The teller quickly informed me that I wouldn't be able to get at my money for 7 days...unless I "negotiated" with my home branch. Yeah that's what I what I want to spend my day doing. Instead of, you know, working. Or, she asked, "is there anyone who would know you at this branch"? Hmmm...that depends...have they been monitoring my internet banking activities, or spying on the ABM machines? Like I have time to build a rapport with my local banker. Like they have time to care who the !@#$ I am. Has anyone told the people working in banks that we live in a "digital" age? Anytime I mention internet banking to a bank teller they look at me like I'm talking about flying dragons or Atlantis or some shit.
Whatever happened to good old-fashioned photo ID? I've got so many ID cards stuffed in my wallet I can barely walk straight, and yet I need some banker to vouch for me just to deposit a cheque? WTF??
Actually, the Canadian Bank Act states that banks must cash cheques on the spot with two pieces of photo ID, even if the cashee doesn't have an account at their bank. The catch is that the cheques have to be for less than $1,500 each. So, a stranger with no account could go into a bank and show 2 pieces of ID, getting cash for 10 cheques worth $1,500 each. But, you can't put a single cheque worth more than $1,500 directly into your own bank account. Clearly these regulations need to be updated. A 7 day hold in the age of electronic commerce is just ridiculous, and so is keeping track of your customers by personal rapport.
Oh, and since my cheques were for less than $1,500 each, I could have asked for cash instead and then deposited it back into my account. Instead, I'm waiting 7 days while the bank sits on its thumbs before I can access my money to pay my bills. All this "service" in return for all the "service charges" I'm nice enough to pay them for the privilege of lending them my money. What a bunch of bums.
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8 comments:
Thats BS, pull your money and switch banks or join a credit union if Canada has those. I've been doing all banking online or at ATM's for at least 5 years with few problems. The fact that they charge you service fees for their version of "service" should set off alarms. In the states, especially with a student account, at any major bank you should only have to pay something if you mess up something, like overdrawing your account, or for extra services beyond putting in money and taking it out.
I've had it with banks over the years, they fuck up and blame you then take massive fees out of your account. Don't settle, send a message and pull your money out. Take your checks and open up a new account somewhere else. That 7 day thing is unheard of and I've had dozens of accounts since I've lived on my own. Maybe its different in the 51st state eh?
Omar!!!!
Your comment is really good written too! And I'd LOVE to invest. Are you related to Tom? I loved him in Topgun!
Good idea Omar! I;m gonna withdraw all my funds from these stupid Canadian banks and invest it all in Costa Rican timeshares! Oh. Wait. I'm a grad student. I don't actually have funds. I just move numbers around from time to time while the bank extracts a percentage each time. Sorry guess you're spamming on the wrong site. Prepare to be deleted...
Kevin Z,
As usual you tell it like it is. Some banks here are better than others...the big grocery store chain Loblaws has a bank that runs on the "no fee" platform. Most Canadian banks suck though. Sadly the cheque-holding policy seems to be common to all banks. (Cheque is Canadian for check, lol)
btw, I should clarify...internet banking works great in my experience...with any bank. Just that the tellers and people who work in the banks don't actually seem to know it's happening. LOL.
In Canada "check" means:
To crush, smash or otherwise obliterate an opponent by driving their hapless body into the boards and or glass. In particularly beautiful instances a check may occur "open ice" and not involve boards or glass but can still be bone-jarring, brain shaking and liver loosening... when in the Great White North be careful when asking for the check (cheque)...
Ah yes. How could I forget the great Canadian tradition of checking. I knew there was a reason we had to spell it in French...now what about serviettes...
Scotiabank - meaning a bunch of dumb people still working in the dark ages who don't know that we get checks to pay bills and not for them to hold dearly to themselves for 7 days so that we get further behind. They have no comprehension of today period. Ask me I know I cannot get them dumbasses to realize that there is even a world out there
how to activate scotia credit card
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