Blow the bank

I hate banks. No, this is not a literary hyperbole. I really do hate banks. They are the most customer unfriendly type of business I have ever come across. They lure you in with nice offers and wide smiles but as soon as they have your business the masks come off and the smiles are replaced by passive 'sorry-but-I-can't-help-you' faces at best and evil smirks at worst.

I have easily spent a year of my life arguing with my Dutch bank. I have been given the run-around so many times I must have talked to every single employee. The only reason I still bank there is the introduction of online banking. Taking out the people factor has in this case been a blessing. No more arbitrary decisions where things can be done one day but not the next. I control my money when I want, how I want.

London may be the financial capital of Europe but, if anything, my banking experience here is even worse. The whole system is archaic. Since I did not have a job this year I have had to settle for opening a student account. As a student you are the lowest of the lowliest. You're not likely to have any money to spend and for that reason banks despise you. Credit? Ha, you must be joking. Service? Why on Earth? Online banking? Funny. Seriously, I can not do anything with my account without physically going to my bank branch; not even change my address. Everything takes forms, people and mostly...time.

All I wanted to do today was pay my rent and deposit. The money had to go from my UK account to another UK account with a different bank. Obviously I had to go to the bank. My annoyance at this was only surpassed by stunned disbelief when I found out they wanted to charge me 23 pounds for this simple transaction! The only way to do this free of charge was to withdraw the money from my account and walk 5 minutes to a branch of this other bank and deposit it again. They've gone mad. From now on I just might have to start keeping my money in a shoebox under the bed again.