You couldn't make this up!
An Aussie bloke and his wife embarked on a 130km trip to their nearest Bankwest branch to get some cash-out, only to be denied a $300 withdrawal!
Mr Reid explained his wife entered the bank soon after it opened at 9.30am on January 24 and was the third customer of the day.
He added he was 'absolutely gobsmacked' when she returned without the money, claiming the teller told his wife she was unable to withdraw cash and instructed her to visit the post office to make the withdrawal.
'I said, 'if you can't get money out of a bank you may as well close' and she [the teller] said, "Well, we haven't been told we're going to close, but I guess it won't be long before that happens, it's what banks are doing now."
Mr Jones added the bank branch has also refused cash deposits, which has proven difficult for local businesses.
'The cafes, the roadhouses, the pubs... you can't deposit, they tell you to go and deposit at the post office, and sometimes it's not even open,' Mr Jones said.
Locals fear Bankwest might be considering the complete closure of the branch, given the ongoing trend of major banks shutting down hundreds of regional branches.
In a statement, a Bankwest spokesperson said it did not have a policy limiting the number of customers able to withdraw cash from a branch.
They said withdrawal limits were set at $3,000 per day per customer. Higher values require 48 hours' notice to ensure the bank has sufficient cash for the withdrawal.
Nearly 800 bank branches have closed in regional and rural Australia since June 2017, according to data from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority.
Meanwhile, big banks continue to limit access to physical money, with #NAB, #ANZ and #commbank opening 'cashless' branches.
It's clear that the banks 'own' your money now. Even though you worked hard to create it, the banks control your access to it. The tap and pay society will come to regret their choice to not use cash. But by then, it will be far too late!
#cashlesssociety #cbdcs #cbdc #accessdenied
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