>" but if you took your cash to a post office or the clearing service teller (not to a bank!) the funds would go within 30 minutes. "
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>We still have that, but it is not connected to banks. Those payment centers are entering into a computer the account number and depositing your check (or cc). It is most analagous to a bank remote deposit that the agent is making on behalf of the utility company.

I've lived in the US for 11 years and haven't heard of one. Whereas back in SFRY (or later FRY) everyone knew where the nearest SDK was, or could walk to the nearest post office. In fact, the postal mechanism still works, just faster than before - for one, for most of the common utilities the clerk has the numbers and recipient names ready so she can pre-fill her form, so whichever parts of your payment slip aren't preprinted or you haven't filled them manually. Actually this is how postal service survives, because apart from the utility bills there's precious few of other mail. The ads don't go by mail, the local businesses pay students to go door to door and stuff the mailboxes.

>I do not know how actual bank transfer payments to utilities could even work at all. There would be no mechanism for transmitting the account or other information necessary to identify the customer. That is why pull works when the utility pulls from my account, but I do not know how push could ever work without a massive revamping of the entire banking system.

The same way your web payment goes. The payor's name, address and the account (and possibly invoice) number go with it. Also, many utilities (and state/city agencies) have sub-account numbers for each type of payment (usually by purpose) and they supply that number with the invoice. It's just that all this info needs to go with the payment (and here it does, and it does with the web payment).