Cash Money

The seller was understandably wary of us sailing off into the sunset with their boat, and wanted some security. Cheque was unacceptable. And a bankers draft would take 5 days to clear the system. We wanted to conclude the sale with a handshake, and that be the end of it. So a large amount of cash was needed at short notice. Not enough for a major corporation to worry about, but enough to raise eyebrows at a local branch.

It took a phone call on the previous day.
12 forms of ID, including photographic.
an extreme scrutiny of my mashed up RFID passport.
a hurriedly convened backroom conference.
and a call to head office.

before the bank would let us have our money.

The staff were friendly, and apologised profusely for the delay, but we left the bank pondering on the system's extreme paranoia about money laundering and the black economy. it was carried in a backpack through the nightclubbing streets of Reading without incident.

thankfully.