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When you think about how we all live in 2021, it’s just hard to wrap your head around it. The age of advanced technology, social and gender equality, creative economies, possibilities, you name it. So how on earth does it have a place for things like telemarketing and unpaid overtime?!

When someone asked “What has no reason to exist in 2021 and yet it does?” on r/AskReddit, the answers started rolling in and each was more eye-opening than the previous one.

I mean, people are not saying 2021 is totally overestimated, but in many ways, it kinda is. Let’s see some of the most thought-inducing responses right below and be sure to add a thing or two to this list in the comment section for everyone to see!

things-that-have-no-reason-to-exist-in-2021

#1

32 Things That Have No Reason To Exist In 2021 And Yet They Do Child beauty pageants

-eDgAR- , Carlos Ebert Report

TmKhr
Community Member
4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Another thing that should've been banned years ago

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    #2

    32 Things That Have No Reason To Exist In 2021 And Yet They Do Bullfighting.

    Engel-in-Zivil , Ralf Steinberger Report

    Marette
    Community Member
    4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This! Animal cruelty, no other way to see it 😢

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    #3

    32 Things That Have No Reason To Exist In 2021 And Yet They Do Taking 3-5 days to put money back into my account after you took it instantly.

    humblepiedd , Pixabay Report

    James016
    Community Member
    4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I went to test drive a car recently and the dealership wanted a £500 deposit. It was for the insurance (rather than pay it in event of a crash) but they said it could go towards the car if I liked it. I asked them if I don't like it how long would it be before I got the money back. They told me at least 7 working days. Politely declined and walked out.

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    #4

    32 Things That Have No Reason To Exist In 2021 And Yet They Do The fact that some people still don't have access to fresh water.

    Artistic_Jackalope , Joe Cheng Report

    Nadia Montera
    Community Member
    4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Or to close water : having to walk daily more than 10 km to get water from a well

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    #5

    32 Things That Have No Reason To Exist In 2021 And Yet They Do Unpaid overtime

    UrbanStray , Kim Siever Report

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    #6

    32 Things That Have No Reason To Exist In 2021 And Yet They Do Homophobia. Seriously.

    SunflowerSky22 , Ted Eytan Report

    Linda Conaghan
    Community Member
    4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    New Zealand is currently working on a bill to make 'conversion therapy' a criminal offence. Hopefully other countries will do so as well.

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    #7

    32 Things That Have No Reason To Exist In 2021 And Yet They Do Why insulin is so expensive

    Magnaverde , Alan Levine Report

    Guy MacGregor
    Community Member
    4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    It is not. It is cheap or free in every country but one. https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/cost-of-insulin-by-country

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    #8

    32 Things That Have No Reason To Exist In 2021 And Yet They Do Celebrity worship

    Yellowpickle23 , Kyle Garrity Report

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    #9

    32 Things That Have No Reason To Exist In 2021 And Yet They Do Having to call to cancel a subscription you signed up for online

    Niamho2 , Mario Sánchez Prada Report

    WilvanderHeijden
    Community Member
    4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Netherlands: You must be able to cancel a subscription in the same way you started it and cancelling must be just as simple as starting. So 1 click to start, means 1 click to cancel.

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    #10

    32 Things That Have No Reason To Exist In 2021 And Yet They Do Single use plastic

    Financial-Mammoth333 , zeevveez Report

    Blackheart
    Community Member
    4 years ago (edited) Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Once upon a time, a lot of items came packaged in glass, paper, or metal containers. Many of the glass containers were collected, washed, and refilled by the manufacturers. People found uses for containers that could not be returned or recycled. Then there were concerns about the environment...yes the environment. Plastic bags were a response to cutting trees for paper. As plastic was light, disposable, and cost less to ship (no return or deposit), manufacturers switched to these for cost and convenience. The idea was it saved trees, fuel costs of shipping, and emissions. The extent of the damage the overuse of plastic causes was not known. Now we are back where we started with environmental impact.

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    #11

    32 Things That Have No Reason To Exist In 2021 And Yet They Do Paying $4.99 delivery fee to the pizza place, and they say DELIVERY FEE IS NOT A TIP FOR THE DRIVER. The drivers use their own cars and pay for their own gas, and they sure as hell aren't getting any of that $5.

    TrogdorLLC , Matthew Paul Argall Report

    TmKhr
    Community Member
    4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    We have nothing like this thankfully. Food delivery people get proper salary, no need for tips.

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    #12

    32 Things That Have No Reason To Exist In 2021 And Yet They Do School lunch debt. Feed the kids already!

    BlondieeAggiee , cattan2011 Report

    Deb March Farrell
    Community Member
    4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Welcome to America when you're in debt from birth....

    Andrew
    Community Member
    4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    So true. Both my son's got a 3000 dollar hospital bill for their birth. It was addressed to them. I called the hospital and asked if this was a joke. So I said they are unemployed and unable to pay. The confused person on the other end of the line said we the parents are responsible. So I said okay, send my wife the bill. I hoped her insurance may have paid a portion. They never did! And it got sent to collection. Nothing but a criminal enterprise the US healthcare system is.

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    Anne
    Community Member
    4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    We don't have school lunches. You always just brought your own.

    ben woskje
    Community Member
    4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    School lunch debt? you f*****g what ? is there anything the U.S wont corrupt and commercialise ?

    Caro Caro
    Community Member
    4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Children should NEVER go hungry .

    John Baker
    Community Member
    4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    And to think some stupid asshole downvoted this.

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    Ivy la Sangrienta
    Community Member
    4 years ago (edited) Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Yet another reason I don't mind paying my "socialist" nordic taxes.

    iblowsheep
    Community Member
    4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    quit subsidizing wealthy assholes and provide free healthy lunches to school kids

    TmKhr
    Community Member
    4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Our taxes pay for school lunches

    K Witmer
    Community Member
    4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    In the US you have to pay for school lunches unless you get on a program for parents that live in poverty

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    Moodles
    Community Member
    4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Kids get free lunch until and including year 2 in UK. Then it's free if parents are on benefit or low income, but still pretty cheap if not. Unreal to have school debt for kids when it's their only chance of a hot meal for some less fortunate

    Patricia Pina
    Community Member
    4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    In my country its free for the people living with less. And very affordable for everyone else. Public school its around 3 euros for the full meal

    Sharon Ingram
    Community Member
    4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Some people get free lunch, free homes, free medical, free college.

    Amaranthim Talon
    Community Member
    4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    THIS one I can fully get behind! We pay a lot of taxes for education and this could be part of it. Yes, it would be a huge cost. However, some kids are so below the poverty line that school lunch and breakfast might be the only meal they get. My county does have free breakfast for all. Lunch, I'm not really sure. There are assistance programs, of course, to cover "free" lunch. I just feel it could be covered altogether. Heck, they could make it part of "home-ec" and kids could learn to cook as well as how to balance meals properly.

    R De Backer
    Community Member
    4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Great idea Amaranthim. Could be useful everywhere. Teaching people from a you,g age to cook healthy balanced meals and having the government cover the cost as ingredients are part of the curriculum necessities. More people will grow up to healthy adults so it’s a win win as the government will spend less in healthcare for ailments due to malnutrition, obesity etc

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    Wilf
    Community Member
    4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    What is school meal debt? Does it mean people have to pay for food at school?!! That seems insane to me.

    Suzy the observer
    Community Member
    4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    As a child, I went home to lunch and went back to school. Why is this not the norm?

    John Baker
    Community Member
    4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Not all kids live close enough to their schools to make this workable.

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    Tracey Hall
    Community Member
    4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    No money no food here. No school lunches here, only canteens/tuckshops.

    Cybele Spanjaard
    Community Member
    4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    We take our own food to school in Australia

    InfectedVoice
    Community Member
    4 years ago (edited) Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Again, very alien to me in England, I had free school meals when I was a kid, only my dad worked and we were really quite broke for a while, never had to pay a penny, the dinner-lady at the till would have a list of names so no need to produce anything in front of the other kids just walk on by.

    Suzanne Haigh
    Community Member
    4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Only free school meals now in the UK are to those on benefits, which are not the poorest families

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    Nicki
    Community Member
    4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I am not sure how long this will last, but the school district that we live in is providing free lunches for the next school year for all kids. I think the leaders here got a stark dose of reality during the pandemic. They learned that there are a lot of kids who only get that one meal at school. I live in Southern California btw.

    Miss Frankfurter
    Community Member
    4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    For some kids it's the only decent meal they get in a day. Check out the lunch program in schools in France.

    Suzanne Haigh
    Community Member
    4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I understand that was why school lunches were introduced, when they were either very cheap or free, to ensure the kids had at least 1 decent meal a day. Today very few schools in the UK, if any, supply a full meal.

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    Katie Morris
    Community Member
    4 years ago

    This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

    Sorry I live in Australia and we have well paid jobs and a well paid welfare system as well. The costs of foods are also very affordable- so parents in Australia pack made lunches for their kids

    Foxxy (The Original)
    Community Member
    4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Where in Australia are you living. We have an extremely high cost of living and our wages growth is one of the worst in the industrialised world. Welfare is not enough either. The maximum newstart a single person can get is around $620 a fortnight which pretty much just covers the cost of rent and some groceries. And when it comes to groceries we have some of the highest costs in the world.

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    Katie Morris
    Community Member
    4 years ago

    This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

    The parents should be making the lunches for their own kids ! It is not the schools responsibility to look after children's nutrition!

    Glirpy
    Community Member
    4 years ago (edited)

    This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

    Umm, how about the parents feed the kids. That shouldn’t be the job of the school. The school’s job is to teach! I don’t trust school food as far as I could throw it in a food fight, anyway.

    lazy panda
    Community Member
    4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This is an AWFUL comment. You do realize that people go through difficult times right? Some families live paycheck to paycheck, some parents lose jobs, there's medical debt, and ton of other variables.

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    Rickster
    Community Member
    4 years ago

    This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

    If you can't afford to feed your kids why did you have kids?

    Aliquid A
    Community Member
    4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Not the kid's fault. And if we don't do something to help that kid grow up "better", then they will end up just like their parents. Got to break the cycle somehow.

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    First Name Last Name
    Community Member
    4 years ago

    This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

    Schools have no business engaging in social services at all, including providing food. Schools should be about education only. That is why education and social services are 2 seperate departments with seperate budgets.

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    #13

    32 Things That Have No Reason To Exist In 2021 And Yet They Do Poverty and homelessness

    Efficient-Task6577 Report

    D K
    Community Member
    4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    At least in California, a lot of homelessness is caused by drug addiction that caused a downward spiral in these peoples lives to the point of where the addiction was so strong, they lost everything to get their fixes. Need more drug rehab programs among many, many other programs to help curve homelessness.

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    #14

    32 Things That Have No Reason To Exist In 2021 And Yet They Do Fax machine. Some doctors won't accept email only mail or fax. Some govt related stuff too

    ztreHdrahciR , kalleboo Report

    Sue Hazlewood
    Community Member
    4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Good grief, most of ours is online. We can book online, even have online appointments (face to face), renew prescriptions etc. All in a portal called My Health connected to your own medical centre.

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    #15

    32 Things That Have No Reason To Exist In 2021 And Yet They Do TELEMARKETING I don’t even get any other type of call, yet I still get this s**t daily

    squivo , tima-miroshnichenko Report

    Ivy la Sangrienta
    Community Member
    4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I don't answer calls from numbers I don't know for this reason, and now there's been a wave of scam phone calls in the last few years.

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    #16

    32 Things That Have No Reason To Exist In 2021 And Yet They Do Convenience fees being applied when you pay a bill online.

    Byzantium42 , Karolina Grabowska Report

    Robert T
    Community Member
    4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Seriously? We used to get a discount for doing this until someone decided it wasn't fair on those people who can't do things online.

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    #17

    32 Things That Have No Reason To Exist In 2021 And Yet They Do For profit prisons.

    NoodlesWithMelons , Steve MaysFollow Report

    Dream SMP & Cosplaying
    Community Member
    4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I have never heard of this. Maybe its an America thing...

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    #18

    32 Things That Have No Reason To Exist In 2021 And Yet They Do Having no idea how much you'll pay for a minor medical procedure

    dreemkiller , Presidencia de la Repúblic Report

    Guy MacGregor
    Community Member
    4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    But it does not exist. Well only in some underdeveloped countries.

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    #19

    32 Things That Have No Reason To Exist In 2021 And Yet They Do 40+ hour work weeks. The technological improvements should have made it so we could have a more leisurely society where we could dedicate less of our lives to pointless work, not so they could increase profits indefinitely for the business owners while we spend all our waking hours on labor that doesn’t even need doing at this point.

    counterboud , 1137303 Report

    James016
    Community Member
    4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The worst are middle managers who expect you to give 100% of your time to your job.

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    #20

    32 Things That Have No Reason To Exist In 2021 And Yet They Do Commercials for prescription medicine

    Dollar_Llama , Open Grid Scheduler Report

    James016
    Community Member
    4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Side effects include death. BUY IT NOW!!!

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    #21

    32 Things That Have No Reason To Exist In 2021 And Yet They Do Low quality surveillance footage

    Kittykitty76543210 , Jonathan McIntosh Report

    TmKhr
    Community Member
    4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Seriously, why do the potato cameras even exist anymore?

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    #22

    32 Things That Have No Reason To Exist In 2021 And Yet They Do E-ticket processing fees. Seriously, do these have any function other than making money for some middle man?

    Stillwater215 , Kindel Media Report

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    #23

    32 Things That Have No Reason To Exist In 2021 And Yet They Do Junk mail, just filling up the mailbox with [stuff].

    maarrtee , Torsten Dettlaff Report

    TmKhr
    Community Member
    4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    For some reason my hotmail account I've had since 2006 is now very bad at filtering spam, it's annoying since I still use the account regularly

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    #24

    32 Things That Have No Reason To Exist In 2021 And Yet They Do Your race on forms. I'm so mixed I just check them all.

    lettersfrommeme , Alex Green Report

    Kira Okah
    Community Member
    4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Most ethnicity forms here don't have me as any option aside from "Other". Sometimes not even that and then make it required. Ew. Why do you need to know that I am Malay, company not allowed to discriminate based on ethnicity?

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    #25

    32 Things That Have No Reason To Exist In 2021 And Yet They Do Door to door sales people. If I want lawn care I’ll google it dammit!

    perdhapleybot , MART Report

    WilvanderHeijden
    Community Member
    4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    We used to have them. But that was back in the 1950's and 1960's. And they didn't try to sell idiotic stuff like lawn care.

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    #26

    32 Things That Have No Reason To Exist In 2021 And Yet They Do I work for USPS. Went to request a day off and the form required carbon paper to copy.

    bigmike2001-snake , Wikimedia.Commons Report

    #27

    32 Things That Have No Reason To Exist In 2021 And Yet They Do My adult acne

    pm_me_bat_facts , streetwindy Report

    Foxxy (The Original)
    Community Member
    4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I have noticed that since wearing masks I am breaking out a lot more, especially around my mouth and chin.

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    #28

    32 Things That Have No Reason To Exist In 2021 And Yet They Do Tax software in the US. Seriously should just be a simple form on the internet that takes 5 minutes.

    GatorBone69 , Andrés Moreira Report

    WilvanderHeijden
    Community Member
    4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Netherlands: Log in into a secure site. Check what the government has already filled out. Let the program figure out in which way you get the biggest refund, electronically sign the tax form and submit it. Takes 15 minutes, if you're a slow reader. Wait a few months to get your refund in your bank account. No charges, no fees.

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    #29

    32 Things That Have No Reason To Exist In 2021 And Yet They Do Gas stations charging 10 more cents per gallon for paying with a debit/credit card.

    mattjf22 , Skitterphoto Report

    Dorothy Parker
    Community Member
    4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The credit card companies charge them what amounts to ten cents on each gallon, or 2.5 percent.

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    #30

    32 Things That Have No Reason To Exist In 2021 And Yet They Do Lousy printers. It's like no one ever tried to build a good one and humanity just agreed they need to be louder than a Lambo for 2 minutes straight before they can print my Amazon return ticket.

    BrooklynNeinNein_ , rjp Report

    WilvanderHeijden
    Community Member
    4 years ago (edited) Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Again a matter of watching what you're buying. My old laserprinter just makes a humming noise that's barely noticeable while printing .

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    #31

    32 Things That Have No Reason To Exist In 2021 And Yet They Do Gas cans that seem deliberately designed to not work and that spill gasoline everywhere.

    Thin_Host , slavicdeath Report

    Chucky Cheezburger
    Community Member
    4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Yep...most can around here have some kind of vapor lock that makes it near impossible to use without spilling. Kinda defeats the purpose. On a side note, love the picture. I love my Jeep Cherokee.

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    #32

    32 Things That Have No Reason To Exist In 2021 And Yet They Do Having to call to make bill payments.

    Pixey873 , Anete Lusina Report

    Trillian
    Community Member
    4 years ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    How does this even work? Don‘t you have online banking?

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