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Is France's Banque Postale Cutting Its ATM Withdrawal Limit By Up To 50%
There is a curious email floating around (allegedly sourced here), which is supposed to represent a communication from France's La Banque Postale to its clients, notifying that beginning August 1, 2011, the bank will lower the weekly ATM withdrawal limit by anywhere between 33% and 50%. In brief, according to the terms of the of the bank's statement, the top tier of credit card holders, the Visa Premier, will see their weekly withdrawal limit reduced from €3000 to €1,500, while the next two tiers, MasterCard and Bleue Visa, will see their weekly withdrawal allowance lowered from €1,500 to €1,000. Lastly, the lowest tier will see its cash withdrawal drop from €1,000 to €800. Naturally if confirmed, this would not be a good sign as pertains to the bank's current liquidity situation: traditionally cutting the withdrawal cap is an indication of a substantial cash on hand scarcity. We hope some of our French readers can confirm or deny this peculiar development (and whether any other French banks have followed suit) coming from a country that has so far rarely made the "financial woes" headlines.
Below is the statement supposedly sent out to clients:
"A compter du 1er août 2011, de nouveaux
plafonds de retrait sont mis en place sur les distributeurs
automatiques de billets (DAB) de La Banque Postale afin de sécuriser davantage vos retraits.
Cette modification porte pour l'ensemble de la gamme de cartes de paiement * de La Banque Postale:
- Si vous êtes titulaire de la Carte
Visa Premier, vous pourrez retirer jusqu'à 1500€ maximum (au lieu de
3000€ jusqu'au 31/07/2011) sur 7 jours glissants
- Si vous êtes titulaire de la Carte
MasterCard, vous pourrez retirer jusqu'à 1000€ (Au lieu de 1500€
jusqu'au 31/07/2011) maximum sur 7 jours glissants.
- Si vous êtes titulaire de la Carte
Bleue Visa, vous pourrez retirer jusqu'à 1000€ (Au lieu de 1500€
jusqu'au 31/07/2011) maximum sur 7 jours glissants.
- Si vous êtes titulaire de la Carte
Réalys, vous pourrez retirer jusqu'à 800€ (Au lieu de 1000€ jusqu'au
31/07/2011)(3) maximum sur 7 jours glissants".
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Mon dieux! Ce n'est pas le "wealth affect"!
No le whores, anymore. Deflation for the street hookers
HEY TD you got a source for that? LOL ;)
Seriously this may be in anticipation of a bank run due to French bank exposure to Greece trash bonds. In fact I bet that is what it is.
It makes no sense. In case of all types of withdrawals, it would be a sign.
Another corporation cutting down on security costs, nothing more.
In fact, they state in bold text that it is a security measure to protect their client's interest better.
Nothing to see here, please move on.
It is always a good idea to have plenty (say, 2 months worth of expenses) of cash.
This just another reason. Real cash will give you a little bit of time should electronic money go down.
My French sucks.
I think it reads:
Yeah round about.... I think it says somewhere in there "we have to go to Libya and save our French oil outposts"
Hang on, make no mistake - Gordon Brown saved the world. At least, if you were to take his own humble word for it.
Gordon Brown should be in the Tower Of London, preferably awaiting execution.
Not awaiting execution, that would be bureaucratic and costly.
Preferably getting assraped by a horse whilst he waits.
I understand he is a descendant of Catherine the Great...
He clearly, however, did not inherent any of her greatness.
Catherine really liked horses...
That is a horsy statement that any filly would blush to make if she liked being laid by a stallion every day except Sundays; when it'd be double portions. These demanding queens always get what they want but not the poor fillies...who dream of it.
She had a crushed on one, so to speak.
The correct version was: A compter du 1er août 2011, notre machines ont de vacances. On fait de l'armour sans l'argent. C'est bien! La vie est plus belle sans d'argent. On mange des croissants, dans le Moulin Rouge vous avez de plaisir - ohlala, et apres tout le monde boit cafe au lait....
did I miss a cliche?
I think that La Banque Postale is getting scared with the deposits that its receiving, as money runs from the G14 french banks to the other ones after their exposure to Greece becomes public. It is now trying to discourage all these new depositors as its a state bank and managing all this new money is beyond its bureaucratic capabilities. So it back peddles...The opposite of what AIG would have done...but this is France!...
Plausible, same happened in 2009 with some small Swiss banks
Still, caveat emptor...
which ones? source please!
GOP demands Weiner pulls out ! ....on second thought make that resigns
"pun was intended" - GOP
Too punny.
Boehner silent on Weiner scandal
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0611/56434.html
If it were true surely they wouldn't wait till 1st August?
I'm sure this is to protect ATM users from thugs emptying out their accounts.
That would be unpatriotic and you would be hurting your fellow man. (By claiming your personal assets rightfully)
Scary, America is next. DId you hear Obama saying we will help out in Greeces bail out....NICE!
DosZap! Join the fun at my blog. Gmail me at my name!
Remember when Banks used to keep your money FOR you instead of FROM you?
ah...the good ole days:-(
remember when money had backing?
Unfortunately not.
Edit: Actually it IS backed by something. Smiles, promises and air. A lot of hot air.
I'm not sure what the bank's problem would be...the CBs stand ready to lend at 0% in as much as they need to cover deposits.
Deposits are just a legacy bank function; dunno why they even bother with them anymore when SIVs and conduit leverage is their thing now
Perhaps thats an argument for "this is just a rumor."
Remember when they used to pay you interest on your deposits?
Remember when fractionalization was 10:1 not infinity:1?
Tuco
i am deflation hear me roar, in numbers too big to ignore
LOL!
Weiner virus found on currency in France, perhaps?
since when would a bank telegraph a liguidity event this far in advance?
Europe's entire banking system is a house of cards that could completely collapse at any moment. ANY moment.
IMHO those seeking to remove funds from near-zero yielding bank accounts are acting in a prudent manner.
and that will make that euro paper more worthful? LOL...not for long
Actually cash in hand would be worth something considering that electronic 'cash' would be the first to be repudiated (No debit/credit accepted here)
At least until everyone figures out that it too is worthless.
Yes, you will have a little bit of time with actual real cash in your hand.
Prudent diversification would include holding a two months' (or more) of expenses of CA$H!
A "Bank Holiday" of unknown duration could be somewhat inconvenient for many depositors.
Maybe they are telegraphing when the next crunch will occur, sorta like Bernak telegraphing the next QE episode, that will not be called QE, or resemble QE or whatever. Could be code, looks like code to me, any codebreakers in here?
They always tell you what they are going to do before they do it -- it's their masonic, illuminus way: Example from March on CNN: "Debit cards: $50 spending limit coming ?"
http://money.cnn.com/2011/03/10/pf/debit_cards_limit/index.htm
Bank runz bitchez!
Nice. Banks not allowing folk to access their own money in a timely way...that's always good. Probably very bullish.
I tell you, I have to hand it to these criminal syndicate Wall Street analysts. Their view of the field is so unique. In times past, I would never have picked up on how bullish something like bank insolvency really is.
it isn't your own money after you put it in a bank.
It isn't your wealth untill you ve spent it.
Regards
Ozzy
Credit Agricole
Amundi Funds
Will suffer the biggest collapse
SELL ANY FRENCH BOND before its too late...
not as big as the fed will when china pulls the plug
Let them eat croisants!
1500. $
hardly enough
for a baguette
and a cup of coffee...
Like gold and silver, CASH is king but only if its in your possession and NOT in the bank.
+ 1
Nonsense. If it was a liquidity crisis they would not pre-announce a change in policy in August. They are trying to limit theft.
so weird, its like they are expecting an event that could cause a run....
i look fwd to confirmation of this report.
Money velocity is the catalyst to unleashing all this pent up hell...
...looks like the frogs got a leg up with their bank run for crepes.
looks more like a visa issue than a BP issue -- it doesnt mention any other of their cards but visas...
parbleu! http://www.jovanovic.com/blog.htm
on a side note: the guy wrote an interesting book about Blythe Masters.
Sadly it's not been translated yet.
lazy fuckers ;-P
I thought they were going on about a daily limit on ATM withdrawls (Which seems normal), but this is over a 7 day period! WTF! 800€ a week maximum? That seems a bit crazy, considering it also applies to counter cashier withdrawls. Any substantial deposits would take months to take out in cash.
According to the link below, this problem has been on-going since 2009 with Banque Postale. The poor guy needed to withdraw 3300€ for his holiday, but never managed it on time.
http://droit-finances.commentcamarche.net/forum/affich-4200995-banque-postale-probleme-de-retrait
yeah its a crazy low number per week. anyone still with deposits in that bank regardless of a reduction or not is braindead. if you cant withdraw EVERYTHING within 48 hours, you need to find a new bank.
If the French can't go on mandatory and paid 8-12 week holiday, as is customary in most of the Eurozone, there will be blood.
Fuck off slave.
Moi?
I'm no slave.
I have zero debt - as in none - and I have the means to buy just about anything I so desire, though I'd rather stick those select things I absolutely need or absolutely love.
I also get as much vacation as I want.
None of the above depends on any welfare state. I'm free.
What's to prevent them from going to a teller and taking out more? ATM and Visa indicate electronic transactions which suggests a hacking problem more than it indicates liquidity issues.
We We Misure....
Not on my carpet you don't!
Try to withdraw 3000 in cash from your local branch of a TBTF. Go ahead, I dare you. They "prefer" to issue you a cashier's check, for a fee, of course. If you remain adamant on the cash, they will waive the fee. Happened to me at WF last week.
I recently removed $15,000 in cash from a tbtf bank and had no problem.
with a Glock and a ski mask?
Same, took out 9 grand about a week ago during the dipsy dipsy. They smiled and asked me what it was for. I said it was to pay off my remodeler. Don't want any of those SAR's bitchez. Although I think anything over 6 grand is a SAR anyway, fuck um, it aint illegal to spend money.
I do and can. I dont know what bank you use that places limits on your account but mine doesn't.
Cash is limited only by their vault cash. Speak to a manager or close your account and move it if you have any problems with accessing cash.
No problem at 3x's that, or more in Texas.
Too much cash leaving the country for Swiss Banks.
try singapor, HK, dubai or doha it,s safe there as well and much less hassle with regulations. switzerland became a bitch opening a USA client account, many banks refuse to do it.
... and it's gone.
... et il a disparu
Ay, ay, ay. A French bank reducing its operational costs. Nothing more to conclude here.
First, lets get some conformation.
Second; The US has ATM limits of 450$ a day: so ATMs having limits is not new. Changes are interesting but not new.
Third, unless this effects account checks, withdraws or account closeings its fine, not good but fine.
The question is why would banks want deposit/check accounts spread over more banks? Or why do banks believe that would be helpful?
As long as someone can walk in and close their account or write a check, make a bank wire or conduct other business. Nothing changes. Once you limit capital movements then its game on.
So far it seems that France may make it more difficult but not limit capital.
If you want cash use a casher not an ATM.
Its somthing to keep an eye on but its not game changing yet.
Ditto.
The only limit is one that I set for my account in case the card is stolen (or I get mugged at the ATM), and I can reset it by going online to my account.
Max talks to Pierre Jovanovic, author of Blythe Masters, about credit default swaps, the Queen of commodities and Marie Antoinette.
http://mikephilbin.blogspot.com/2011/02/max-keiser-blythe-masters-food-w...
The English-language version of Pierre Jovanovic's book BLYTHE MASTERS is out in June 2011.
ah nice! merci
You're welcome.
And the return : http://www.ubest1.com/?page=video/29436#null
come on!!! bernanke wouldve given them their allowance money for taking out the garbage and cleaning their room by now!! All hail the discount window!!!!
I understand frustrations with banks i personaly have one small account that the bank refuses to close because they can fine me 10$ a month on it.
This is no way to win customers or clients. This is a way to really.... have someone travel 1000miles to close such an account in the flesh with a legal team or a team with flamethrowers. I haven't decided yet. Both will cost about the same 1000x the value of the account. But somethings are worth the cost.
Good luck to those with France Banque Postale accounts. I would close my account or hire those with flamethrowers to do so.
As I see it restriction is for creditcard holders (they use the card for payments even if there is debt on the card) and not for debitcard holders who can not get ATM cash if they don't have money in the bank.
Maybe people are getting cash while getting in debt what is not a good sign
On the other hand banks also can discourage you saving some money as it happened to my bussines savings account (ING) without fixed percentages but at this time. The change is since 2 months;
1.6 % on savings up to €5,000
1.5 % on savings from €5,000 to 10,000
1.4 % on savings above €10,000
The other 3 types of accounts I could choose were even worse. I dislike ING for some years now but begin of this year I received a customer mailing by post that had also a small flyer included with some new savings-account rules. The last sentence translated; "If you have a problem with these new conditions you have the choice to discontinue the account whithout extra costs" Suck it or beat it
It makes decisions easy. Interest is lower than real inflation and their lack of cash is a problem that they have created. Let's see how they can do without mine and others'
I can do without the 1.4% and some of my suppliers give 5% discount when getting paid in cash. I've got a feeling that many more are aware of this development. It is still fiat money but it rules out business without credit and it also rules out bills that not get paid for 2 to 6 months.
Cash payments are better but the banks do not like this because it is draining reserves. They can not cope with a development like this. When this is really happening there will be a point when they have to freeze the credit and debit. The regulations have been tightened. Cash, as in fiat money in your wallet, is not expanding in the economy so it will change hands again and again and protect it from wear because they do not want to recycle it for new bills. Cash is rare. By that time the economic system will be collapsing and if you hold some cash it is the time to buy shelter.
Next step is an alternative market of some fiat cash money changing hands but on a time table it will get more in the direction of barter of goods or goods being priced in precious metals.
My small community bank is ok. The women at the window are nice enough and more helpful then at many banks. The biggest problems involve the requirements of other businesses.
Bank wires take a few hours to get right. Its time i have to personaly deal with. Even in a day of faxs. Which the bank does even if i personaly need to show up to sign for. The bank can just fax.
Anyway its just an other added level of stupid and time.
If i could just sign and fax the paper work to the bank or even better by pass the bank and just do commerce with the other business that would be logical and fun, fast and save 2hours of a day.
Banks are there to block and charge toll. Worthless maybe if banks just charged a tax and got out of the way that would at least save time and energy.
Banks act like governments without representation.
Good luck, we are on the same team.
If i could conduct business in gold with proper holdings and trusted, trustees that would be faster then with a bank. Efficent business is better business.
Imagine both sides know they will be paid without worry of transfers. Fast, efficient and effective.
A trading house is needed with enough gold to meet trading needs. But at least you would get your weight in gold the same day. Forklifts are faster then many think. If they know what they are doing.
Best of luck to us all.
The cost of a forklift can often be cheaper than the crazy fees banks try to stiff you with on wires. I'm so glad I don't bank with a bank. Only small credit unions and only for a minimal amount. Staying entirely out of the banking system is ideal, but unfortunately I still have to pay the convoluted taxes in fiat.
MrTrader;
Ay, ay, ay. A French bank reducing its operational costs. Nothing more to conclude here.
And in the run contracting on cash flow and restricting world-wide operating creditcard companies? It must just be collateral damage!
It's true
http://i.imgur.com/1ndnQ.png
Wanted to tell ZH about it but Jovanovic beat me to it.
I first got the message over the weekend when i logged into my accounts and saw the warning.
Yes i have an account & card with them. :-/
Pissed off is the least i can say. Too bad because before they were the best ahem, excuse me french, the least worst of them all. State backing, 10s of millions of customer and a reputation for somewhat bearish market exposition. AND they don't charge for withdrawals anywhere in europe which is fundamental for me.
This is obviously going to make me close my account asap. Luckily i've already converted most of it to the Real Deal.
Tyler,
Iam both french and a Banque Postale client. The limit down is true I received the same email this week. However 2 things 2 consider:
1- This put the limit at par with other banks in France, in fact I moved from BNP to BP in 2008 mainly due to BNP pushing the limit down to these levels guess why...
2- The Banque Postale is state owned... other reason why I became one of their delighted customer back in Hanky "We are going to die moment".
My 2 cents
vvvvv
This isn't what you think it is. Most French banks limit ATM withdrawals, and often also limit your monthly purchases. It is the most irritating thing on the planet, right after having underwear woven out of 100% hornet stingers.
The French division of ING limits are 300 euro/week ATM and 3000 euro/month purchases per card. You can usually increase your amount by calling the bank or going into a branch.
Nothing is more frustrating than being locked out of your own account DESPITE HAVING THE MONEY THERE! Additionally, Europe has strict laws limiting cash transactions (supposedly to prevent money laundering -- ha!) so you're double screwed.
I watched the run on IndyMac and that there bank in England and it was NOT a pretty sight ...
IN the age of using the "War on Drugs" and "War on Terror" as the boogeyman for all types of Fascist policies, it is still amazing to me that 10 years after the introduction of the Euro currency that the EU still allows the printing of 500 Euro denomination paper notes.
any bank knows in the current climate that news like this is dangerous .... full stop... the banking world teetering on the edge of a cliff a little move like this has far reaching consequences... It sound a bit like child baby banker scream..."give me what i want or else this will get ugly" ...
well there you go ...bitcoins, silver and gold .....the only way to fly ... they will never stop until we vote with our feet and make them redundant....
That doesn't seem to be the worse withdrawal limit, here some SGEN related. According to this post, from Kevin*: http://droit-finances.commentcamarche.net/forum/affich-3884549-plafond-c...
Modular Ceiling
Monthly capacity payment: 100.00 EUR
Aggregated weekly withdrawal limit: 10.00 EUR
Which
Weekly withdrawal limit banks France: 10.00 EUR
Daily withdrawal limit Societe Generale and abroad: EUR 10.00
*Kevin, 12 ans, doit certainement être plié de rire 80 XD LOL PTDR (réf. Guignols de l'Info).
Non Tyler il n'y a pas de problèmes en France; seulement des grandes gueules. /Sarcasm, indeed.
a bit late, but for the record...
a) people in France don't use much cash. For more than around 10-20€, people will pay using a payment card (but credit cards are very rare). Sorry for the cliché, but cash is mostly for baguette, cigarettes, and the coffee machine. 300€ cash a week is a lot, and shouldn't be a problem for the usually lower or middle class clients of Banque Postale
b) in terms of credit worthiness, la Banque Postale used to have around 40 billions in deposits in current accounts, and ca 25 billions loans to customer. Not exactly an hyper-leveraged bank...
c) however there was a rumor (a bloomberg terminal screenshot) that it (LBPAM) is the main holder of spanish sovereign debt. I don't have any bloomberg terminal to confirm this, though...