CASHING BANK NOTES

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 921, 14 March 1930, Page 1

CASHING BANK NOTES

ENGLISH ATTITUDE NOT UNUSUAL I CUSTOMERS ONLY “If a stranger walked into an English bank at any time and j < tried to cash bank-notes he would I c not find it an easy matter,” an j : Auckland businessman told a j i SUN representative this morning. t He referred to the cable message i from England concerning the Aus- 1 tralian with £7OO in Australian notes in his pocket who was walk- i i ing the streets unable to buy a meal. As an instance of the conservatism shown by English banks he told how’ : a friend of his went to a branch of the Bank of England in Wales and tried unsuccessfully to cash a Bank of England note. He was told it was not the rule to cash notes except for customers. It was very hard to explain the peculiar conservatism of the English banks in that respect, unless it was through fear of forgery. POLITE REFUSAL Apart altogether from the present j financial stringency, he thought that j if any time a stranger walked into : an English bank and tried to cash j Australian notes to the value of £7OO i he would meet with a polite refusal. | But, at the same time, he thought the |

cabled story was very far-fetched. I Even if he were an entire stranger I there were always people who would I cast them at a discount, if they were j genuine. The English custom in regard to! cashing notes was also stated in a | cable received from London yester- i day, which said that the position with regard to New Zealand notes was un- j changed. The banks were changing a few 1 notes for their customers as usual j at the current rate of discount, and reserving the right to refuse to accept large parcels of notes. From this, he said, it would appear that if a New Zealander with £7OO in New Zealand notes walked into an English bank, of which he was not a customer and tried to cash them, he would no doubt meet with the same result as the Australian. But, even although he did adopt such an inconvenient financial arrangement, it was most unlikely that he would have to w r alk the streets and go hungry.