I had a lot of trouble in writing a cheque payable to the share registrar. I had to issue 4 separate cheques and mail them to the registrar. They were caused by minor mistakes on my part, but the banking system and the share registrar refused to be flexible.
The mistakes were:
Cheque 1: I write 15 cents in the "words" section instead of 50 cents.
Cheque 2: I write Lim + Associates intead of Lim Associates
Cheque 3: I overwrite the month 09 over 07
The amount of the cheque was only $270.50.
For these minor mistakes, the front line staff refused to accept the cheque or to call me to correct the mistake over the telephone. They were very firm in rejecting the cheque and asked to send a new cheque to replace it.
Nowadays, people can transact millions of dollars by a telephone call. Yet, our archaic banking practices refused to accept a minor mistake of less than $1 on a cheque. They act inflexibly, and disregard the expense and trouble to their customer.
If I find a bank that is willing to be flexible, they can get my business.
Despite being a developed country, businesses/individuals are still practicing archaic payment procedures. Everyday at the workplace, there are many local businesses that chooses to write cheques than to GIRO their payment over. You can't blame them as the banks indirect promotes it, as cheque processing is free whilst GIRO is chargeable.
ReplyDeleteInstead of blaming the system, dont you see your own mistakes too?
ReplyDeleteI guess the mistake in cheque 2 should be acceptable, but the mistakes in cheques 1 & 3 shouldnt have been made.
If everyone has the same views as you, how are banks going to ensure security of the cheque transaction system?