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Comedic Banking, 2021 Edition
Sep. 8th, 2021 10:17 pmEvery year I come around to do taxes again, and every year I encounter another surprising way in which one of my American banks flails at basic functionality. Past adventures include Inability To Get Wire Transfer Info Correct Despite My Spelling It Out For Them, ItGWTICDMSIOFT II: Déjà Vu, and Seriously: The Bit You Had Wrong Was Not The Tricksy Address But The Simple 5-Digit Zip Code?
This year, we've so far had the online banking website overload my RAM and crash my browser – two different browsers – and a two-factor authentication code email saying 'We will NEVER ask for this code!' despite only getting the code sent to me because they are literally asking for it.
They're actually not that bad a financial institution for day-to-day banking on their own turf: If I were buying a house, or saving for my kids' college tuition, or whatever else it is normal people do with their banks, the services they offer are competent and comprehensive. They just fall to pieces outside of their comfort zone, especially in the unimaginable circumstance that one of their customers lives abroad.
I would close my account there, except that I need a card with a US address to file my US tax return (despite being officially, legally, an expat) and theirs is the only card in my collection that has a US address (my parents'). Or at least it would, if they had sent me a new card when my last one expired. So I have to chase them up for a replacement, which I can only do by long-distance phone, from 9-5, five hours behind me, or via the chat function, which seems to be staffed by one overworked person on a coffee break ...
This year, we've so far had the online banking website overload my RAM and crash my browser – two different browsers – and a two-factor authentication code email saying 'We will NEVER ask for this code!' despite only getting the code sent to me because they are literally asking for it.
They're actually not that bad a financial institution for day-to-day banking on their own turf: If I were buying a house, or saving for my kids' college tuition, or whatever else it is normal people do with their banks, the services they offer are competent and comprehensive. They just fall to pieces outside of their comfort zone, especially in the unimaginable circumstance that one of their customers lives abroad.
I would close my account there, except that I need a card with a US address to file my US tax return (despite being officially, legally, an expat) and theirs is the only card in my collection that has a US address (my parents'). Or at least it would, if they had sent me a new card when my last one expired. So I have to chase them up for a replacement, which I can only do by long-distance phone, from 9-5, five hours behind me, or via the chat function, which seems to be staffed by one overworked person on a coffee break ...
