I am treasurer of my church. Most people now give via online banking but there is still cash and cheque giving on Sundays. I used to bank the offering each week but Westpac closed its local branch earlier this year, as did St George owned by Westpac some months before. Now, because I have to drive to a branch which is still open, I bank each month.
Last month I banked the money but it didn’t appear in the church’s account. I phoned the branch but just got an answering service to say I would be called back. I wasn’t. Had to drive to the branch to sort it out.
Soon cheques will be abandoned. The banks don’t want to process a dwindling number of cheques so got the government to make a ruling that cheques will be phased out by 2030. Good for the banks. No more cheques to process and the blame for ending paying by cheque falls on the government. Win-win. It’s another subject, but you’ve got to think that cash will be next. Much harder to do but eventually governments are going to try. Once cheques and cash are gone every transaction will be traceable. They’ll know a lot more about you.
But back to banking. I understand the advantages of operating online – to pay bills, to transfer money etc. The problem is the gradually reducing availability of face-to face banking. Branches are closing and, in those remaining, there is now no branch manager to talk to. You have make an appointment with a banking advisor or some such. Or, do what you want to do online or by phone.
Retired I wanted a credit card with Westpac. What a joke. After being passed up the line I spoke to someone who sounded young. He said we can’t give you a card because you don’t have a regular income. I said, well look at my longstanding account with your bank, you’ll see that each year I deposit a sum of money from my self-managed superannuation fund. He said, it doesn’t come in regularly. I said, no, I put it in a few times year, as needed. We need to see a regular income to give you a card, he said adamantly. The conversation went on but eventually I concluded I was talking to an idiot. Or, to be kind, perhaps his computer said no.
Why is it with all of this digital convenience at my fingertips do I feel deprived? Is this progress? Malcom Muggeridge once said that there is no such thing as progress, though I can’t seem to find the quote. Tend to think he’s right. There’s just pluses and minuses signifying nothing.
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