BANKING

The banking system in Norway is quite different than that of America. Norway stopped using checks years ago. Everything is now paid for with debit cards or electronic transfers and hardly anyone uses cash.  In fact, some bank branches and many businesses won’t even accept cash.  A new law is now in the works that would force people to use only credit or debit cards on items costing the equivalent of a hundred dollars or more – as a way of cutting down on “black money”- cash acquired doing work under the table.

All bills in Norway, from every company, including charities, have a standardized payment form so it’s easy to get the hang of how to pay them because they all look identical. For those people who aren’t connected to the Internet, they can go to the bank and a teller will pay everything for them from their computer.  It costs a bit more to do it that way, but nothing in the Norwegian banking system is free.  At least I’m getting nearly 4% on my savings account over there, though.

It’s a little bit disconcerting to me to walk into banks and see all the couches and areas in which to “relax,” but it’s necessary because based on my experience, the average amount of time a person spends waiting in the bank, is at least thirty minutes.  I guess it’s their way of encouraging on-line banking.  They have a “take a number” system so everyone just lounges around waiting for their number to be up.  It feels more like a doctor’s office waiting room, with magazines and newspapers sitting on coffee tables, than a bank. 

Every bank I’ve been to in Norway just has one teller working and they never seem to be in a rush to move on to the next customer.  One helpful thing many Norwegian banks have though is an automated teller that’s more sophisticated than the ATMs we have in America.  Norwegian ATM’s inside the bank accept cash and coins. 

Once when I was “relaxing” in the bank, I just sat with my eyes closed and listened.  It sounded a little like Vegas in the old days when the coins clinked down into the metal hopper under the slot machines.  There was a line-up of customers bringing in bags of coins and dumping them into the machine, which counts and sorts them and automatically deposits the money into their account.  A separate slot accepts the paper money, counts and deposits it as well.  I guess Norway needs to make it easy to get rid of the cash, since it’s obvious they are on a fast track to becoming the first cashless country in the world.  Scary.