Used to be when one visited an ATM to plunder one’s stash of dosh (if one is lucky enough to have a bit o’ that), you’d get the payload in a satisfying wad of notes, in a variety of different colours.

Nowadays, though, unless, like me, you sneakily put in unusual amounts (ones that end in “30″ or “70″ and necessitate the spitting out of bills of differing denominations) all you’re going to get is the purple bills and the odd red one in between.

I don’t know about you, but I’m beginning to think that it’s all a big ploy to make us spend more money (not that that much encouragement is needed, I suppose).

You can try to beat the system by drawing amounts smaller than R100, but what with the banks’ nasty habit of charging you every time you draw (or merely attempt to draw, but are thwarted by “insufficient funds”), that hardly seems worth the effort.

So, instead, you head off to a nearby shop and buy yourself something to break the scary note, something it’s likely you wouldn’t have bought in the first place. And the more money you spend, the more money the banks make.

And don’t even let me get going about credit cards.

Tricksy bankses. Either way, they win.

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