I JUST can’t believe it. We live in a time where everything is connected.

You can buy a scale that will tweet your weight automatically and will upload the progress you are making on the Internet automatically. You can do amazing things online.

One of the first industries to become connected was banks. Making it possible for you to go overseas and draw money from any ATM around the world. For some strange reason, however, I found out this week that even though we are living in an age where everything is connected some banks will always make sure that they charge the maximum fees. My bank this week informed me that if I deposited a $200 (approximately R1 500) cheque into my account, the service fee to cash it would be just over R600. I know that there are costs involved, but I find it difficult to believe that to transfer money from one account to another could cost more that R600. I am just not sure how you can justify this. I think my question is just why the electronic verification of a cheque should be this expensive.

We are making major advances daily, but for some reason these changes are not reflected in the fees we are being charged.

The problem in today’s integrated business sector is that we think we have many choices, but at the end of the month when my banking fees for the month is about R500, I realise that I would have preferred to just keep the money under my mattress.

Technology is saving the banking industry millions, when will we see a decrease in the fees we pay