November 2, 2010
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Bank-omat
Hmm, so last time I said how wonderful the bank account is. It still is, but I have just discovered something I *can’t* do, which is really rather annoying…
So far I’ve successfully:
- taken cash out of the hole in the wall
- paid by debit card (here: Bancomat) in the supermarket
- verified that my salary will be paid in monthly by direct transfer.That’s all great.
BUT.I just went to buy some books online from Amazon, and I went to pay, and then realised that my “debit card”, my Bancomat card, has one 6 digit number on it and my name and that’s IT. I.e. There’s no start date, expiry date, issue number, security code etc. That makes it totally useless online. How annoying! I don’t know whether there’s another type of card I need to apply for or something. It seems totally bizarre to have a Bancomat card that can only be used in person, but perhaps it’s just because online shopping is only just starting to take off in Italy…
Very annoying though as I had to use my Nationwide debit card, but my account has very limited funds in now. I’ve got a Nationwide account, a Natwest account and a Natwest credit card, and an ING savings account with rapidly diminishing funds. I *can* use any of the cards to pay, but the accounts have no money going into them and no chance of replenishing what I take out, so it’s really a very bad idea to use them at all (I already have to use them while I’m at home to get £s). It was going to be so easy having Italian salary and taking cash out of that account and only making payments with it… because to transfer money from my Italian account to my ING savings or anywhere else would cost more again too, and it’s just not worth it with the exchange rate. Grrrr!
Still, all in all it’s still much better to have it, I just don’t really get how it’s possible that the card can’t be used online! I’ll have to ask my colleague whether she has ever tried to and what she does…
In other news… new housemate (number 2) has just moved in today. It’s already quite different around here – hopefully won’t take long to get used to it!!
