Do Amish use banks? Barter? Checkbooks? Credit Cards? (Amish & Money)

A look at how the Amish use money & do business. Do Amish rely on barter? Do they use banks? Do Amish have mortgages? Are there wealthy Amish people? I also share one related, rather bizarre "Amish" story from the mid-1990s.
My name is Erik Wesner and I'm not Amish. Back in 2004, I met the Amish while selling books door-to-door. Since then, I've visited 5,000+ Amish homes & dozens of Amish communities. I run the Amish America website. More: amishamerica.com/
Image credits: Jim Halverson, Don Burke (www.flickr.com/photos/ozarkin..., Jerry in PA, Ed C., Bank of Bird-in-Hand (bihbank.com/), Lauren Futch, Middlefield Banking Company ( / plaincitymb )
Articles cited:
"Amish make the ultimate traditional customers" by Jeremy Nobile, Crain's Cleveland Business, May 11, 2019 www.crainscleveland.com/finan...
"A Local Bank in Amish Country Flourishes Amid Dearth of Small Lenders" by Ryan Tracy, The Wall Street Journal, March 29, 2015
"Few Clues in Robberies in Which Bandits Used Amish Disguise", The New York Times, November 5, 1995

[@user-cm2ky8hv6o]

An Amish lady bought canning jars from my mother and paid her with a check. Her handwriting was the loveliest I have ever seen.

[@riggs20]

I like how the federal agent said dressing up like Amish was not a good disguise. And yet they had not managed to catch these guys after multiple robberies. Seems like the disguise is working pretty well to me.

[@ellenw391]

I can't believe I'm watching an Amish video right now. For the entire day I had two Queen songs stuck in my head. Couldn't wait to get home and pull them up on KZbin. See this in my suggested videos, and it hit me... I've never thought about this. I've paid my fair share of Amish people, mostly with credit cards, But never thought what do they do when their home lives. I'm glad you clarified about buggies. I'll never forget a few Amish kids showing me around their new buggie. It was plush velvet and have lots of luxurious elements. I was utterly stunned! Wasn't exactly my idea of "Plain" LOLOL

[@mastljn]

The buggies might be plain on the outside but the inside can be very fancy and expensive.

[@bostonrailfan2427]

@@mastljn nice leather, brass, padding and nice springs cost money 😉

[@proehm]

My favorite is always the hitching post in front of the Dollar General...

[@AmishAmerica]

Smart of local businesses to make it easy for Amish customers to park, isn't it. There was a recent story about a Michigan library adding buggy parking too, as others have

[@bostonrailfan2427]

money is money, a few dollars for the installation to earn several thousand in sales is a smart investment

[@MoonShadowRayne]

It gets better when you see a couple shovels leaning against the hitching posts. Lol

[@84sp84]

Dollar Generals and Walmart both have hitching posts here in Pontotoc County Mississippi where we have an Amish community.

[@Dan-sb5sf]

@@MoonShadowRaynewhere does the manure go?

[@MoonShadowRayne]

The banks in Nappanee have places to tie up horses. They even go in the drive thru.

[@thehangmansdaughter1120]

The more of these videos I watch the more I want to visit some Amish communities. But I live in New Zealand, so my chances are slim to say the least. We don't have any Amish settlements here. Though, if they're looking for fertile land, and a country that will accept them as they are, they couldn't do better than NZ. They'd do very well here.

[@jeffreywitty3088]

NZ is not known worldwide as a "accepting nation". It has Australia's skink of poor eugenics and is close to bad wildlife/asians. And your government is like... WEF tyrannical

[@jimhays4711]

I heard a story about a group of Amish buying a section of ground in eastern Iowa (the plan was that it would become farms for 7 young families) and paying in cash. US government currency. 640 acres and land around there sometimes was bringing $15,000/acre. Do the math. Of course, the banks had to do some due diligence and meet all regulations regarding large cash transactions as a part of the closing.

[@kerrykerry5778]

An english neighbor of mine, here in Lancaster County, was asked to drive a van to take an Amish family on vacation. He took them south to a waterfront home on the Chesapeake Bay. The home was obviously a seven figure place, with an enclosed, heated pool overlooking the water. The patriarch of the family explained that it was his, was professionally managed by a rental agency, and booked as a vacation rental. He also noted that his brother had a similarly valued property that was beachfront in North Carolina. Many of my Amish neighbors are extremely successful, and wealthy. They earned every dime, but it would be foolish to think they are poor, or unworldly in the ways of finance.

[@myeflatley1150]

Our US Treasury forces people to use banks for large transactions by limiting cash currency to $100 bills. Doing this was supposed to discourage drug sales. It did not. The illegal drug business is going strong. Instead it limits honest persons to going thru banks.

[@randybourdon2791]

Always great to hear the stories you come up with, thanks for sharing.

[@lendir1]

Disguising as Amish to rob a bank is genius. I had seen a story a few years back of a bank robber that had crazy hair, and other features that stuck out, and the police had a hard time catching him. Turns out, he was a cop, he knew the wig and other items he wore is what the witnesses would remember, not his actual features. So, disguised as Amish, you would remember the hat, beard and clothes.

[@Dan-sb5sf]

how was the cop caught?

[@julieshelley9251]

Love your videos, thank you for the content. Greetings from Philly! Lots of Amish folk here, luv it

[@user-ko2tu3ss3o]

More please. What a great channel. Thank you very much.

[@stevec3872]

I saw an older Amish couple at Aldi's this morning and they paid with cash.

[@AmishAmerica]

Yes well they definitely use cash too, but not only. I also should have probably added that due to the cost of the books I was selling, paying by check was going to be more convenient for most people

[@mkhuntstreasure3192]

Always interesting.

[@MissSherry]

Love your shares

[@patriciawilson605]

It makes good sense to be as financially independent as possible !!!! Hope they can continue just being who they are and be left alone by the government! By the way leave everyone alone to live heir lives without over reaching and unconstitutional laws! God Help Americans !

[@frydemwingz]

I never saw that as being strange, the places to park your horses. They had a lot of that in the little Texas town I lived in, not for Amish of course, but it's still somewhat common in Texas farm communities to have horses just for leisure. I've never seen someone there with a buggy though which is odd now that I think of it. That isn't fun to have an open buggy? I only see riders ON the horses in Texas.

[@alive.off-grid]

They drive tractors out here pulling trailers. They go to Walmart to get groceries and going to other businesses to get things they need

[@fyrekrystaal27]

This is a funny story. I can't remember the year about talking about a bank robberies. This happened in Rochester MN. A guy robbed a bank. A news crew were doing a story on it if front of the bank and the same guy came back to that bank and tried to rob that back. The news crew was live when the guy did it.

[@eddiemcboss7080]

What do the Amish think about their ancestors and Europe? Do some of them travel to their place of origin in Europe? And if so do you ever think a few of them might “move back”. Cheers from northern Sweden again!

[@Reziac]

I dunno, but there exists a Mennonite genealogy database that's so huge it's used as test data to check the limits of genealogy programs. (On a very fast PC it was reported to take six days to import.) Might have read about it on the Gramps website.

[@erine3185]

I lived across the street from a bank in Western Pennsylvania that had a horse buggy parking area

[@Dobj319]

Did the bank robbers have a getaway buggy? 😃

[@AmishAmerica]

I'm guessing they - probably wisely for robbers - omitted that Amish detail:)

[@eltabasquenoviajero4272]

I am Mexican and currently my employer is Amish we make sercas for ranches and houses here in somerset ky and estenford greetings to all

[@redbird4]

I use a car now, but I think it would be good to have a buggy and horse instead of the car..

[@DaveSomething]

often there's a horse and buggy or small tractor parked at walmart... southeast kansas has a fair amount of amish communities.

[@alungibbon9146]

Do Amish grow GMO crops? Could be an idea for a future vlog. I suspect the answer is some do & some don't , but are they aware of the controversy around GMO?

[@tomegg7707]

My neighbors were growing organic a few years ago. He told me that he doesn't know why people pay more for lower quality vegetables but if they do we will grow it. They have since gone back to using fertilizer.

[@alungibbon9146]

@@tomegg7707 GMO here in UK means genetically modified organisms, I think l watched a TV programme in the distant past about the subject in which an Amish farmer was happy to grow GMO.

[@lehampton1]

A Henry Fonda western movie “Big Hand for a Little Lady” had a banker who told the story of taking a milk cow as collateral for a three month loan. He milked the cow every day and sold the manure as fertilizer, not only making money on the loan interest but also on the other items too! Of course he had to buy hay, but he still made profit beyond interest. Horses could be great collateral too! However I doubt the Ohio bankers kept the horses themselves. They would let the farmer feed and use the horse similar to financing a tractor!

[@jonathanhovis2012]

I watched your other video that talks about where the Amish shop and also that you sold them books. My books are only available on Amazon so my question is, do the Amish shop online on Amazon?

[@AmishAmerica]

Well it's not the common way Amish buy things, but some with smartphone access undoubtedly do, and if they don't have easy internet access, some might ask non-Amish friends to order things. But for the most part they are buying things "offline"

[@strange-universe]

@@AmishAmerica the local group I mingle with are not "allowed" to have smart phones as yet. No internet for these folks. But! I do on occasion order books, mostly to do with plants, online for them. Personally, I would rather that they stay offline for the strength of their community. There are already plenty of us online :)

[@eddiemcboss7080]

How much does the Amish interact with other anabaptists, like mennonite’s and Hutterite’s? Cheers from northern Sweden again!

[@AmishAmerica]

It depends, but with Mennonites it can be a good bit in some places in particular. For instance in Lancaster County they even have some joint schools (with the horse and buggy Mennonites). They may cooperate on things like auctions and also through organizations like MCC (Mennonite Central Committee) for doing things like disaster relief (Amish often help after hurricanes for instance). With the Hutterites, there is less interaction because they mainly live mostly in different areas from the Amish, not to mention physically apart on compounds. I believe there was an article in a Family Life of years past by an Amishman who visited a Hutterite colony commenting on the experience. Tack för frågan! (hope I got that right :)

[@eddiemcboss7080]

@@AmishAmerica Thanks for the answer and you spelled it exactly correct!

[@kathyhester3066]

I have heard that the Amish don't believe in any type of insurance. Is that true? If it is, why not? Do the Amish use Credit Unions?

[@mastljn]

I used to work at a credit union and some Amish people had mortgages or buggy loans (some can be as expensive as a small basic car). I saw some that came in with a certificate to show proof of insurance from the church to show the house was insured or the buggy if they were still paying on it. I am in the Elkhart/Lagrange county Indiana area.

[@bostonrailfan2427]

@@mastljn hmm…perhaps that’s more of a legal requirement than being allowed? i recall in the taxation video that insurance was verboten by their beliefs so it might be a requirement rather than a choice

[@mastljn]

@@bostonrailfan2427 Yes it was a legal requirement as the certificate from the church was really no more than a letter signed by the church elders agreeing that the church would cover any money owed/insure that the loan would be paid back if there was damage or loss to the house or buggy that had a loan on it. It would be similar to car insurance in some states that allow a self insurance. In many cases, you can arrange self-insured auto insurance by depositing cash or posting a bond with the state in lieu of insurance. Basically in the case of the Amish I dealt with, the church acts as their their insurance company. It is part of the Amish taking care of their own and would be paid for by what they tithe/give to the church.

[@followerofjesus7277]

They have insurance on their homes and on their horses. We have Amish/Mennonite insurance.

[@jeanholley5820]

I realize this might be a weird question but who picks up the horse poop when the buggies are parked?

[@paulsawczyc5019]

That's the best stuff for your garden - they fight over it.

[@skrapenpennies9947]

My girl drove horse tours and they had a bag behind

[@sheenadenae3156]

It seems like Nobody does. most of the time it just stays there and decomposes

[@ddoc7117]

It's organic and biodegradeable, no worries

[@richardrogers156]

Do Amish study Greek and Hebrew or use a Strong's concordance bible dictionary in Greek and Hebrew.?💪💪🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

[@woodcuttingmaster]

Hello brother I saw your video from Bangladesh , are you American ?

[@joeanderson9431]

I remember seeing that sketch of that fake Amish bank robber in my local newspaper or in a paper from the nearest metropolis

[@ummlittlemuslim]

So they use interest (usury)? because I've known some Christians who regard it as forbidden. Us Muslims are not allowed to use it so we can't take mortgages and shouldn't use credit cards and such. Its definitely something that is very difficult. We can't take interest and shouldn't pay it either. I guess my question is if it's also forbidden according to them?

[@dasy2k1]

Certainly in the UK you can get a halal mortgage that dosn't actually change any interest (instead there is a monthly fee for the facility) over the length of any loan it works out the same but the fee remains fixed for every month whereas interest based loans have a smaller interest payment as the principle is paid off

[@ummlittlemuslim]

@@dasy2k1 yes those are not allowed either by many scholars

[@fransak2723]

I’ve seem Amish buggies at the ice cream drive through and the coffee shop drive through. Just a suggestion for a video (if you haven’t already done it) how can you tell the difference between Amish and Mennonite? Or do the Amish have any type of “class” system. I once heard an Amish woman describe a particular group of Amish as low- class Amish.

[@AmishAmerica]

I'm planning to do that video, a number of people have been asking for it. Good topic. That may have been an Amish woman from a more progressive community talking about a "lower" church. "Low-class" sounds derogatory, but I'm not 100% sure that would be the case. The more conservative Amish are called "lower" and that is not meant as derogatory. I am curious if you can share any other context (what community, situation etc).

[@fransak2723]

@@AmishAmerica Bird-in-hand area. The comment pertained to some who’s properties or clothes may be shabby. She rattled off the names of several sects, none of which I can remember.

[@AmishAmerica]

Gotcha - yea that sounds like she may have meant a more conservative group in comparison to hers. They'd tend to have plainer and quite possibly shabbier clothing. The Swartzentruber Amish are the best-known of the plain groups, and some of their yards/homes can have a quite rough appearance

[@judysulak5731]

What type of books do the Amish read?

[@wintersfamilyfarm4366]

Is there a way I can message you. I would like to give you some info but don’t want to put my job in trouble.

[@TheGhostOfLuciasClay]

Amish millionaire seems like an oxymoron. Considering land prices say around Lancaster it wouldn't be hard to become one.

[@AmishAmerica]

Right. On the one hand you have the business owner millionaires who have a lot of liquid assets, and on the other the farmer in a place like Lancaster County who has seen land values shoot up over the last several decades, but with that wealth locked up in a generational farm.

[@TheGhostOfLuciasClay]

@@AmishAmerica I've heard several time about amish and menonites selling farms around Lancaster for 7 figures and buying a farm around here for 6 figures. There is an amish ran building supply company around Clymer and with the amount of lumber sitting and supplies around there it's definitely over a million in assets.

[@bostonrailfan2427]

@@TheGhostOfLuciasClay selling land makes sense from a dual perspective: they gain a large amount of money while moving to a location that lets them expand or continue as-is or expand

[@ddoc7117]

@@bostonrailfan2427 If they do a 1031 exchange, to defer capital gains, it makes more sense

[@breadfan262]

Do Amish watch movies and if so, what do they think of the movie, “Witness”?

[@emmib1388]

the majority would not watch movies..... and would probably not give an opinion if they did :-)

[@Blake.Cooper]

So interesting. I live near the Amish in Munfordville Kentucky. I saw a big white van today letting out a bunch of younger looking Amish gentlemen heading into the bank!

[@edsmith4414]

$250k over 8 robberies ? Not a lot of return for a whole lot of risk.

[@matthew_natividad]

Seems decent tho considering that amount regardless will still set off red flags

[@thinkinoutloud.1]

I hear there will be digital currency and no cash in the future. Money is worth nothing. Do Amish pay for groceries with cash? Will Amish be using credit cards, debit cards?

[@johnnychannel7824]

As you said that “ some Amish people become millionaires.”. Do Amish millionaires still use Buggies as their transportation?

[@mastljn]

My grandparents did for many years still used horse and buggy unless they hired a non Amish driver for long distances. They were in Reno county Kansas. This is until many years later they decided some things were not quite right and they joined a Beachy Amish church that allowed cars then they rarely used the buggy.

[@jimhays4711]

The Amish are heavily involved in Indiana harness racing and many of the top standardbred horse breeders, and racing operations, are Amish. I met an Amish family at Hoosier Park watching my horse race one night who had a couple of family buggy horses who had raced. One had lifetime earnings over $900K and the other over $800K, and when they left the track they continued as part of the family, taking the kids to school, Mother to town for shopping, the family to church on Sunday. Many if not most Amish buggy horses are former race horses but most of the time this second career is available because they weren't successful at racing, their first career. In this case, these horses retired to buggy horse status with lots of money in the bank.

[@mastljn]

And sometimes when you see a horse pulling a buggy you can just tell if the horse has racing in their blood.

[@AmishAmerica]

Yes they do. Though the more wealthy Amish would be more easily able to afford a hired driver so probably less likely to use a buggy. And especially if they have a business which requires traveling some distances (eg construction).

[@strange-universe]

@@AmishAmerica yes, it's odd to see a truck or two parked by the barn. Those are driven by non Amish to get materials and labor to the jobsites.

[@Claroquesisisi09]

Maybe they have offshore bank account

[@donkeysaurusrex7881]

Do the Amish prefer to deal with banks as opposed to credit unions?

[@AmishAmerica]

I don't know if there really is a preference - I've tended to see Amish mainly using banks. But it also might be a function of if credit unions are even present in an area to present a choice. I think credit unions have the perception of being more local and personal than say a corpo-bank, so if that is true you could see the appeal.

[@strange-universe]

I have given them rides to both

[@dontscrewwithgodschosen6692]

🧚🏻‍♂️❣️🌌

[@conorolaf1762]

Amish shun all graven images except for cash.

[@southernwanderer7912]

Why do the Amish forego some modern things but embrace others? How is that even determined? Modern things would seem to go against their religion, at least of the little I know about them.

[@strange-universe]

it seems that every area has a group of elders. It's all about keeping their community strong. As opposed to seeing it as sin. I can tell you this, living amongst them, they appear to be doing quite well. Doing business in this era is a point of concern, like should they figure out a way to have an email account? Besides, me giving the occasional ride and doing something online for them usually leads to some good interaction and witnessing.

[@quientschaffer9635]

Big families cause them to work other jobs .

[@myeflatley1150]

Properly, it is wrong to practice usury. Usury is lending money at an interest rate. Ye should not use banks because the money put in the bank will be loaned at interest. Nor should a person borrow money. If a person needs money, it should be given to him by the community. There are practical limits to this. If a farmer borrows money to finance a crop, he can lose the farm when grain prices drop. Borrowing money is close to gambling; in the long run the bank always wins. Lending money is parasitic upon the community. If ye want to keep your community sound, your richness should be given back into the community, not lent. In a community where lending is strongly practiced, one person becomes the rich man, and everyone else becomes poor. This is not something ye want. Speaking from personal knowledge, ye definitely do not want to practice banking if ye are poor.

[@medionlvr]

keep yourself separate, but give me the cash, mmhhmmm.

[@johnpinckney4979]

How do the Amish handle serious illness and death?

[@sonyafox3271]

I used to live in Pleasant, IN and they did have a Amish Doctor that had been in practice for quite sometime and he was very well liked. Everyone would come to see him from everywhere, including just everyday citizens that weren’t part of the Amish Community and apparently even at that time, there weren’t that many Amish doctors, but, it’s mostly holistic medication and treatments, such as natural herbs.

[@johnpinckney4979]

@@sonyafox3271 A "licensed" M.D.? Or, a "healer"? I'm asking in particular with the Amish viewpoint on education.

[@lindamaskus5142]

@@johnpinckney4979 they go to drs around my community just like other people do.

[@archielynn1367]

i stoped rideing them around last week they paid me 45 that was 6 trips = did nt pay all the gas we put more gas in we paid for and didnt make any money at 30 cent a mile and and no money if we waited around for them= and no wear and tear on our car = = most pay 80 cents to 130 a mile and 7 to 14 wait money they didnt call this week = thats good because we stoped last week = just wateing for them to call so we can tell them we stoped = just to cheep at 30 cents

[@jimlane2961]

WOW , I was making .50 cent's a mile in Davis county IOWA Area.! And I loved to Barter with Them Also !!!

[@danvanhoose6783]

They will clean out a property trespassing while deer hunting.no trespassing means nothing to them.

[@amandaclose8598]

Should talk about the abuse there animals go threw. I know o to much about that. But they only want to show the " good " and how godly they are. I've seen hundreds and hundreds of horses come threw auctions with torn tendents, broken backs, field horses with milk juge leg, broken teeth because of the way they abused there mouth. I can go on and on about this.

[@tomegg7707]

That's the same story I heard from a local 4h person. Why would they mistreat something they depend on for growing food and transportation? I must have been dreaming those times when I transported horses to the vet for them. Maybe you saw the horses that were the victims of drivers not paying attention.

[@lindamaskus5142]

I'm sure there's a few, but don't lump them all together. They're not all like that Amanda!

[@ironhorse944]

Do they have a SSN, That’s the question. If they are allowed to open account without…that’s discrimination for the rest of us!

[@elid3906]

🤔That's a very Good question 👍🏼

[@randomvintagefilm273]

Are you married? 😊

[@ArnoldClarke]

Why do they shave there ‘tash off (men).

[@rumplestilskin5776]

I would do business or loan funds to Amish all day long. They're hard working, live by God and look you in the eye when they shake your hand.