This morning at eight I went to the car service. The Renault Clio will have it's an annual test and I picked up mine. I saved to buy a car and thought I could pay for it. Credit cards are not accepted but I have my debit card. Here we go.
It was the same misery as two years ago.
I could not pay for the car! I paid what was allowed (the daily maximum amount) and for the rest... I could watch at the amount I have saved. Annoying, yes that's what I call it annoying. My money goes to a bank who earns money with it and I am not allowed to use it when I need it! Why? Because I can be robbed.
The bank, the government, at the same hand decides to raise the amount if it comes to "contact-free payments". A payment is warned. There are tools that can easily steal the contact-free payment amount from your debit card. You only need to stay behind someone. The bank makes scams easier. € 50,- changed into € 100,-.
Should I be happy with that decision? I am not and that's the reason I switched this option off. If I am not allowed to decide myself which amount I find safe enough to be robbed by it's a big NO for me, contact-free paying therefor is a big no.
The car seller told the banking apps aren't safe either.
They are good for a scam. A customer told him he received an email from his son. The son asked him to transfer 400 euros so he could buy a phone. The father wasn't that stupid and called him. "I didn't send you an email, I don't need a new phone", the perplexed son said. Right after the call the customer received the next email: Did you already send the 400 euro?
It's clear this is a scam and no fun and telebanking is not safe. You easily get hacked and scammed and no bank will help you if you are so stupid to believe each message you receive or text you read.
Not that long ago I received a text my bank account would be blocked for my safety.
I should contact the bank at once. At once wasn't possible for me because I read the text three days later. Thanks to my slow internet connection I wasn't able to read/click on the link and because I discussed it with my children the scam was clear and I ignored it further on. The only thing I did was writing to the bank. Of course, they didn't respond. Customer service is rare these days. You don't pay them to work for you but to do the job yourself, work others did for you and the bank can no longer afford to pay for. Does it make sense?
I decided to go back home and check all the banking aspects or simply transfer the needed amount to my children and pay with their debit cards.
Good, there are four debit cards that we can use if we are together. The car seller told me I better take the car because it's raining and pay the rest later. I doubt I will remember all the changes and rules if I need a higher amount next time but I count on the fact cash payments still exist and that's why I will visit the ATM now and in the next days, give up on saving at the bank and take my money back.
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Banking is just annoying and troublesome these days. Unfortunately many countries set limits for cash transactions, making it hard to stay away from them. But don't think anything you have with a bank is yours. It belongs to the government; you are allowed to use it as long as you do as they say - but if you don't, you may find your bank assets frozen. They decide, not you. Who owns it then?