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Gav's trading blog - Perseverance, Consistency, Confidence

My experience with banks

by Gav

I am having some problems with the banking system in Australia. Really, this is the time, I really miss Singapore. The efficiency and the processing speed in Singapore is kinda top notch.I am not saying there is any problem with the banks here, maybe, I just need some time to adapt to the way they work.

When I first arrived in Australia, I did a online bank transfer between two accounts. Both are from the same local Australian bank. This type of transfer, in Singapore, the fund will be available immediately. I was expecting the same. The story is, I had no enough fund to pay for my new furniture due to the delay of this transfer. Yes, it took more than 1 working day to make the transfer. Unbelievable. So, I have to call up the delivery department, requested to delay the delivery. What a embarrassing experience.

Next, I went to apply for credit card. I wrote about this before. The bank sent me a letter recently , informing me the card is 'Ready for Collection'. Great. I brought my income statements, contracts etc to the collection point (Wait, they don't send the card to you via mail, due to 'security reason'?!?!, you have to move your ass to their office to collect), which was few streets away from my workplace. Now what? The customer service officer couldn't understand my payslip, and Australian workplace agreement. I wasted my 30 minutes sitting there. You know the result. 'We need 2-3 working days to verify, I need to fax these to senior officer to verify again, you may give me a call 2 to 3 days later to check the status'.

Damn.Enough.

Seriously, I miss Singapore at this point of time. I stayed in a society with high efficiency for the past 8 years, I am really having a tough time to get used of the slowness here.

You want to know more? I have similar experience in applying home phone, broadband access and arranging courier service.

I am not complaining. Ok, I am, maybe. I know that I need some time to get used of the working style here.

For the banking service, Thumbs up, Singapore. Well, though I was not a million-dollar customer to them, but they served me like a customer, not asking me to follow 'their' rule.

Comments

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  1. Eyal
    I know what you mean, Gav. I had similar experiences. Not much you can do about that, take it as part of the experience, every place will have it's pluses and minuses. btw Hong Kong is even faster and more efficient than Singapore and NZ is probably slower than Aus so you can imagine how frustrating it can be :-) Ken - it is the same here in Sg for interbank transfers. 2-3 days depending on when in the day you put the order through. The money sits in interbank accounts accruing interest for the relevant company handling the transfer (forgot its name at the moment).
  2. Eyal
    Lol yeah I see ppl here pressing that button, usually frenetically multiple times, as if it's going to make the lift work faster :-)
  3. Eyal
    I know what you mean, Gav. I had similar experiences. Not much you can do about that, take it as part of the experience, every place will have it's pluses and minuses. btw Hong Kong is even faster and more efficient than Singapore and NZ is probably slower than Aus so you can imagine how frustrating it can be :-) Ken - it is the same here in Sg for interbank transfers. 2-3 days depending on when in the day you put the order through. The money sits in interbank accounts accruing interest for the relevant company handling the transfer (forgot its name at the moment).
  4. Eyal
    Lol yeah I see ppl here pressing that button, usually frenetically multiple times, as if it's going to make the lift work faster :-)
  5. Ken
    be glad you didn't move to UK - online fund transfer is even worse, they take the money out of one account and it doesn't "appear" in the other account till 3-5 working days... I'm still trying to figure out what happens to the money during that time.
  6. Ken
    be glad you didn't move to UK - online fund transfer is even worse, they take the money out of one account and it doesn't "appear" in the other account till 3-5 working days... I'm still trying to figure out what happens to the money during that time.
  7. Gav
    Ken, well, I am fine with the delay of interbank fund transfer. Some clearing process might be taken place, so I don't expect the fund to be available immediately. But, transfer within the same bank? Why it takes so long to process? Man, I just don't get it. @Eyal: Yep, Not much I can do. I will just make myself to become a slower person now. Btw, do you notice in Singapore, ppl tend to press the 'close' button in elevator as soon as the door is open. We just can't wait for the door to close, though we know it is automatic. But in Melbourne, nobody cares about that small button, we will .....just WAIT...
  8. Gav
    Ken, well, I am fine with the delay of interbank fund transfer. Some clearing process might be taken place, so I don't expect the fund to be available immediately. But, transfer within the same bank? Why it takes so long to process? Man, I just don't get it. @Eyal: Yep, Not much I can do. I will just make myself to become a slower person now. Btw, do you notice in Singapore, ppl tend to press the 'close' button in elevator as soon as the door is open. We just can't wait for the door to close, though we know it is automatic. But in Melbourne, nobody cares about that small button, we will .....just WAIT...
  9. Gav
    @Eyal: LOL...
  10. Gav
    @Eyal: LOL...

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