In the era of internet banking, telebanking and ATMs I would have thought the good old bank account book would no longer have any use.
Well, guess what. I was wrong. How did I find out? It’s a rather short story, so here goes.
I have a CIMB bank savings account with about RM100 left, but since CIMB is not my primary banking account, I have not carried out any transaction in it for nearly two years. The RM100 just sits there, doing nothing. Collecting dusts.
Money in, but won’t come out
Two weeks ago I deposited some money using the ATM deposit machine but when I tried to withdraw some yesterday, for I need to make an urgent payment, I was told that my ATM card is not active.
I went to the bank’s branch in Cheras and was told that I need to make a withdrawal at the counter using the bank account book, and within 24 hours my ATM card would be reactivated.
“But I couldn’t find my account book,” I told the lady at the counter. “Can I then make a new one?”
“Yes, you can,” she told me as she punched keys on the keyboard in front of her. A brief moment later, she smiled.
And then came the cruncher
“I’m sorry but this is a Sabah account, you will have to apply for a new book in Sabah,” she said. I told her that it would be quite impossible to do so, “because as you know, Sabah is quite far from here and I won’t be going back there anytime soon.”
She said there was nothing that she could do. “Try to find the book, maybe it is hidden somewhere.”
I went back and search all the nooks and crannies of our small rented home. Of course, the book is nowhere to be found.
Moral of the story
Firstly, don’t lose your bank account book, and secondly, don’t leave your bank account unattended (not making any transactions, that is) for a long period because your account could get suspended and could only be activated by withdrawing money at the counter, bringing along the bank account book.
Of course I lied to the lady at the counter about not going back to Sabah anytime soon. Actually I will be going back to Sabah end of this month during the mid-year school holiday; and I am going to make sure I sort out this problem once and for all.
It’s good that I came to know about this problem just before my trip back. Imagine the expletives coming out of my mouth if I only know about it after I return to KL from my Sabah trip.
Old folks in my village would say muli kampis barait…
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
New account don’t have bank book already nowadays. However, for those old account with bank book. We still need to use it to make any withdrawal.
Now I’m worried because I just found out that I have also misplaced the savings book for my primary banking account; thankfully that account is active as I withdraw money, until my meager salary is finished.