Banking in Prague - The Good, Bad & the Ugly
Back in November I managed to open a CSOB account without much fuss. Just a passport, 20 AUD and a interpreter. Forms, forms & more forms but managed to get it all up and running including an internet banking function with SMS authorisation thingy ma jiggy.
The debit card turned up to Woonona about 2 months later with the PIN in the same bunch of envelopes - just in time for us to leave !
So, with our generous moving allowance we thought we'd be a gold customer - not to be.
Today whilst getting an extra card for the ball and chain we found out some of the intricacies of weekly/daily withdrawal limits. Your weekly limit is based on a rolling 3 month average. Therefore, if you know your moving here ahead of time. Open a bank account ahead of schedule & deposit at least 5000 AUD each month so when you get here you've got a good withdrawal limit to set yourself up in an apartment & buy furniture. Looks like we'll be juggling money around for another month or so til we get settled.
After managing to successfully get a card for the wife we retired to a famous cafe across the road. Here's a brief excert from a Prague website - sorry no URL this time...........
Kavarna Imperial(tel 222 31 60 12; Na porici 15; open 9am-1am daily) has beautiful, early-20th-century decor - oak parquet, walls covered in ornate cream-and-mustard ceramic tiling, and a mosaic ceiling - and is popular with locals and tourists alike, who gather for the live jazz on Friday and Saturday evenings
With a full stomach we launched into credit card land & was served by a very intense employee who nearly crushed our hands during the greeting ceromony. He was very interested to know where we were from & how much limit we'll require to make our stay in Prague a pleasant one. Alas, we failed to convince him that we had good credit rating & he sent us away to get proof that I have a job & they pay me enough (it's never enough).
Our next adventure is a return trip to Ikea (http://www.ikea.cz/) to select our furniture & hopefully get it delivered to the right address.
Highlights of school adventures will also be posted over the next days...........stay tuned.
The debit card turned up to Woonona about 2 months later with the PIN in the same bunch of envelopes - just in time for us to leave !
So, with our generous moving allowance we thought we'd be a gold customer - not to be.
Today whilst getting an extra card for the ball and chain we found out some of the intricacies of weekly/daily withdrawal limits. Your weekly limit is based on a rolling 3 month average. Therefore, if you know your moving here ahead of time. Open a bank account ahead of schedule & deposit at least 5000 AUD each month so when you get here you've got a good withdrawal limit to set yourself up in an apartment & buy furniture. Looks like we'll be juggling money around for another month or so til we get settled.
After managing to successfully get a card for the wife we retired to a famous cafe across the road. Here's a brief excert from a Prague website - sorry no URL this time...........
Kavarna Imperial(tel 222 31 60 12; Na porici 15; open 9am-1am daily) has beautiful, early-20th-century decor - oak parquet, walls covered in ornate cream-and-mustard ceramic tiling, and a mosaic ceiling - and is popular with locals and tourists alike, who gather for the live jazz on Friday and Saturday evenings
With a full stomach we launched into credit card land & was served by a very intense employee who nearly crushed our hands during the greeting ceromony. He was very interested to know where we were from & how much limit we'll require to make our stay in Prague a pleasant one. Alas, we failed to convince him that we had good credit rating & he sent us away to get proof that I have a job & they pay me enough (it's never enough).
Our next adventure is a return trip to Ikea (http://www.ikea.cz/) to select our furniture & hopefully get it delivered to the right address.
Highlights of school adventures will also be posted over the next days...........stay tuned.
posted by Portmans at 7:56 pm
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