Banks / Cash Machines

ulfilias

Hi There,

Not sure if this is the best place for this post, but i'm certainly angry with the audacity of what is happening with the cash machine networks.

Don't know if many have seen the odd news article about the cash points that charge you for transactions, such as the LINK machines in news agents....I personaly refuse to use them, unless its an emergancy and even then very reluctantly.

Anyway take a look at this news story...this is certainly something for martin and this web site to make more people aware of and mobilised before too much of this takes over and we're in a situation where we can't do anything about it.

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/economics/story/0,11268,1378451,00.html

Vote with your feet guys, don't use 'em, if they arn't managing to rip people off they will stop.

Cya,
Lee

tonyivb

I see where you are coming from, but there does seem to be alot of double standards and hot air around the cash machine charging debate.

As is the case with many other 'free' services the actual cost of providing that service is built into or offset by other charges. With people being more demanding on % rates this has eroded some of the profits that banks could use to offset the cost of ATMs.

At the moment there is no clear incentive for banks to offer free cash machine facilities... the battle to lure in new customers is focused on service, % rates (savings & loans) and other freebies such as travel insurance.

When was the last time you heard of someone choosing a particular account/bank just because it offered 'free' cash withdrawals?

Yes it is 'our' money, but they provide the actual reddies through THEIR equipment and infrastructure. Most of the time 'our' money has been paid in electronically by DD/SO from an employer so we've never even physically had it until it is drawn out of a machine. I don't see many people being upset about being charged to print their digital photos (OK, a bit of an extreme analogy).

Think about how much it must cost to supply & maintain that equipment (even more so after the Belfast robbery!). In an ever increasing strive for cost reduction it must seem very attractive for the Bank's bean-counters to pass on this responsibility to someone else.

The Government will do nothing to stop ATM charging as there is a valid business case for it, but I wouldn't be surprised to see some headline chasing by introducing some ill-thought loophole ridden legislation.

I could go on but I hope you get what I'm talking about?

chugalug

Its ok for those of us who have a choice about the matter but there is a problem for those who have their pension, JSA etc etc paid into their bank account like it or not. For these people (and believe me I've been there) its extortionate to be charged anything between 1.75 and 5.00 to take out 10.00 maybe two or three times a week. My opinion is that we are now in a society where most transactions are done by plastic (when was the last time you wrote a cheque in a shop?) so the choice is not there. Once upon a time you could cash your giro and make it last (or not) now you have to have a bank account whether you like it or not and if you happen to live in an area with no bank (or increasingly no post office) you have to use these machines. Thats the gripe!!

crana999

You don't have to be quite such a victim about it. For example, take out £30 once a week instead of £10 3 times a week and exercise self-control with it.. try and get cashback or use debit cards etc when you can so you don't need to get as much cash out, and so on.

Poppy9

I think we should all go back to writing cheques just to P' the banks off.  Many small retailers will not accept debit/credit cards as they have to hand over a monthly fee and %age to the banks for accepting them.  Also with the introduction of PIN they need extra equipment permanently on line.  However they will usually take cheques as they just pay a small sum (if any at all as many banks now offer free business banking) per deposit (which could be 100 cheques).

Another good idea is to internet bank and make sure you leave virtually no money in your current account as it's earning no interest for you but plenty for the bank.  Transfer it to a savings account and just put back what you need, when you need it.

Also meant to say that at a motorway service station there was a cash point. There was no sign saying if you had to pay to use so I input my card. It then told me I would have to pay £1.75 to withdraw money so I cancelled. I notice on my bank statement that it had generated a charge of £1.75 and a credit of £1.75. Just think how much hassle we could cause these companies if we kept cancelling transactions and generating two charges each time coming back to £0

chugalug

crana999 - with all due respect no one was being a 'victim' about anything. The point I was making (whilst trying to empathise with others) was that some people do not have choices or access to the services that most of us take for granted. For example in our local co-op there is a cash machine, the only local one. For this reason they will not give cash back but the machine charges. Sometimes you need cash and true you could make one withdrawal to last the week and yes you could exercise self control but sometimes that isnt so easy as we all know. We all rely on bank accounts and plastic but we also know that if we dont have the buying power to shop around for our services we get what we are given. ie if we have a low income or a bad credit rating we are at a disadvantage in the market. These are the people the banks have 'over a barrel' and probably the ones that pay a disproportionately high price for their services. ie extortionate interest rates and high charges for accessing their cash. Thats not being a victim thats being at a disadvantage. Merry Christmas

16011996

can i just say, my granddad changed his account so he banks with one that you can use at a post office, and writes a cheque for his money, therefore gets charged nothing. if you think about when and where you are going to need cash, this doesn't need to be a problem.

Poppy9

I think this is a problem for a small group now but it will hit us all eventually.

Post Offices have limited openning hours and many rural have closed and now the suburban ones are closing. The number of bank branches is dwindling fast not just outside the towns but in the towns as well.

I think banks have a duty to provide us with easier access to our money and this may become the new battle of the banks. Free cash withdrawl at more places may be what wins customers. The public though need to get the message across that we are not happy at paying to take out our own money.

16011996

good point, i hadn't thought of some of those.

MarkyMarkD

This issue IS very over-blown, in the press and by Nationwide in its press releases.

OK, there are many more charging ATMs. But also there are more free ATMs.

Very few ATMs indeed have gone from free to charging. Most of the new charging ones are in more remote locations where it is simply not financially viable to provide a free machine. And they are generally supplementary to the existing free machines, rather than in their place.

Anyone who is on benefits and has to be paid via a bank account can get the money out free at a post office, if they choose one of the many free accounts which can be operated at the post office.

Post offices may "have limited opening hours" and some may be closing, but there are many times as many post offices as there are banks from all the banks put together. They are normally open 9 - 5.30 in the week and Saturday mornings.

If you are a benefit claimant who doesn't work, I think you can manage to turn up at the post office - EXACTLY as you had to do when you got a giro cheque - to get the cash from the account. What exactly is supposed to have changed which makes this HARDER for people? Er ... nothing. Just that now, you can choose to take the money in smaller amounts rather than once a fortnight.

If the government produces some knee-jerk legislation on this (and I very much doubt they will, although with their track record on knee-jerks I am not 100% sure) all that will happen is that charging ATMs will disappear. Consumer choice will be diminished, not improved. No charging ATMs will become free ATMs.

The analogy with printing digital photos WAS a good one. When you withdraw money, if you are charged, it's for the service of providing an ATM with money in it where and when you want to use it. You are not paying for the money, which is yours anyway. There's no reason why banking SHOULD be free - it's a service like any other - and free banking (as previously stated) is paid for in other ways e.g. by paying c**p interest rates on current accounts, which people are no longer willing to tolerate.

crana999

If you are a benefit claimant who doesn't work, I think you can manage to turn up at the post office - EXACTLY as you had to do when you got a giro cheque - to get the cash from the account.  What exactly is supposed to have changed which makes this HARDER for people?  Er ... nothing.  Just that now, you can choose to take the money in smaller amounts rather than once a fortnight.

I guess it's important to remember that since they switched to the direct payments system, many most POs have closed.

(and just to be really nitpicky, although you didn't say so very bluntly it sounded a bit like you were saying "if you're not working why would you have a problem turning up at the PO (even if they had limited opening times etc) - sorry if I misunderstood you there..

anyway, I just wanted to make the point that a lot of people are on benefits if they have to look after disabled relatives, for example. just because they don't "work" in that they aren't in paid employment doesn't mean they are free and easy to turn up at the post office any time.