They’re both old fashioned.
I discovered this when receiving my first Google Adsense check from Google’s bank in Germany. This sort of intra-EU payment might have been “cutting edge” a century ago. Nowadays it’s just odd and annoying, because I have to leave the office during the very restricted opening hours of my bank to cash the check, which costs me €15 in fees (or about a week of Adsense revenue). Someone at Google should look up Regulation (EC) No 2560/2001.
It’s not just Luxembourg, though, it appears Google doesn’t like smaller Eurozone countries and Greece (bad vacation experiences, maybe?):
| State | Population | Bank transfer |
|---|---|---|
| Malta | 404,962 | No |
| Luxembourg | 476,200 | No |
| Cyprus | 766,400 | No |
| Slovenia | 2,013,597 | No |
| Ireland | 4,239,848 | Yes |
| Finland | 5,289,128 | Yes |
| Slovakia | 5,389,180 | Yes |
| Austria | 8,316,487 | Yes |
| Portugal | 10,599,095 | Yes |
| Belgium | 10,666,866 | Yes |
| Greece | 11,125,179 | No |
| Netherlands | 16,471,968 | Yes |
| Spain | 45,116,894 | Yes |
| Italy | 59,131,287 | Yes |
| France | 63,392,140 | Yes |
| Germany | 82,314,906 | Yes |