It's my money -- gimme it!
The other day, I needed to move some money around to cover a check (if you're curious, it was a check for the security deposit and some pro-rated rent on an apartment in Providence, Rhode Island -- yes, it's official: Kafalas.com and its principals are relocating to Providence), so I logged into my bank's Web site and tried to find the "Transfer Funds" choice. I wanted to move some money into my checking account from a CD I have at the same bank.
Well, there is a "Transfer Funds" link on the bank's Web site, but when you go there, you find that it just lets you set up a transfer from an account outside that bank -- or, possibly, from another checking or savings account you might have at the same bank.
That was no good -- I don't have another checking or savings account; I just have the CD. And there's no way to pull money out of the CD and put it in your checking account on the site.
So I tried it by phone. Naturally, this was Sunday afternoon -- but these days, it's a 24/7 world, and I thought it was not unreasonable to expect that I could get customer support, possibly from Bangalore, on a Sunday.
No dice -- although they did have someone on the phone, they couldn't do anything with my CD. Call back after 7:00 a.m. on Monday, they said, for that. Well, how about a cash advance on my credit card, I asked. Sorry, can't help you, they said. You'll have to call your credit-card issuer.
So I tried that. My Visa card has 24-hour customer service, and given my bank routing number, they said sure, they'd take a cash advance on the card and stick it in my checking account -- in 3-5 business days. What's that about, I asked. That's how long it takes, they told me. That's not good enough, I replied, because I've already written this check and need to get some money into my checking account ASAP, so it won't bounce. Sorry, can't help you, they told me, but you can go to an ATM with the card, take out a cash advance, then deposit it in the bank. An option, but a clumsy one, in my opinion, so I didn't want to do that.
So I went to the bank (in the big 25-story bank building in downtown Providence, reportedly the model for the building that Superman "leaps in a single bound" in the original comics) first thing Monday morning and was able to make the transfer the old-fashioned way: by sitting down with one of their customer service staffers and filling out a couple of forms.
But I wondered why it was not possible to make the transaction on-line or by phone. Everything's electronic and instant these days... isn't it? Why couldn't I transfer money from the CD (incurring a small penalty) on the Web site? And why couldn't I take a cash advance on my credit card and have it show up immediately, instead of in 3-5 business days?
I think it's that financial institutions have become so paranoid about identity theft (admittedly a huge problem these days) that the default setting is "Sorry, can't help you" instead of "Right away, sir." Even though there was no evidence, in this case, that I was not who I said I was, my bank and credit-card issuer have both instituted policies under which it is not possible to get your money instantly, despite the technology that should make it not just possible, but easy.
I'm not sure what I think about this. On the one hand, I was really frustrated on Sunday, when I couldn't get at my own money to put it in my checking account (although my bank will cover overdrafts up to a certain amount, because of that CD I have on deposit -- so even if I hadn't been able to move the money at all, the check would not have bounced). But at the same time, I can see the merits of building some delay into the system -- so that if it had been an identity thief instead of the real me, on the Web and phone last Sunday, they wouldn't have been able to clean me out.
Urb's Blog
Well, there is a "Transfer Funds" link on the bank's Web site, but when you go there, you find that it just lets you set up a transfer from an account outside that bank -- or, possibly, from another checking or savings account you might have at the same bank.
That was no good -- I don't have another checking or savings account; I just have the CD. And there's no way to pull money out of the CD and put it in your checking account on the site.
So I tried it by phone. Naturally, this was Sunday afternoon -- but these days, it's a 24/7 world, and I thought it was not unreasonable to expect that I could get customer support, possibly from Bangalore, on a Sunday.
No dice -- although they did have someone on the phone, they couldn't do anything with my CD. Call back after 7:00 a.m. on Monday, they said, for that. Well, how about a cash advance on my credit card, I asked. Sorry, can't help you, they said. You'll have to call your credit-card issuer.
So I tried that. My Visa card has 24-hour customer service, and given my bank routing number, they said sure, they'd take a cash advance on the card and stick it in my checking account -- in 3-5 business days. What's that about, I asked. That's how long it takes, they told me. That's not good enough, I replied, because I've already written this check and need to get some money into my checking account ASAP, so it won't bounce. Sorry, can't help you, they told me, but you can go to an ATM with the card, take out a cash advance, then deposit it in the bank. An option, but a clumsy one, in my opinion, so I didn't want to do that.
So I went to the bank (in the big 25-story bank building in downtown Providence, reportedly the model for the building that Superman "leaps in a single bound" in the original comics) first thing Monday morning and was able to make the transfer the old-fashioned way: by sitting down with one of their customer service staffers and filling out a couple of forms.
But I wondered why it was not possible to make the transaction on-line or by phone. Everything's electronic and instant these days... isn't it? Why couldn't I transfer money from the CD (incurring a small penalty) on the Web site? And why couldn't I take a cash advance on my credit card and have it show up immediately, instead of in 3-5 business days?
I think it's that financial institutions have become so paranoid about identity theft (admittedly a huge problem these days) that the default setting is "Sorry, can't help you" instead of "Right away, sir." Even though there was no evidence, in this case, that I was not who I said I was, my bank and credit-card issuer have both instituted policies under which it is not possible to get your money instantly, despite the technology that should make it not just possible, but easy.
I'm not sure what I think about this. On the one hand, I was really frustrated on Sunday, when I couldn't get at my own money to put it in my checking account (although my bank will cover overdrafts up to a certain amount, because of that CD I have on deposit -- so even if I hadn't been able to move the money at all, the check would not have bounced). But at the same time, I can see the merits of building some delay into the system -- so that if it had been an identity thief instead of the real me, on the Web and phone last Sunday, they wouldn't have been able to clean me out.
Urb's Blog
posted by Urbie at 3:56 PM
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