If you need to set up Enduring Power of Attorney, you will need to go into a branch these days. As we have found out. Didn't have to do that years ago as the bank accepted the paperwork.

 

We are cash users. Cheques are basically gone now. So have been putting cash into accounts at the bank of the invoice, to pay bills when I previously sent a cheque. Fortunately still have the main banks at the moment in Manly.

 

CBA closed the branch in Balgowlah. Was the only bank.The only ATM is one with the surcharge fee. Decades ago Balgowlah had every main bank.

 

It's really getting a pain, & we are in the city!

 

 

Couldn't pay car rego in North Sydney with cash, had to go to Chatswood.

 

Can't pay our block of units quarterly levy with cash at post office. But can transfer funds from debit card.

Point missed

I take one of my Helinox chairs & sit in the queue. Quite handy in the supermarkets. Double up 2 heights of baskets 2x2 makes a reasonable chair. Everyone waiting gets the point. I am always extra nice to the checkout person say it's the management on their junkets etc.

Some years ago, I had to pay my phone bill, as had done for years every month.

 

The shop in Stocklands (which every local still calls it the Totem as is was known for half a century). It was originally a quarry in Balgowlah.

 

They closed early. My last day to pay the phone bill. 

 

There was a sign on the door to pay at Warringah Mall shopping centre.

 

Looking at the time, there was no possibility of me getting there in time.

 

So a very slowly I layed on the floor spread eagled so everyone in the shopping centre could see me.

 

I very slowly pushed the cash & their invoice under the door. 

 

The staff were there but disappeared to the back of the store due to the embarrassing situation.

 

When you get old nothing is embarrassing!

 

dogbox wrote:

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still haven't said were all this cash you are using is coming from?

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From under the mattress...where its been stashed away over many years to hide its presence from the Government so a full pension can be obtained?

I know of more than one person that did it.

 

If the bank goes broke,you are covered by Financial Claims Scheme.Provides protection to depositors up to $250,000 per. account holder.

Plain Truth wrote:

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If the bank goes broke,you are covered by Financial Claims Scheme.Provides protection to depositors up to $250,000 per. account holder.

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 Too bad if they won't give you any money.  Who are you going to talk to to ask for it?  There is no one.  The branch no longer exists.

Actually the other day went to Westpac to pay credit card. That is a long story in itself. A bit over a month earlier tried to order a 30 inch Dell monitor. I have had 2 previously over the decades.

 

Tried 2 debit cards from different banks. Couldn't get either to work. Tried the third card (credit), it didn't work either.

 

Phoned Dell, they said everything was working their end. Walked to Manly & actually tried to order on the bank's computer own computer. They said it was a Dell problem. It didn't work either.

 

Not as if there is a shortage of funds. More phone calls to Dell. 

 

Was almost getting to the point I would buy something from HN etc physically in store. Finally the card worked. 

 

 

Then the other day wanted to pay the card off. Walked into Westpac & the their system was down. Had tried to get cash out of their ATM. That didn't work. Got cash out from another bank's ATM.

 

Luckily I had the paper credit card statement as the Westpac computer didn't work. But really. Then on the other hand I suppose that's how it all works these days.

 

Can't buy, can't get money & can't pay because everyone's systems don't work.

Mein, You are not a sceptic, just argumentative.

"In the recession a decade & a half ago. I was having a chat with the teller, we got on well. He said 'Yesterday a long term customer took out $800,000 cash.'"

A bank officer should not be disclosing such information? That could prove dangerous for a customer if the wrong people were earwigging nearby?

Confidentiality in business is paramount. Some friends of ours went to a BBQ once and an acquaintance there told them how much money they had been told (by a bank officer) they had in the local branch. They then marched in at 10 a.m. Monday and removed a few million, then transferred it to another bank and warned the bank officers there of their responsibilities of customer confidentiality.

As to the performance of banks, don't start me. One of our local branches just closed the doors and a Which Bank has reduced it's hours, now closing at 1 pm which is a complete pain in the butt. They have also done away with the "cheque deposit bin". I mailed off 22 grand worth of cheques on Friday, still use cheques, but I must admit not as much as I used to. Internet banking is useful but fraught with danger.
On my Which Bank transfers, I move funds by setting my transfer limit to what it needs to be, then go straight back in and reduce my trf and billpay limits back to $500. In each case I get a text with a six digit code to my mobile. I do this as I figure if some low life dog broke into my accounts via the net, the most they could get me for is $1,000 per day. I am in there almost every day so would pick it up fairly promptly.

I have convinced my sister to put my elderly mum's funds into IBD's. Also have talked to others about it, as it is a lot harder for a criminal to hack into and steal funds that are fixed for 6 or 12 months.

I have a question : The $250,000 surety banks have for depositor's funds in case of "disaster". Does this apply only once, or does it apply multiple times with multiple banks. I have never been sure if you only get ONE shot at it?

This is the FCS website

Are We Lost wrote:

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Too hard to read. The answer is?

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 $250,000 per account holder per ADI. (Authorised deposit-taking institution)

msg wrote:

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argumentative.

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 'Argumentative', after looking through a few hundred posts, the yawning aspiration of some entities is their singular goal in life wasting oxygen.

 

Last year one of my banks, basically my working account. Said they will no longer issue & or process cheques.

 

Opened a working account with CBA, they gave me a cheque book (took 3 months to get (proberly some people on the forum think I am lying)), but the CBA said that is the last cheque book I get.

 

The CBA did our first mortgage in 1989 at 17% & also a bridging loan when we joined two Units together to make one large waterfront Unit, then a third one for a garage (while on that subject the CBA charged us $1800 too much interest, we did get it back eventually, but they didn't give us interest on what they tried to "steal". 

 

On the subject of overcharging, Energy Australia were at it as well. Caught them out with photographs of the meter & photographs of the meter reader who didn't read the meter on the day I paid for. The admin was far more than the sum but at least I cost them more than they were trying to fleece me.

 

The whole system is getting us to do their work & we are then being charged for it on top of it... Externalizers!