Returning to paper statements & cash

[Captain_Sam]

One little story about having to use cash:

I am currently living in Peru. I rarely ever have to use cash here.
The other day I had to extend my visa. I found the process very interesting. Apparently I would have had to go to the bank even if I were filing my paperwork in person at the migration office.

I had to go to the national bank and purchase a receipt with cash for the amount of the extension fee. Then I came home, and logged onto the migration website and fill out my request. On the last page of the application I had to fill in some numbers from the receipt.

I got my visa extension, but for someone who is so used to just commanding LastPass to fill in my credit card info, it was a unique cultural experience. I did get an impromptu language lesson while waiting in line at the bank.

[nickapos]

I have been using the two account approach for years and it has served me well. I have been through several bank outages without ever worry. Banks hold extensive records and backups as mandated by their regulators so they eventually recover.

I am originally from Greece but work in UK so now have several bank accounts and in different currencies. This means that it is extremely difficult for someone to target all the banks I have accounts in, in order to cause me any inconvenience.

These days I am rarely using cash.