Something is taking place that I’ve never seen before. Banks are beginning to limit withdrawal amounts. It’s your money or your retirement funds so why the limit? If making a substantial withdrawal, you might be asked like I was just the other day, “What are you using this money for?” Since it was no one’s business but mine, I smiled and pleasantly said, “Stuff.” Then I was asked another question, “Are you moving your money to another institution?” I said, “No”. It was obvious I was not closing my account since I still had money in the account. To top it off, a series of bank forms were filled out by the teller before she would release the funds, again something I had never seen before. That was the end of a very strange and nosey conversation that stunned me with its intrusiveness. I took my cash and went across town to a woodstove dealer where I bought the woodstove we are having installed this week.
I’ve spoken with other people who have had a similar experience. Banks are becoming nervous because of news surfacing around the globe of deepening financial insecurity and a pending global crisis. Our government and others have had their money-printing machines running on overdrive printing our nation and future generations into deepening holes of debt numbering in the tens of trillions with no hope of ever climbing out. Runs on banks have recently taken place in several nations resulting in mobs of clients lining up demanding their money. Some of these banks have severely limited clients’ access to their life savings and in some cases, the banks were closed to never open again.
My experience affirmed a truth about God. If access to our physical deposits ever becomes limited or even denied all in the name of national security, God is always available and open for business. These God-withdrawals will carry with them the potential for a supernatural provision that a natural banking system can never provide. When we step up to Heaven’s teller window in a time of need, we will have access to all we ask for and more because as Scripture says, God owns the cattle on a thousand hills.
Our world is living within the illusion of a never-ending sense of financial security apart from God. History has proved that illusion to be a faulty construct. If and when life ever becomes strange and restrictive, you can know with certainty that God’s bank of blessings is always open for those who call Him Lord and trust in His faithfulness.
As perspective on this issue, consider that with fractional banking, banks who receive $1 in deposits can lend out a multiple of this amount. But regulations require them to show a nightly balance equal to their capital reserve amount. If they have excess funds, they lend them to other banks. They borrow funds overnight to cover a shortfall. The principal sources of overnight lending are the central banks and the IMF.
The global banking regulations,aka “Basel Accords: I, II, III, IV” have been adopted (in some cases enforced) by central banks and the IMF. Basel III raised the coverage ratio (from 3% in 2001 in Europe to 7-8- or even 10% today), forcing banks to accumulate deposits and limit withdrawals as a condition of accessing IMF/Central Bank’s coverage funds.
Expect to see improving bank liquidity early next year, resulting from structured asset purchases by a certain fund during the remainder of 4Q.