Dividend Frequency

How often is the dividend paid? Like...how frequently? That's it. Not a fancy term.

In most publicly traded American companies, dividends are paid quarterly, i.e. every 13 weeks. In a bunch of European companies, they are paid twice a year. In some private companies, they are paid monthly. Divvys paid very frequently used to cost the payer a ton of dough, as one payment of, say, 20 cents a share to every yutz who owned 100 shares...cost more to process than it was worth.

Electronic systems have made life easier, but a dividend payment is still paperwork (or at least serverwork) for the payer. So the process gets measured and metered carefully, and companies hate changing policy. Why? Yet more paperwork. And lawyers.