ELIAKIM JOSEPH-SOPHIA : Technology Banks Enough

Being a holy beggar does have its advantages, because it takes you to issues that impact on the poor that you wouldn't normally be aware of when earning a good salary.

Issues with banks, if you go overdrawn by any amount now, they cancel your bank card. Basically they don't issue you with a new one. While you are wondering why your new card hasn't arrived, the bank's technology has cancelled it.

Then you have to call them at your expense to find out what happened and to reinstate it. Of course you have to have some money in there and not be overdrawn.

So after waiting for a new card to be sent.

Then I couldn’t access the card, so then I had to phone up again, it turns out that they had to unblock the card.

Next day, then I couldn’t use the card so I had to phone up again, it turns out that they had to unblock the pin.

I then asked the bank call centre why they did not unblock both at the same time. As usual they didn’t know, call centre workers are not paid to know anything. They're paid to read a computer screen.

Now we have unblocked card and pin, just tried it again, still no access. So now we have to call up yet again to get a new pin number. That will take at least another 3-5 days to arrive. This has gone on for nearly a month. When you cannot access what little money you have, the bank is still earning interest on it. How many other people in the UK are suffering the technology bank transgression against the people?

So tried to use a check with bank card. Now local shops not accepting checks with cards, and banks are not guaranteeing checks. That's across the board.

Apparently, the banks plan to remove all check books by 2018. There is even talk of them bringing it forward to 2016.

However, most places are not taking checks now, and one domain registrar were charging ten pounds extra to accept a check. So I had to ask a friend to pay the eight pounds, 50 pence due to not being sent a new card.

That is not the first time either that checks have been refused or ten pounds is being charged to accept. It comes to something when the charge to accept is higher than the cost of the purchase. Banks are doing the same, and some other retailers as well. Banks charge you to put money into the bank and take it out of the bank.

Age UK, are looking at the check issue because the elderly who depend on using checks. So the government have told the banks that they are going to have to come up with an alternative for elderly people. What alternative could that possibility be?

The aged, poor and those with ill-health are powerless against the technology of the banks, the people will simply die without access to their own money to feed themselves. That was what happened to Michael M Mauldin, he simply could not access his own money to pay for food, although he wasn't poor, he was rich. The man died in poverty due to what others had done.

If it wasn’t for my son, I would have eaten nothing for nearly a month.

We cannot allow this to continue.

Who else does it impact on? The small independents. This is what a couple of people had to say.

"I was wondering what the alternative will be when the bank stop doing cheques, (a part from cash only). As I do small Craft Fairs, I can't afford a Credit Card machine at £35 a month and 5% charge on top. Paypal is an option, someone has told me, but I have also come across some venues that you can't get a signal for your mobile either. Wondering if anyone has thought about it"

Reply by Sakura Jewellery (Anna Stassen) on July 17, 2010 at 8:17pm

"It's a tough one this, some banks seem to be working on mobile to mobile payments using text messages but obviously that is no good if you have no mobile reception. I am thinking when push comes to shove, we are just going to have to make sure we know where the nearest cash machines are to direct customers to go and withdraw cash. I would imagine that regular craft fair venues will start to think about providing wireless internet access for a small fee so that stall holders can use laptops to take payments via paypal."

So what happens if you don't use a mobile? I do not use a mobile phone. Google are also threatening to cancel people's email accounts if they don't provide a mobile phone number.

How dare they? The people are giving all their private information to google and those that access the data from google and the banks.

The banks, google and governments are in breach of UN privacy laws.

Also pay pal doesn't help when you have to move any funds from pay pal into a bank account to access any cash.

What happens if people cannot afford a laptop or have a mobile?

Basically, they will not be able to accept any financial transactions from the general public based upon the system that is being introduced.

The whole banking system is totally dependent on technology, and the golden rule is don't put all of your eggs in one basket. That always was a motto of prudence.

The only way out of the system is to be self-sufficient and co-create a new, alternative way that does not include technology. The more that technology is involved in money, the more powerless the people become, because they are left with no other option but to do what the bank says. That means there is no compromise, and your consent to changes made by the bankers is not required.

Unless technology experts take over the personal banking system and completely reform it without any bankers being involved in it. As we know it is the personal banking system that has funded big business. If you take away the personal banking system, the big banks would not survive. Simple as that.

The fact that the banks can get away with charging the people 30 pounds for going overdrawn by ten pounds; due to money not clearing their banking system is simply a criminal act against the people. That doesn't include the other charges that they have invented to fund their activities. Now the UK government plan to give the banks another 40 billion pounds of tax payers money to prop up the banks and their business investments.

The banks could surely see this coming. Hence, why they made massive loans to 3rd countries and large interest rates that they knew they could not afford. The banking system globally, including sharia banking and finance is a crime against humanity.

My view is that when the banks tear up their agreements with you, you can also tear up your agreements with the banks, what you might owe them gets torn up as well. The banks and bankers will pay for what they have done to the poor for decades.