Stuff the Mattress

To hell with the banks in China. I think my money would be safer in my mattress. This is not a joke. I have plenty of reasons for this.

• Banks charge a fee for every month you have an account.
• You will be charged a fee for using YOUR bank's ATM in another province or city.
  
• Interest rates are low and are taxed high, rendering savings accounts worthless (also subtract the monthly bank fee).
• Apparently, family members cannot obtain banking details for other family members, even when accompanied by said family member's ID.
• There is a fee for obtaining banking details from the Bank of China (owned by the government). That fee is 10 kuai. That's just to print the details into a freaking book that the bank provided!
• You're forced to take a number and wait your turn. But that number really doesn't mean anything for people who have a number that has long since been called.
  
• It will take much longer than it should to do ANYTHING at the bank.

The reason I'm rather annoyed today is because Jia has to get plenty of banking details from numerous banks (because every job has to use its own bank for pay) to supply to the U.S. Consulate this week for the visa process. These are just a few problems that have come up recently.