Max goes to the bank again

It all started early last month when I wanted to transfer some money from my Czech account to my US account so I could pay my bills back in The America. My bank in The America, which is an investment bank, allows me to transfer money directly into their Czech account in Prague, thus making the transaction simpler and saving me international transfer fees. I had never done it myself before, as my old employer had been paying me directly into that account for visa reasons which I think I have described in an earlier post.

I tried to do the transaction through internet banking, but the system would not accept the account number. I realised straight away that the number I had been given only had 9 digits, whilst Czech account numbers always have 10. I tried adding a zero at the beginning, but I again got the error message. I tried adding a zero at the end – again, the error message. I emailed my bank in The America, asking them to find the missing digit for me. Many emails back and forth and they were no help at all, always insisting that the number they had given me was correct.

Meanwhile, my dad covered my bills for me so there was no hurry because all I had to do was pay back my dad – no strict due dates, no late fees, no interest.

I emailed my Czech bank and they could only tell me that the account number did not exist in the banking system. Finally, just today, I gave in and went into my bank and withdrew cash. I then walked over to the other bank, where my US bank’s account is, in order to physically deposit the money. I filled in the deposit slip and did not say a word to the teller about any earlier problems. He looked puzzled for a minute, and I began to worry, but then he handed me my receipt and it was all done. “By the way,” he said, “you were missing a digit in the account number,” and he showed me where the extra zero belonged – not at the beginning, not at the end, but in the middle.

I enjoyed writing the subsequent email to my bank in The America.