British Bank Robbing Old Folk

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Diary from England say:

“A high street bank has sparked fury amongst local people in the seaside town of Canford Cliffs, Dorset, by restricting the services of its local branch to wealthy customers only. In the future only customers with £50,000 in savings, a £200,000 or £100,000 mortgage or an annual income of £75,000 will be able to use the bank’s services. All other account holders will have to make do with using the cash machine outside. The only way they will be allowed to use the branch is by paying the princely sum of £20.00 per month for the privilege!”

That area of Britain does have a high population of old folk, as it is close to where my mother lives. She refuses to use cash machines, because she’s heard too many stories of people being robbed after using them (either from having PIN numbers spied on, or robbers laying in wait for those less able to defend themselves to emerge with cash.)

She’s not alone and, as well as the horrible message this “class system” gives out, this really only changes the identity of the robber.

So much fairer is the rule (which is frequently broken when the branch isn’t busy), at my bank in Spain. They ask customers - both rich and poor alike - to use the machine to withdraw amounts up to €600 (around £400). Larger amounts - for one’s security - they will serve at the counter. We pay a fee of €7 (a fiver, give or take) per month.