a tale of two banks
the journal of Michael Werneburg
twenty-seven years and one million words
In light of my recent comparison of Japanese airlines, I thought I'd mention an experience with two banks.
This is the process I've always had to go through to do a wire transfer with Citibank.
1) go to my branch
- not the website (except for registered payees)
- not the branch near my home
- my branch in the city centre, 09:00 - 15:00
2) get the assistance of one of the staff to use an ATM
If I wanted to re-use the destination, I had to either:
a) go through some paperwork with a different clerk to register the payee, and wait until Citi managed to get it done (minimum of two weeks)
or
b) return to the ATM and use a cardboard card that was issued at the ATM
Not what you'd call user-friendly.
Here's the process with Shinsei:
1) log in to their website, do the transfer, and un-click 'yes register this payee' only if I didn't want it remembered
Done.
Mind you, the Shinsei login in process is by far the most secure I've ever known, utilizing a one-time pad that they sent me in the mail in addition to a PIN and password typed by on-screen keyboards with randomized letter/number placement. But I only log in once every month or two and quite frankly it's a trivial nuisance compared with the lost time of a 90-minute round trip to my Citibank branch. And for what it's worth, a one-time pad and some terrorizing keyboard entry stuff is frankly good security.
Meanwhile, I'm once again left wondering, what's the story Citibank? Why so dumb about wire transfers in a country that uses wire transfers instead of cheques?