Ya gotta love the banks!

So keep in mind that the USA imposed sanctions on Russia in 2014. Also keep in mind that my British colleague uses the same bank I do and has absolutely no problem transferring money from the Russian bank to his British account. That being said, I went to the bank on January 23 to transfer some of my salary back to my US bank. According to my banker in the US, all that would be needed for an international transfer would be the bank’s routing number. So armed, I walk into the bank and tell them what I want to do. It’s one of those deals where you have to get a number like at the coldcut counter at Wegmans and wait to be called. And wait to be called. And wait to be called. Finally it’s my turn and they lead me to an office in the back where a manager speaks fairly good English. Oh, you didn’t have to come into the bank, he tells me. You could have done it online. I tell him that’s not what I was told when I opened the account. Let me show you, he says. So we get on the website on my iPad and start to fill in the information and, surprise, surprise, it doesn’t work. The Russian bank requires the SWIFT number of the bank to which the money will be transferred. My bank does not have a SWIFT number. But my US bank uses an intermediary bank in cases such as this which also happens to be the intermediary bank my Russian bank uses. It seems as if this shouldn’t be so difficult then. But instead of doing it electronically, I have to fill out paper applications. And my Russian banker says up front that it will take awhile for it to happen. Hmmmmm,takes awhile means to me a week, maybe two. So every once in awhile I would text himto see what was happening. He was always checking into it. Meanwhile the money is still sitting on my account! So it’s the 19th of February and still nothing has happened so Tuesday I grab the boss and make him take me to the bank. This time we didn’t have to wait at all. They lead us right in to the manager’s office. So it turns out that I am their first American. Us to customer. They’ve never had a case like this before and also the political relationship between the US and Russia is not particularly cordial, nobody in the bank has been willing to sign off on the transfer because they are afraid of unpleasant consequences. So everyone has just been kicking the decision upstairs and not wanting to be the person responsible for the decision. How lucky can I get. But it seems that they have finally regulated everything and the transfer should take place tomorrow. And joy of joys, since I wax their pioneer case, now they have a template for how to do it and the next time I make a transfer I can do it directly online! I’ll Blevins it when I see it. Man, I would have been better off stuffing my money in my mattress.