The first order of business for Marcia and I when we moved to the UK in September 2016 was to set up our UK bank accounts. Our US accounts were set up over the phone before we left the US but we had to complete our UK accounts in person when we arrived in London. That’s fine (albeit unnecessary to me and my little patience). But after meeting with our branch manager and signing the required paperwork, our debit and credit cards would arrive in the mail sometime within 10 days and the PIN codes for each would arrive separately during this same period. That’s annoying. After 10 days of Marcia being my sugar momma, having a credit card with no international fees, we had received a debit card with no PIN and a PIN without the matching debit card. After trekking back to the branch and the manager apologizing for the inconvenience, we were told the missing debit card and PIN would be on their way in the mail – within another ten days. To my amazement, there was no way for the manager to give me the PIN for the debit card we did have or give me the debit card for the PIN we received, and it was nearly a month before we were fully transacting in the UK.
This proved to be the first of many frustrating experiences, which included the high cost of wiring money to and from the US (thanks Transferwise for being a nice alternative), fraud alerts when traveling through Europe which locked us out of our accounts for weeks, GBP tax refund checks received after repatriating for which the US branch would not cash…I’ll spare you the rest of the laundry list.
An extremely frustrating experience to say the least and I won’t name the bank or blame the UK because I assume retail banking is a pretty rubbish experience for most people in most places. The sole purpose of a bank is to provide access to capital. In its simplest form, access to my deposits and checking account proved extremely difficult. Retail banking is so broken and I avoid physical branches at all costs. The digital shift is more than here. We can deposit checks on our mobile phones, pay bills, store credit cards and transfer money, secure loans and mortgages, invest in all asset classed, etc. etc. We’re accelerating faster to a world where neobanks dominate (thanks SoFi) and crypto networks continue to disrupt retail banks I’m here for it. Love the digital currency meteor approaching the dinosaur in that linked article by the way…
I’m also now at the age where the 30-year maturity savings bonds my grandparents bought me are maturing and so each time I go back to Pittsburgh to visit my parents I seemingly have another savings bond to cash in. My mom gets out her sheet which she has used to manually track the maturity, earnings, and interest of each bond, goes to the “safe” in my childhood home and hands me the physical bond to take the bank. I laugh every time I have to go to the bank. I look around and wonder why people are in there at the teller windows. Cashing in their 30-year old savings bonds? While I pretty much abandoned cash years ago, I also realize this can be a bit of privileged conversation since not everyone on the planet has the means and access to transact as seamlessly. However, I’m more than encouraged with all the banking innovations throughout the world including in developing countries and hopeful for a more consistently seamless and efficient process for all.