The last time I was in a bank branch was some time ago. I have queued to exchange travellers cheques in small African countries, done the Saturday morning trudge through the lines of my friendly neighbourhood bank in Bombay, and waited for a personal finance advisor (I only wanted to get a chequebook) at my high street branch in Knightsbridge. I try to forget the hours wasted in the days we had passbooks and even longer lines.
My browser fights those battles for me now. Most of the time, anyway.
Being inundated with savings adverts, I finally decided to go interest rate shopping. After trawling through numerous websites and the fine print on savings accounts (some pay interest monthly, others annually and all have varied interest thresholds), I found a viable option. A flexible savings account with a big bank that trumpeted its convenience and technology. After weeks of being drip-fed the various pieces of paper I would need to confirm the online account and begin the deposit, I tried the recommended online banking route.
First hurdle was the daily transfer limit from my current account at a competitor bank. Thinking I could speed things up, I went into the branch. They could do a same day transfer but would charge extra for that – calculating the interest difference I decided it was not worth it. If I did not want to do a daily online transfer in tranches, the only other free option to move my money across the street (literally) was to write a cheque. So early on a Saturday morning, I walked into a branch and stood in line. I heard stories of gardening, advice on how to run a bank, and Friday nights pub crawl before I managed to get to the teller window. After a few minutes of typing, stamping and scanning, I received a deposit receipt and a reality check. Because my cheque was over the daily limit, it would take up to 10 days to clear. The realisation that my initial daily transfer online was the best route, was not a welcome one.
I have a vision of what I am going to have to deal with when I decide I want to move my savings to a better account. And we continue the debate once again: what is the optimum balance point between security or convenience?