The Wonderful World of Banking
I just came from the bank. Finally I have a British bank account and cash card should arrive on Friday. Yee haw! Or at least you would think so. When I arrived to the Barclays this morning I found out that my account is going be the most basic one. That means I can only withdraw cash from ATM. International money transfers aren't possible and in order to put money on that account you have to pop into a bank and have cash with you. How lovely is that!
Okey, now you must be wondering why an earth I didn't get a different kind of account. Well, I would have done that if only I had 2000 £ to keep on that account. And quite obviously I don't. I need all the money I can get to survive in this ridiculous expensive country (ok, it's not that expensive if you just stick with the basic stuff like eating and drinking at home:). With that account you could get access to those regular things like international transactions, internet banking and local debit card but cos I don't have that money I won't be able to do that.
So, now on I have to transfer money from my Finnish account to my friend's account. Then withdraw some cash and walk into the bank in order to put that money on my cash card account. After that I'm able to get some Sterlings from local ATM. Don't you just love Britist banking system ;D
Okey, now you must be wondering why an earth I didn't get a different kind of account. Well, I would have done that if only I had 2000 £ to keep on that account. And quite obviously I don't. I need all the money I can get to survive in this ridiculous expensive country (ok, it's not that expensive if you just stick with the basic stuff like eating and drinking at home:). With that account you could get access to those regular things like international transactions, internet banking and local debit card but cos I don't have that money I won't be able to do that.
So, now on I have to transfer money from my Finnish account to my friend's account. Then withdraw some cash and walk into the bank in order to put that money on my cash card account. After that I'm able to get some Sterlings from local ATM. Don't you just love Britist banking system ;D
posted by Minkki @ Monday, October 09, 2006
9 Comments:
How funny that nobody actually believes this until they personally experience it...
Any investment bankers around to help? ;) Maybe someone could loan you the 2000 pounds and then you would just return it back when you leave London. Yeah, I know, I wouldn't do that either really unless I knew the rich person well. Britain seems to be a developing country what comes to banking...and toilets, if I remember correctly.
Banking, toilets, plumbing, public transport, sour tea with milk, you name it! The British are a weird bunch but we love them nevertheless.
This is what I expected you to find when you first mentioned going to the bank, but quietly hoped things would have changed in the last ten years. Apparently not. Don't worry, they'll give you a proper account as soon as you've lived in the country for three years and can thus be trusted with a switch-card!
Oh, it seems that NatWest is a bit better then, I was able to transfer money from Finland to my bank account and even use the internet bank, though I really didn't have 2000 pounds there :D
I am even more surprised (and relieved!) to find that my Visa (Electron, too) cards actually withdraw money from ATMs here. "Here", meaning Cotonou with maybe five different ATMs and Lomé with some more - Lomé being the main port for most Sahelian countries north from Togo...well, it is perfectly understandable since very, very few private persons have a bank account here. Just a note when talking about developing countries and banking..!
Bureaucracy sucks, but at least (some) things work there, right? It seems that the electric kettle I bought doesn't work in my new home here - all the electricity breaks down if I try to boil water. Oh well, c'est la vie...
Todennäköisesti keittimessäsi on oikosulku, jos se polttaa sulakkeita. Kyse voi olla pienestäkin kosketusviasta, käytä korjaajalla.
Riikka kiltti, ei Afrikassa käytetä vedenkeittimiä - paitsi sellaisia jotka lämpiävät palavan risukasan päällä (ja ne risut ovat aavikon reunan viimeisistä puista irti hakattuja oksia, runkoja, juuria tms.). Paikoin tulentekoon käytetään myös kuivattuja lantakakkuja.
Hanki kaasuliesi/-keitin! Se on hyvä ja nopea ratkaisu ja kattilaa voit käyttää veden keittämisen lisäksi ruoan laittoon. Toisaalta, onko siellä kaasua?
Teemu vinkki on kyllä sinällään huomion arvoinen.
Riikka, I had similar experience with a toaster in Tanzania - the mechanism that makes the breads jump up didn't work and as I tried to take the slices out with a metallic fork I happened to cause an electricity breakdown in our house and in few neighboring ones as well..hmmh. At Sansibar some showers were heated with electricity in such a way that you could actually sense a faint current when touching the knob for warm water. I took cold showers mostly.
No niin, nyt Minnan blogista tulikin sähköasentajien palsta! Saisin varmasti ihan oman korjaajan kotiin, jos haluaisin (olen saanut jo tarjouksia 'yövahdeista' ja 'bodyguardeista'...) :)
Vedenkeitin on noin niin kuin viisi kertaa nopeampaa kuin kaasun kanssa sählääminen. En ole jaksanut hankkia sellaista pulloa, kun se maksaa niin paljon...ehkä luotan ihan vain kolmijalkalieteen ja hiiliin!
Minulla on muuten jääkaappikin, mutten ole uskaltanut avata sitä ensimmäisen kerran jälkeen, kun sain sähköiskun...minua neuvottiin pitämään aina kenkiä jalassa jääkaappia käyttäessäni. Nice. Tervetuloa Minna :)
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