Have your say on cash machines

Lotta_Littlies

Done.

Lotta

MORPH3US

Its not so much the fact that these stupid machines charge for the convienience, its the fact that:

a) they charge extortionate ammounts
b) they are very sneaky about it
c) they have led to a decline in free cash machines provided by banks!!!

M

raywoodhams

Couldnt agree more morph3us. As a matter of principle i would never use a machine that charges, but there are people who have little choice.

Over years banks have reduced their staffing and closed branches to save costs. In part this has been justified by teling us that cash machines are cheaper and more convenient. - Now the crunch- we are committed to the machine and they impose charges, convreniently forgetting the previous savings.

MORPH3US

And how annoying is it when you find a machine, can't see anything about charges so think it must be free, queue up for 10 minutes, card in, pin in, select withdraw £20 or whatever and just as its about to pay out you get the "WARNING, this machine will charge you £2.50 for this withdrawal"

Then you have 10 seconds to think "bu**ar, do I want to continue, can I be bothered finding another machine, how far away is it, will I have to queue again, is it worth the £2.50"

If they had a HUGE sign saying "This machine charges" then I wouldn't go near it in the first place.

SAP_Saver

PBA wrote:

Do you care to name some names? Which big names have stopped giving cashback?

Ember Inns... My three local pubs are owned by Ember Inns and up until a couple of months ago they gave cashback at the bar, since installing a £2.75 fee charging ATM they have ceased giving cashback... unhappy was I!

All in all they are not the worst thang in the world but I think £2.75 a pop is a lot! maybe £0.50 would be more reasonable...

Heinz

Living in a village, it's easy for me to say but I never use an ATM now (even though there is a 'free' one outside the small Co-op nearby) because I can use my ATM card at my local Sub Post Office.

Apart from the fact it's safer (no checking over the shoulder for 'undesirables' or checking for a fake machine front or pinhole camera recording my PIN entry), the Sub Postmaster makes a small amount whenever I do so. They have on-the-counter chip & PIN machines (identical to the ones in supermarkets) which pensioners now use for drawing their pensions and which are easy to shield from the view of other people in the queue.

I consider it benefits everyone!

tin

As far as I can see cash machines exist so the bank can reduce staff and save money. They should be remembering that (particularly in cases where they sell on cash machine sites to private operators).

One thing I have noticed is when I have been to charging cash machines, then pressed cancel when it informs me I will be charged, the money goes out of my account (plus charge) and then back in as a correction. Does doing this debit/cancellation cost the machine provider the same as a sucessful transaction (presumably via LINK)? If so then I would urge everyone to use these cash machines as regularly as possible, cancel at the point of confirmation, and put these people out of business! Then we can get back to the old way

I'd also urge everyone as strongly as possible to completely boycott anywhere that has replaced its free cash machine(s) with a charging one - and if possible tell them that is what you're doing and why. That might mean never going to a motorway service station again, but hey they're not places for an MSEr anyway......

Stoneface_2

ATM charges? HSBC posted £11 billion profit. It takes 5 days after the bank transfers money before depositing in your recipient's account................what did the bank do with it? Unauthorised O/D £20, Letter re your account £20, now a charge to get at your money.They are the biggest ripp off merchants going, (next to the oil companies and the Government but don't get me started on that thread..........)I don't apologise for my statement, they are ripping us off!

kittiwoz

When you put your money in the bank the banks use that money to make investments which return profit to them. In exchange they offer you interest and serices the most important of which is being able to get at your money easily. Considering the very low rate of interest typically paid on current accounts it seems an unfair exchange to have to travel three miles or to pay in order to get access to your money. I think banks should provide a network of free cash machines in villages. A lot of small branches have been closed as a cost cutting excercise and they have done nothing to replace the most basic service they provided.

KenK_3

aubergine wrote:

I feel really strongly about this. We had a free cash machine, which we used regularly, at our local petrol station, owned by our bank, the Bank of Scotland. Then the Bank of Scotland sold off lots of remote cash machines for lots of money to a private company ...

I was employed by Bank of Scotland at the time they introduced ATMs in petrol stations (I don't work for them now). I know it cost a lot of money and a lot of hassle to do so. I expect, like any business, they did it in the hope of making money from it - in this case, from the Link fees of non-BofS customers using the machines. Who can tell whether the whole exercise including the later sell-off made a profit, broke even, or actually cost them money.

If the choice is between a fee-charging ATM or no ATM at all, which would people prefer?