian
Serbian
Slovak
Slovenian
Spanish
Swahili

Swedish
Thai
Turkish
Ukrainian
Vietnamese
Welsh
Yiddish

Current alpha languages are:

Armenian
Azerbaijani

Basque
Georgian

Haitian Creole
Urdu

Google Translate tests other languages, called "alpha languages", that may have less-reliable translation quality than our supported languages. Google is always working to support other languages and will introduce them as soon as the translation quality meets their standards.

Saturday, 18 September 2010

Which bank accounts can be accessed at the Post Office®? (United Kingdom)

Relatively simple question, but I found it difficult to find the answer when I needed it.
This information is really useful if you live long distance from your local bank branch, but your Post Office® is closer or may be you wanted to access you bank account in unfamiliar location and Post Office® appears to be easier to locate.
Whatever your circumstances here is the answer to the above question:

Withdraw money

It’s free and convenient to withdraw cash from your bank account when you’re in the Post Office^®, if you have one of the following accounts:

Current and basic accounts
Bank of Ireland, Bank of Scotland, Barclays, Clydesdale Bank, Danske Bank, First Direct, First Trust Bank, Halifax, HSBC, Lloyds Bank, Nationwide Building Society, Natwest, Santander, Smile (current account only), The Co-operative Bank, The Royal Bank of Scotland, TSB Bank, Ulster Bank, Virgin Money, Yorkshire Bank

Pay in cash and cheques

Pay in money if you have one of the following accounts:

Current and basic accounts
Bank of Ireland, Barclays, CAF Bank (cheque only), Cahoot (current account only), Clydesdale Bank, Danske Bank, First Direct, Halifax, HSBC, Lloyds Bank, Natwest, Santander, Smile (current account only), The Co-operative Bank, The Royal Bank of Scotland, TSB Bank, Virgin Money (cash only), Yorkshire Bank

Check your balance

Check your balance whenever you’re in the Post Office^®.

Got a bank account? It’s free to pay in and withdraw money and check your balance at the Post Office® with many bank accounts – and the list is growing all the time.

quick, simple and safe to pay in and withdraw money
take cash out up to your daily card limit (subject to your available funds)
withdraw the exact amount you need
pop in to check your balance

More information about free way to access your bank account at the Post Office® counter: https://www.postoffice.co.uk/branch-banking-services

Many pre paid credit card issuers can be reloaded via the Post Office. Some card issuers charge a fee for Post Office reloads.

Friday, 17 September 2010

How to find cheapest flight tickets?

Go online - go to MyFlightPal and search for your flight tickets!

MyFlightPal offers some of the best flight deals around.

MyFlightPal is a company that changes the travel industry! They are are the pioneers in virtual interlining and with their unique algorithm, they are able to create millions of flight combinations. Moreover, enhanced user-friendly design helps their customers to adjust various parameters and find the flight combination created particularly for them. With an extensive database of low-cost flights and traditional airlines, interactive map, and guaranteed arrival, the user experience skyrockets to another level.

Currently you can search cheap flights using MyFlightPal in CANADA, FRANCE, GERMANY, INDIA, INDONESIA, SPAIN, SWEDEN, UNITED KINGDOM, UNITED STATES!

Thursday, 16 September 2010

How to unblock a drain in minutes?

There are many ways to unblock drains.
General recommendation: act before the blockage is total, as a total block makes getting unblocking chemicals to the blockage difficult to impractical.

The most common drain blocking materials are: fat, hair and matted fibres which can be cleared by caustic soda, rodding, or physical removal with hand or sticks.

I can strongly recommend caustic soda (Sodium Hydroxide) as fastest and cheap unblocking solution.

Caustic eats fats, which are the most common blocker of kitchen sinks, but I found it highly effective against all other major blocking materials like hair and matted fibres etc. Hence, it is very useful when it comes to unblocking bathroom sink and bath tube drain pipes.

Boiling caustic is much faster than cold caustic. I never use direction for use which is given on package of caustic soda - it says to dissolve 500g of caustic in 5 litres of cold water, mix it, pour the solution down drain, leave for 30 minutes then flush with water (preferably hot).
Instead, I would carefully open the tub, release volume equivalent to about two table spoons of caustic soda pearls straight into the drain and gradually pour entire boiling kettle of water in to the drain hole. Please be aware that it is important to pour no more than about quoter of a cattle at time and move out of reach of possible splashes, as the reaction of caustic and hot water is quite strong and if you put too much water at one time there could be effect of a small volcano. By the time of pouring the remaining water from the kettle the drain should be unblocked, just finish off with flushing hot water (e.g. form the tap) for about 0.5-1 minute to finish the procedure. This method is not best suitable for blocked toilets.
The whole process of unblocking a drain with caustic soda should not take longer than 3-4 minutes.

In UK you can buy caustic soda in many local hardware/convenience stores or chain DIY supermarkets like HOMBASE, B&Q. I find caustic soda from HOMEBASE (it is also available on Amazon in bigger volumes) to work best as it represents caustic soda in its pure form, not any caustic soda based "magic drain unblocking solution".

Caustic is a high risk chemical. It burns skin and can cause serious eye damage.
If you get any at all in your eye, it is important to seek treatment urgently. Delay in treatment (it doesn't hurt) generally results in serious irreversible damage.
Caustic soda is a strong alkali.
Never mix a strong alkali with an acid.
Eye protection recommended.

More information about ways to unblock drains: http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?title=Unblock_a_Drain

Wednesday, 15 September 2010

How to make and receive Skype video calls without a computer? (any country)

You can make and receive Skype video calls without a computer - just get Asus Videophone Touch AiGuru SV1T (the picture above) - touchscreen videophone for Skype. This phone is Skype certified.

This phone is ideal for someone who does not want or cannot use a computer, so it is invaluable for older generation (mums, dads, grandparents and other relatives).

The first touchscreen videophone fully integrated with Skype – no computer required. Make free Skype-to-Skype video and voice calls. Call landlines and mobiles at great low rates with Skype Credit or with a monthly subscription.

Features

Multiple language interface.
Free Skype-to-Skype video calls.
Touchscreen.
No computer required.
Built-in screen, microphone, webcam and speakerphone.
Portable, with rechargeable battery.
Connect wirelessly or via a network cable.
Call forwarding.
Voicemail.
Conference calls (as a guest only).

Requirements

Internet connection: broadband internet connection with open port on router/modem. (Voice and video quality may vary depending on the connection speed).

Tuesday, 14 September 2010

How to make and receive Skype calls without a computer? (any country)

You can make and receive Skype calls without a computer - just get RTX DUALphone 3088 (the picture above). This phone is Skype certified and along with Skype calls it supports landline calls too!

This phone is ideal for someone who does not want or cannot use a computer, so it is invaluable for older generation (mums, dads, grandparents and other relatives).

The RTX Dualphone is an all-in-one solution for Skype and landline calls. This phone is future proof - with built-in Skype software, integral speakerphone, cordless functionality and award-winning design.

Features

Skype calls without a computer.
Regular landline calls.
Cordless phones.
Indoor range 50m; outdoor range 300m from base station.
More than 10 hours talk time; up to 100 hours standby time.
Color LCD screen.
DECT wireless technology - won’t interfere with WiFi networks.
Award winning Danish design.
Supports Skype features like online numbers, calls to phones, voicemail call history, status and other features.
Contact list for both Skype and landline numbers, automatically synchronized with your Skype account.
Automatic software updates.
High quality speakerphone.
Option to use with serial headset.

Requirements

Broadband internet connection with open port on router/modem.
Landline service (to make landline calls in addition to Skype calls).

This phone does not support Skype video calls.