Day three. Opened an account at Bank of America. Here are some observations on how it differs from a similar procedure in Russia:
1. Through the official website, you can make an appointment at any branch across the country. The manager apologized ten times for making me wait 5-7 minutes. But the account opening session here felt three times longer than in Russia.
2. Everything is explained in great detail. In Russian banks (and insurance companies), they just shove a contract under your nose with dense small print and a place to sign. I always wondered, what if I actually started reading it attentively? At the Bank of America branch, they simply wouldn’t let me sign without looking. The manager explained every important point, and after each section, he asked if I understood everything and if I had any questions. This even concerned the most trivial matters. If he had any doubt that I might not fully understand but was just nodding, he would not move on. Surprising.
3. At the end, I was given a business card with the manager’s mobile number and email. “Write if you have any questions; I will try to respond quickly.” I really missed having an “email” support channel. Usually, on the phone, you either can’t get through, or you have to listen to that annoying music for a long time. With the same Beeline, it would have been much easier to write an email than to call (specifically Beeline a bad example: they have this option, but it’s not well known among customers).
By the way, the ATMs work unusually. They don’t swallow the card – they just read something off it while the customer inserts it into the slot for a second. Then, any operations—cash withdrawals or account top-ups—proceed with the saved number, while the card has long since moved back to the wallet. Probably not all ATMs are like this, but it was unusual.
Hi, I'm Rauf Aliev. 