You work hard for “money” and keep them in the bank, not knowing when you do that legally (according to banking law) the banks own those money.
Yes, you heard me right. The banks legally own the money you deposit into your bank account. In other words you only own the bank account, not the money inside it.
That is how the banks are able to lend out and invest those money elsewhere without getting your consent.
Don’t believe me? Fine. Try ask everyone you know to flock to the banks and withdraw out everything and see what happens.

However when you want to use the money you think you own, you have to ask the banks’ permission if it exceeds a certain limit, you are required to file an application and report to the appropriate authorities.
If you somehow do own a substantial amount of money, I doubt you will put them all in one basket (read account) as it not only will attract unnecessary attention but also subject to possible investigation and even have it frozen on whatever grounds.

Earlier during the Greek crisis people withdraw their money from the bank due to negative interest rates and loss of confidence.
If you only have a little then it probably do you not much harm.
What if you happen to own quite a fortune? I suppose you would have withdrawn almost everything in the biggest possible denomination for convenience and ease of storage, right?
So what happens now when the European Central Bank (ECB) plans to scrap the 500 Euro Bill, akin to declaring war on paper currency citing anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism measures?
Anyone in the right frame of mind will take all the 500 Euro notes to exchange to smaller ones, no?
The Greek Banks then charge those who wish to change from bigger notes to smaller ones.

In the end, you work hard for the money that does not belong to you and see it reducing (not your fault) by doing nothing while getting hit by inflation when the banks print more money.

The War On Paper Currency Begins: ECB Votes To “Scrap” 500 Euro Bill

Update: in case there was any doubt about the ECB’s true intentions, we just got the official “denial”:

• DRAGHI: ANY ECB ACTION ON EU500 NOTE IS NOT ABOUT REDUCING CASH

The first shot in the global war on cash was just fired, by none other than the ECB, which moments ago Handelsblatt reported…

… and Bloomberg confirmed – ECB COUNCIL VOTES TO SCRAP EU500 NOTE: HANDELSBLATT – has voted to scrap the second highest denominated European bank note in circulation:

… after the CHF 1000 note.

So what, big deal, eliminate it. The people will still have 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 and 200 euro bills right.

As we wrote just one week ago….