Well, outrage in Queensland tonight after a local woman rocked up to her bank to withdraw cash, only to be told they didn't have any. Taryn Compton wanted to grab some notes to pay a tradie, but when she got to the ANZ ATM, she realised she'd forgotten her FPOS card when she asked the teller for the money instead. She was told the bank doesn't carry cash.
And Taryn Compton's here to tell us all about her terrible banking experience. Taryn, what did you think when you walked into a bank only to be told they don't have cash?
I thought it was absolutely crazy. I thought she must have misheard what I wanted, if I'm honest. How can you go to a bank and not be able to get your own money out?
Taryn, that's what I'm confused about. So what's in the bank if there's no cash? If you open up the safe, what's in there? How did they explain it to you?
They just said, I'm so sorry, we can't help you. There's nothing we can do. We don't have cash here.
So did you think maybe that was a temporary situation, that maybe they were going to get some cash tomorrow?
No, she actually said, we don't carry cash anymore. We can't help you.
She did say, if you're desperate for it today, you can transfer it to another bank and try and get it out there, but we can't help you.
Was she in on how absurd this was? Like did she get it was like you were walking into KFC and they said, sorry, we don't do chicken?
No, she wasn't. She was just, I'm really sorry, we can't help you. We just don't have money here anymore.
Taryn, do you think that banks should carry money, as in cash?
They have got my money in their banking system. I should be able to access it, right?
Have you heard anyone else have this similar experience, Taryn, or is this the first time that you've come across this?
This is the first time I have come across it myself, but my social media is blowing up with lots of people with the same experience.
What's the vibe of those people, Taryn? I'm guessing they're not thrilled that they can't access their own cash money.
Definitely not thrilled. And people are saying, where is it? Like, you have got my hard-earned cash. Where is it? I want it.
And when the answer that you get is, I just don't have it, it really does get you thinking about our whole banking system.
Taryn, you should have sent the lady at the bank to an ATM to get money out to give to you.
I didn't think of that at the time.
What did you do? I transferred it out of that bank into another bank and managed to get it out.
Why are they all laughing?
This is not just happening in Australia. I’ve seen reports from the UK and Canada where people are refused access to their cash when the bankster thinks it’s too much for their own good. In other places, like Ireland, they’re shutting down the banks all over the place.
Further reading:
Australian Banks and Cash