I went into my bank (Barclays) the other day, to ask about making an international wire transfer while I'm in the other country. Can't do it, they say, have to fill in a form in the branch to make wire transfers, unless you have a premier account then your manager can do it for you.
Okay, I said, then I shall see about having a premier account. So they rambled at me about what benefits a premier account provides, how you can phone them up at any hour of the night and they'll, eg. buy your mother flowers for you, or find you a deal on a flight when you can't be bothered, and get you preferential treatment at airports. Then they went to ask one of the premier managers about the specific thing I wanted, the ability to do wire transfers while away, and it turns out they can't actually do that any more.
Just to reiterate:- Bank.
- Will blow your nose for you.
- Will not facilitate the transfer of your money.
The nose-blowing features did sound quite nice, but not £25 a month of nice when they're still not even letting me have access to my money. So now I'm looking at HSBC, who tell me that with them I can do a wire transfer using internet banking. That is all I need from a bank. Sure, I would like them to deal with the snake-charmer agencies for my snake-charming parties on my behalf, but I'd rather they do their job.
[07:56]
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