Mo' Bankin' Blues

I took some time out of my day today to walk down to the bank and setup a bank account. After all, I need a bank account to pay my landlord, my utility bills and just about everything else.

To setup what they call a "Current Account" over here, you need only two pieces of identification. First is a photo ID - no problem, passport has that covered. The second thing is a utility bill addressed to you at your new apartment. This seems to pose a bigger problem.

Last week I set up my accounts with the gas company and the electric company. Earlier this week, I got notices in the mail from both of them. The gas company requires that you either A) setup automatic debit payments AND give them a 200 Euro deposit OR B) give them a 400 Euro deposit. Similarly, the electric company requires that you either A) setup automatic debit payments OR B) give them a 300 Euro deposit. So you can see, that setting up automatic debit payments increases my cash flow by 500 Euro (about 700 USD).

Back to the story at hand. I received these "bills" from both the gas company and the electric company. When I present them to the banker, she tells me that she can't accept them as verification of my address.

Me: "Why not?"

Her: "Because it doesn't show that you've actually paid anything."

Me: "Neither does me presenting you with my first bill. It just tells you that I owe them money, same as this letter says."

Her: "I'm sorry, sir, we still can't accept it."

Needless to say, I'm a little frustrated with my banking situation right now. Most importantly, I need a bank account to setup cable television, internet, and telephone. Instead of watching TV now, I'm watching DVD series if I get a hankering for TV. I already watched The Wire - Season 5 and I'm halfway through watching Firefly (this would be my second go-round on the Firefly).

On a plane back home tomorrow!