01 The Hour
Noon
Monday 29 June 2015
The government statement said the cash machines, many of them dry after the weekend, would be operating normally again by Monday noon at the latest. From that point the ceiling was 60 euros a day, set per bank card.
Every branch was shut. The decree had gone into the government gazette in the early hours under the heading "Bank Holiday break", and what it left standing was the machine, the shop terminal and internet banking inside the country.
02 The Sequence
26 Jun Friday. The ECB Governing Council sets the ceiling on emergency liquidity assistance to Greek banks. It is the level referred to in every ELA decision that follows.
27 Jun Saturday. Euro area finance ministers refuse to extend the programme, which expires on 30 June. Around half a billion euros is withdrawn during the day. More than one in three cash machines runs out at some point, and a line of roughly 40 people forms at the machine inside the Greek parliament while technicians refill others.
28 Jun Sunday. The ECB decides to hold the assistance ceiling at Friday's level and says it stands ready to reconsider. The Prime Minister announces capital controls in a televised address and says the decision came on the recommendation of the Bank of Greece. Tourists join the queues, on the understanding that the limits will cover them too.
29 Jun Monday, early hours. The decree is published in the government gazette, signed by the President and the Prime Minister, citing the refusal of 27 June. Institutions close to the public until 6 July. Machine withdrawals are held to 60 euros a day per card. Card payments in shops and internet banking within Greece are unaffected, pension payments are exempt from the restrictions, transfers abroad need approval from a finance ministry committee, and withdrawals with cards issued abroad are unrestricted.
30 Jun Tuesday. The programme expires and the payment falling due to the IMF is not made. That evening the government says retirees may draw 120 euros at branches.
1 Jul Wednesday. About 1,000 branches open for three days for pensioners without cards, paying a maximum of 120 euros for the week. Staff hand out priority tickets. A decision to serve customers alphabetically, announced by some banks overnight and by others that morning, sends many who had waited since before dawn away to return on Thursday or Friday.
5 Jul Sunday. The referendum is held. The proposals are rejected by more than 61 per cent.
6 Jul Monday. The ECB holds assistance at the 26 June level and adjusts the haircuts on the collateral the Bank of Greece accepts for it.
18 Jul Saturday. A decree sets a cumulative weekly limit of 420 euros with the daily figure staying at 60, permits electronic transfers of up to 5,000 euros a trimester for students abroad and 2,000 euros in cash for treatment abroad, and keeps the block on transfers out of the country. The closure had been extended four times.
20 Jul Monday. Branches open at 8 a.m. after three weeks. Cheques may be deposited but not cashed. Greek cards may be used for purchases abroad but not to draw cash there.
03 The Hidden Dependency
The limit was written per card, and the channel left open was a machine that reads one. That made the card the unit of access.
Greece had about 2.6 million pensioners. Reporting through that week described many of the older ones as collecting their money at a counter and holding no card at all, which left them without a route to a machine once the counters shut. The government opened around 1,000 branches on 1 July, for three days, to pay them a maximum of 120 euros for the week.
The daily cap landed differently depending on what instrument the account holder happened to hold.
04 What Still Worked
Cards Issued Abroad
Cash withdrawals at the same machines with cards issued outside Greece were left unrestricted, a point the wires made plainly after tourists had queued alongside residents on the Sunday.
Domestic Card and Internet Banking
Card payments in shops and internet banking inside the country continued, and wages paid electronically into accounts were reported to be unaffected.
The Pension Credit
Pension payments were exempt from the transaction restrictions. Turning one into notes was a separate matter, and that is what the specially opened branches were for.
05 This Week, Then
This Week, Then 1 Sep 2019
1 September 2019. Greece removed the last of the restrictions imposed in 2015, fifty months after the bank holiday.
2 September 2019. The change took full effect on the Monday, lifting limits on international business transactions, cash withdrawals overseas and money sent to students studying abroad.
26 August 2019. The finance minister had announced it to parliament the previous week.
06 The Pattern Library
1
When one retail withdrawal channel closes or fails, demand concentrates on whichever channel is left open, and the capacity of that channel sets what a depositor can obtain.
Observed: Northern Rock 2007, Cyprus 2013, India 2016, Greece 2015.
2
A currency replacement can require physical modification of each cash dispensing machine before the new notes can be issued, so the machine estate returns to service site by site rather than at once.
Observed: India 2016.
3
Withdrawal limits imposed on a domestic banking system can be written to exempt cards issued outside it, so one machine dispenses under two rules according to where the card was issued.
Observed: Greece 2015.
Changed today: Entry 1 gained Greece 2015, where every branch closed and the cash machine was the channel left open at 60 euros a day per card. Entry 3 added, on the exemption for cards issued outside the Greek system.