SINGAPORE - At first glance, it's another of those tiresome encounters you can have at a bank when good service seems to go out the window: You want to send money to another account but the teller refuses to help you.

You then ask to see the manager and demand that the transfer be approved because you are sending the money to help someone who needs it urgently. But your plea still falls on deaf ears because the manager, too, makes it plain that the transfer will not be made.