Today we were at the bank - again. Here is our brief history of banking:
1. We open a bank account and receive instructions about accessing our account online.
2. We attempt to access our account online. It works! Of course it's all in Hebrew, but we figure out with some help.
3. We return to the bank to deposit dollars into our account - we are charged a fee for this.
4. We attempt to go online and change dollars to shekel. We fail.
5. We return to the bank for help - oh, you sillies, they say, just because you gave us cash US dollars doesn't mean we automatically let you access that - you have to wait 3 days. We leave.
6. The nice bank lady calls us and says, Oh since you wanted so much to transfer your dollars to shekel, I did it for you even though you can't do it yet. Hmmmm we think, we actually didn't want to transfer ALL of those dollars but the lady was so nice we said thank you.
7. We go to pick up our credit cards and checks (this took almost 2 weeks)
8. We try to use our ATM card right outside the bank and the ATM machine eats our card.
9. Another nice lady in the bank yanks the card out of the mouth of the ATM after a bit of a struggle.
10. We fix the ATM card problem.
11. We try to transfer dollars from our US bank account to our Israeli one. Failure even though we have all of the necessary codes.
12. Leezy gives us a work around for the transfer and we do it and it works!
13. A week later (see, we know now that we have to wait) we try to transfer dollars to shekel. We fail.
14. Which brings us to today - we return to the bank and our failure stumps even the nice bank lady.
She says she'll keep trying and call us with an answer.
15. She calls us! the answer? You can't transfer money on a Sunday. Whoa.
And as to the title of this blog - here's another Israel moment that I loved - the totally nonreligious bank lady was asked by a customer how she was and she answered, "Baruch Hashem."
Somehow that made me feel great.
1. We open a bank account and receive instructions about accessing our account online.
2. We attempt to access our account online. It works! Of course it's all in Hebrew, but we figure out with some help.
3. We return to the bank to deposit dollars into our account - we are charged a fee for this.
4. We attempt to go online and change dollars to shekel. We fail.
5. We return to the bank for help - oh, you sillies, they say, just because you gave us cash US dollars doesn't mean we automatically let you access that - you have to wait 3 days. We leave.
6. The nice bank lady calls us and says, Oh since you wanted so much to transfer your dollars to shekel, I did it for you even though you can't do it yet. Hmmmm we think, we actually didn't want to transfer ALL of those dollars but the lady was so nice we said thank you.
7. We go to pick up our credit cards and checks (this took almost 2 weeks)
8. We try to use our ATM card right outside the bank and the ATM machine eats our card.
9. Another nice lady in the bank yanks the card out of the mouth of the ATM after a bit of a struggle.
10. We fix the ATM card problem.
11. We try to transfer dollars from our US bank account to our Israeli one. Failure even though we have all of the necessary codes.
12. Leezy gives us a work around for the transfer and we do it and it works!
13. A week later (see, we know now that we have to wait) we try to transfer dollars to shekel. We fail.
14. Which brings us to today - we return to the bank and our failure stumps even the nice bank lady.
She says she'll keep trying and call us with an answer.
15. She calls us! the answer? You can't transfer money on a Sunday. Whoa.
And as to the title of this blog - here's another Israel moment that I loved - the totally nonreligious bank lady was asked by a customer how she was and she answered, "Baruch Hashem."
Somehow that made me feel great.
When I opened my account my bank lady told me to change my American $ at a regular money changer and then deposit the shekels into my account. No fee :)
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Call 054 302 7726 and ask for Jonathan Bell or email Israel@currenciesdirect.com