In Austria you are getting used to banks which do everything to accustom their customers to the electronic funds transfer via the internet. It seems that Australian banks are not quite yet at this point.

Take for example the National Australia Bank when we first opened our bank account. We had to ask ourselves if internet banking is possible. It is possible and we were happy. We were used to the Austrian internet banking and we thought that there couldn’t be many differences. It was our second day after our arrival in Perth, so we hadn’t faced any Australian pecularities yet.

This however changed pretty soon, when I tried to transfer money from my account the very first time. Because I was not permitted to do so. I was somehow speechless, because for which other purpose I need an electronic funds transfer system, if I am not allowed to transfer money?

So I called the bank hotline. Of course they asked me for my account number. However the account number is not printed on the bankcard. Guess what - for safety reasons! I hung-up the telephone, searched my bank documents for the account number and called again. The customer consultant told me that I have to go to my bank branch and fill out a form in order to be entitled to transfer funds. Why I wasn’t made to sign this form when I opened the account is something beyond my understanding.

Did I already mention that I have still to go to the bank when I want to transfer money internationally?

In Australia cheques are still very common. However since in Austria cheques had not been popular even before my money transfering time, I don’t like cheques very much. And I can’t think of any reason why we should write a cheque anyway.