Friday, July 23, 2010

apdeyt-apdeyt!!!

Last Wednesday I had no choice but to comply with the latest requirement from the bank where I do the transfers of my hard-earned money to the Philippines. The bank is now implementing a new procedure where they will ask for more explicit information about your work in the Kingdom as well as your details back in whatever country you’re sending your money to. Hindi ka pwedeng mag-transact hangga’t hindi ka magpapa-update nong info mo.

Actually second attempt ko na yon. The first time I went there a couple of days before, noon ko lang nalaman yong update-update na yon. But because I wasn’t pressed to send money that time, inurungan ko yong mahabang pila. Nakita ko kasi kung gaano kabagal yong proseso.

But after receiving SOS messages from a couple of my self-imposed responsibilities back home, kailangan ko na talagang magpadala ng pera.  Kaya napilitan akong bumalik nong Wednesday. Buti na lang maaga akong nagpunta, wala pang 10 yong nauna sa akin sa pila. Despite that, inabot pa rin ako ng more than one hour doon pa lang sa updating part.

Mainly because si kabayang bank officer na gumagawa nong update is frustratingly slow. Sa dami ng details na ipapasok nya sa account mo like your current salary, company address, home address and phone number in Phils etc, gusto ko nang agawin yong keyboard para mapabilis yong pagta-type. Aside from that, dalawang beses sya tatayo per client kaya aabutin ka talaga ng indulto.

Una, lalabas sya ng office nya dala ang Iqama mo (residence permit) to ask one of the arabic staff outside to read/interpret your sponsor’s name and your position (which is actually the position stated in your visa when you entered Saudi Arabia).

After that, babalik sya para i-type yong info na nakuha nya. And he’s one of the slowest typist I’ve ever seen dahil parang hinahanap bawat letter na pipindutin (parang hindi normal for an office staff, much more a bank employee yong bagal nya sa keyboard! O baka dahil medyo maedad na si kabayan). Nakakatawa pa coz he mumbles as he was typing, parang kinakausap yong monitor. Kaya may tinatanong na pala sa akin, hindi ako sumasagot dahil akala ko yong monitor pa rin nya ang kausap. Hahahaa!

After entering the details, ire-review nya yong buong 4 or 5 pages yata ng data sheet. Saka nya ipi-print. And then he'll get up from his chair again to fetch the printed document coz the printer is located somewhere outside his office! Nak nangggg!!!! Anyways, natapos din kahit paano.

Ang paliwanag ng mga kabayan natin sa bangko, requirement daw ito ng Saudi government. Hindi na raw pwede yong mga information na nakalagay na dati sa database nila dahil kulang-kulang. Kaya ngayon, kino-kopya talaga lahat ng details na nasa residence permit unlike before na kung ano-ano lang ang information na ibigay mo pwede na.

I understood it better when I was watching the news that night. Talaga palang hindi lang yong bangko na yon, in fact, hindi lang banks in KSA ang nagi-implement nito. Worldwide requirement na pala ito coz even in Europe, they will be implementing in August. Ang pagkakaintindi ko sa report, banks are obliged to supply data to the US government whenever requested to.  Epekto yata ito nong anti-terrorism campaign. They wanted better traceability of bank transactions dahil sa mga dubious bank transfers daw kaya nakakalusot ang funding para sa mga terrorist groups.

That is why this updated information will be visible to authorities should they decide to scrutinize your transactions for whatever reason they deem necessary.  It looks like banking giants in Geneva, Lichtenstein, Luxembourg and other countries known for it's bank secrecy policies will soon be saying goodbye to their reputation.

Kaya pala sabi ulit ni kabayan sa bangko, one effect of this updated info is the powers given to the police to investigate anomalous bank transactions. And by anomalous they mean transactions para sa mga questionable beneficiaries as well as those involving unusually large amount of money. Ah well, I'm sure hindi ako kasama don dahil wala akong questionable beneficiaries aside from the 14 names listed under my account na napag-diskitahan ni kabayan kaya pinagde-delete yong mga inactive na beneficiaries.  And yes, kakapiranggot naman ang padala ko kaya siguradong hindi naman ako pag-aaksayahan ng panahon ng kung sino.

To view Euronews’ report, click here…. http://www.euronews.net/2010/07/08/eu-s-new-bank-data-sharing-deal-with-us/

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