The One where I Withdrew money! #Demonetisation

So it's a bright Saturday morning. And what do we do on a bright Saturday morning? We go out and try to withdraw money from the bank. :)

After the ATM hunt of the day before, I decided to try out the alternative - withdraw money from your account. Since I had already exchanged all my old notes (worth a measly 1500) , exchanging was out of question.

First stop was the ICICI branch at BTM 2nd Stage, 7th Main. When I reached the place, as usual ATMs were dry and there were 2 long queues, out on the road. The branch is on the first floor and that should give you an idea of the number of people who have turned up. There is a big queue at the cash deposit machines as well.

The queues for withdrawal from the branch. PS: The branch is on the first floor

The cash deposit machines. ATMs are out of cash!

Without wasting time here, I decided to give RBL Koramangala (Location : https://goo.gl/maps/BT5E1NpZz4t) another shot. A week back I had gone there to exchange my old notes and the entire business was done in 10 minutes. So, I was optimistic of a faster transaction this time as well.

I reached the RBL Koramangala branch at around 2PM. Now the thing is, I have never been to a bank branch to withdraw money. Actually, I have never been to my ICICI home branch which happens to be in Mysore. So, I was under the assumption that like a deposit slip, there would be a withdrawal slip as well. Turns out, they do have a withdrawal slip, but that is only for special cases. You need a cheque for any withdrawals from your account at the teller's counter. So I ended up going back to get a cheque. Also, remember to carry a photocopy of your PAN card along-with the original.

Good news was, when I got back, there was just one other guy waiting for a withdrawal. And I got my INR 1,900 (no pink notes for me, thank you) en-cashed within 5 minutes.

Moral of the story : If you are looking to withdraw money (or even exchange your old notes), try the smaller banks, they generally have a smaller customer base and therefore smaller queues. Of course, you need to have a  account there first.

Exchanging notes, however, can be done at any bank, even if you don't have an account there.

By the way, RBL offers the highest interest rates on Fixed Deposits (compare FD rates here). So it might be a good choice if you are looking to open a fixed deposit.