ISRAEL: Guests at Israeli weddings can use credit card to leave money as present for newly weds

Record ID: 394911

  • Title: ISRAEL: Guests at Israeli weddings can use credit card to leave money as present for newly weds
  • Date: 26th September 2008
  • Summary: WIDE OF HUPPA
  • Embargoed: 11th October 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Israel
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVA3WGFIRZHBUCJLHWT7NKP3938L
  • Story Text: Guests at Israeli weddings can now insert a credit card into a machine to leave a gift for the bride and groom.
    Guests at an Israeli wedding hall can now insert a credit card into a machine at the entrance, tap in a sum and leave a gift for the happy couple.
    If a wedding is always more than just a joyous day, for Israeli couples there is one additional hassle to the pre-wedding arrangements of choosing a dress, a location and trying to decide on an accepted guest list.
    Rather than bring boxed gifts, guests at Israeli weddings usually leave cash or cheques in envelopes they slip into a portable safe placed near the entrance to the reception hall's door, which the couple needs to collect after the wedding and deposit into their bank account.
    But now an Israeli company named Check-Out, has developed an ATM-like machine that enables guests to leave a wedding gift using their credit cards.
    Dovi Neuwirth, CEO of Check-Out that developed and operates the Check-Out Kiosk, told Reuters that 10-15 percent of cheques left at weddings cannot be honoured by the banks, usually due to the mis-spelling of the couple's name. His company's machine, he says, can save both the newly wedded couple and their guests much of the trouble involved in the current gift system.

    "It is a common fact that using credit cards is much more convenient than using cheques or cash, actually it's the preferred method of payment today so when a guest comes to the event and uses the Check-Out Kiosk he can even divide the payments... he can even divide the gift into several payments while the couple receives the whole amount a day after the wedding, so it's very convenient for both the guest and the newly weds," he told Reuters at Gan Oranim Hall in Tel Aviv, where the Check-Out Kiosk is being tried for the past couple of months.
    Neuwirth added that couples pay 500 shekels (155 U.S dollars) to rent the device, which looks like an ATM, and the recorded funds are transferred into their bank account the next day.
    The machine prints out a "deposit" slip with the guests' names, which can be put into an envelope along with a congratulatory note and inserted into a slot in the device for the couple to retrieve.
    Aya Alon Kaufman of the Gan Oranim hall said that as well as being a convenient method for leaving a gift, the Check-Out Kiosk also solves a security issue that has evolved in the past few years as more people have opted for money gifts rather than boxed gifts.

    "Well, it's basic standard nowadays, people are giving money more than presents, actually the presents are now, I would say, five percent of which wedding, even less than that because people have realised that you know, getting married is a bit expensive here and everywhere else in the world, so in order to help the young couple finance the whole deal and to get them started, you know in a new fresh start, healthy one," she explained, saying this way of payments ensures the happy couple will receive its money into the bank account, unlike some couples who had been robbed on their wedding night.
    Some of the guests at Ido and Nina Dekel's wedding stared for a moment at the machine and slipped the traditional envelope-with-a-cheque into a safe but others, who may have forgotten their cheque book or were just intrigued by the new device, tried using it and expressed much enthusiasm.

    "I love it, it's the first time I saw it but when I heard about it I thought it was a very good idea. (Q: Why?) Because you don't need to bring anything... everybody these days pays with a credit card so it's very convenient and very nice, I love it," said Viktoria, a friend of the bride Nina, adding she would have used it in her own wedding.
    Nina and Ido, minutes before walking down the aisle to make one of the biggest commitments of their lives, said they were excited about the innovation that spares them the time and trouble of dealing with tens of cheques.

    "It worked out fine for us. It requires nothing from us. It just stands there and they (the company) have someone to explain to the people and we hope the money will all be transferred tomorrow and that it will be OK. We hope it will make it easier for our guests and to be honest, we are going away for several days so we won't have the time to go to the bank to deposit etc.
    so I think that will do the job," Ido said.
    Neuwirth said that until now about 100 couples have used the Check-Out Kiosk and all reactions from guests and newlyweds have been extremely positive.
    He added that after getting the Israeli market used to the idea, the company plans to make some small adjustments and try to export the product abroad.
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