-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- In article <199507302224.PAA10093@blob.best.net>, jamesd@echeque.com ("James A. Donald") wrote:
Many years ago I obtained a US account by mail from overseas, using cheques made out to me from US sources.
I did this with the bank of America. No big problem. But as time went by, their ability to handle financial events that were out of the ordinary deteriorated spectacularly.
Perhaps this is partly because things tightened up, but it is also that most US banks have developed a monolithic and obstructionist bureaucracy that is incapable of handling any event that is out of the ordinary.
Six years ago, you could walk into a Bank, show them your driver license, and open an account. Today, you need several pieces of ID. Three years ago, you could withdraw money from your own account without having your checkbook on you. Today, they make you pay for a "counter check". One year ago, you could walk into a bank an cash a check drawn onto an account at the very same bank. Today (Coast Federal), they make you pay a $10 check cashing fee. The US banking industry has gone to the dogs. The day a non-US bank offers an account that can be accessed over the net will be the day I close my US accounts. - -- - -- Lucky Green <mailto:shamrock@netcom.com> PGP encrypted mail preferred. - --- [This message has been signed by an auto-signing service. A valid signature means only that it has been received at the address corresponding to the signature and forwarded.] -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 Comment: Gratis auto-signing service iQBFAwUBMBwQDCoZzwIn1bdtAQGqHQF8C1QShMuN0Eq74mMI5rculIym8xjzYV8C mErjtB8tJ7UseKD9bmNY6dpWqBviplMp =aBGi -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----