Deathwish of bank branches

steelman99

I live in a small market town which upto about 3 years ago had branches of all 4 of the main banks plus agency's for nationwide, halifax ect

we are now in a position where all the agency's have moved on HSBC closed last year , Nat west are closing this year , Barclays have reduced their opening hours to 2 days a week between 10am &3 pm.

Today I went into Lloyds to pay in some change from our piggy banks (Mrs & I have this thing where we put all our £2 coins, 20p's 2p's & 1p's into a piggy bank throughout the year, then in Jan , bag them up and use them ad a deposit for our holiday)

There was about £400 in around 25 bags , all correctly counted , when I handed them in I was told that it was now Lloyds policy to only accept 10 bags per customer per day in bagged coins

Apparently customers weren't notified of this , it just became the rules last November

Luckily I found a way to change it all to notes by a local shop keeper who was glad of the change - apparently they get charged by banks to get change

Went back to the branch and was informed by the jobsworth behind the counter that they were only there at a weekend to deal with complex transactions that could not be done by machine , so I had to pay my cash in by putting my card and the notes into this machine

Know it might not be all the bank staffs fault , but they certainly are doing the best to close their branches , by making it difficult to use the branch

both times I went into the branch ,the teller was sat behind the counter twiddling her thumbs , so it was not as though she was rushed off her feet

EarthBoy

steelman99 wrote: »

I was told that it was now Lloyds policy to only accept 10 bags per customer per day in bagged coins

Count yourself lucky, some banks will only accept 5 bags per day.

datlex

To be honest the last few times I have been into branches of HSBC, Barclays and Lloyds service has been fine. Mind you we have the good fortune here to have branches open until 5pm Mon to Fri and 4pm on a Sat. And folk are always in them. In Barclays there is one teller, but lots of machines which you can use to do most transactions, staff float to provide assistance when required. HSBC had a few tellers towards the back, but branch staff in the middle and comfy chairs to wait. Staff there had tablets to help with non cash matters. Same with Lloyds, staff were able to engage with customers without them needing to go up to the tellers via use of tablets. There are always people in those branches.

Zanderman

Taking in your loose change is hardly going to make a bank branch viable though is it?

PeacefulWaters

steelman99 wrote: »

I live in a small market town which upto about 3 years ago had branches of all 4 of the main banks plus agency's for nationwide, halifax ect

It's nine years since Halifax closed their agency network.

Today I went into Lloyds to pay in some change from our piggy banks (Mrs & I have this thing where we put all our £2 coins, 20p's 2p's & 1p's into a piggy bank throughout the year, then in Jan , bag them up and use them ad a deposit for our holiday)

When I worked for a bank I hated receiving this sort of transaction.

When I was a customer in a bank I hated standing behind the customer paying in change.

There was about £400 in around 25 bags , all correctly counted , when I handed them in I was told that it was now Lloyds policy to only accept 10 bags per customer per day in bagged coins

That's certainly a policy I'd support as a customer.

Apparently customers weren't notified of this , it just became the rules last November

A bit rum, you'd expect some signage somewhere.

Luckily I found a way to change it all to notes by a local shop keeper who was glad of the change - apparently they get charged by banks to get change

Excellent solution.

Went back to the branch and was informed by the jobsworth behind the counter that they were only there at a weekend to deal with complex transactions that could not be done by machine , so I had to pay my cash in by putting my card and the notes into this machine

You mean employee implementing company policy.

Know it might not be all the bank staffs fault , but they certainly are doing the best to close their branches , by making it difficult to use the branch

£400 in change will earn them £8 a year in net interest margin. If you withdraw it all again they make nothing. This is a ridiculously expensive service to offer that takes time and earns nothing for the business.

both times I went into the branch ,the teller was sat behind the counter twiddling her thumbs , so it was not as though she was rushed off her feet

Perhaps not. But the second a bus pulls up outside and a dozen people start queuing behind you, you'll look a bit annoying.

Flobberchops

"I live in a small market town..." really sums it up. You live in an area where it simply isn't economically viable to have fully-manned branches - air conditioned, heated and lit up like Vegas - open 6 days a week for your convenience, all with five counter tellers lined up so you don't have to suffer the indignity of queuing or using the machines. While it's no doubt disappointing to learn that things change and the way you bank may have to change to accommodate this, banks are businesses, and commercial decisions will occasionally upset a portion of their user base.

EachPenny

I can see both sides of the argument and have sympathy for some of steelman99's comments.

PeacefulWaters wrote: »

When I was a customer in a bank I hated standing behind the customer paying in change.

If the banks don't provide services customers want to use in branch then eventually there will be no branches and no queues to worry about. If the customer is respectful (e.g. allows others to go in front of them if the transaction will take a while) then I don't see the problem. It sounds like steelman99 has been careful to count the money and bag it up correctly, it should take no more than a few seconds to verify the amount of change in the bag and type the value into the computer - it shouldn't be harder or more time consuming than paying in a cheque.

PeacefulWaters wrote: »

£400 in change will earn them £8 a year in net interest margin. If you withdraw it all again they make nothing. This is a ridiculously expensive service to offer that takes time and earns nothing for the business.

People paying coins in gives the bank coins to pay out - and if they are charging businesses to give change then steelman99's coins would have generated income for the bank when they were withdrawn by the business. If people don't pay in coins then the bank has to make arrangements to deliver coins to the branch in secure vehicles with all the costs associated with that.

Flobberchops wrote: »

"I live in a small market town..." really sums it up. You live in an area where it simply isn't economically viable to have fully-manned branches - air conditioned, heated and lit up like Vegas - open 6 days a week for your convenience, all with five counter tellers lined up so you don't have to suffer the indignity of queuing or using the machines.

I don't think that is steelman99's point. They are saying that if the tellers are sitting there doing nothing, no queues of people, then it doesn't make sense for the staff to tell the customer to use the machine instead.

I have experienced the same kind of thing - my impression is counter staff are under pressure to tell customers to use the machines so the percentage of customers interacting with staff reduces. If the banks measure the number of transactions at the counter and see that number is declining then it give them the justification they are looking for to shut more branches down.

Flobberchops wrote: »

While it's no doubt disappointing to learn that things change and the way you bank may have to change to accommodate this, banks are businesses, and commercial decisions will occasionally upset a portion of their user base.

That's true. But banks spend millions on advertising and publicity to get new customers and to encourage existing customers to buy new products. Engaging your customer in conversation while they are doing a counter transaction is a sales opportunity - I have applied for products solely because a member of staff at the counter has said "Are you interested in...?".

I'm not suggesting it makes business sense for banks to employ additional staff to do this... but if they are paying staff to sit "twiddling their thumbs" then it would make more sense for them to be interacting with customers and demonstrating a willingness to give excellent customer service when the opportunity arises.

Yorkshire_Pud

Well if getting your piggy banks changed up in to a holiday deposit once a year is your idea of using a local bank no wonder they are closing. What a PITA customer;)

Like complaining when the village shop closes that you only ever buy a pint of milk from when you get snowed in.

I use my local banks in a meaningful way to help prevent them from closing, I've never taken a bag of coins in!;)

tempus_fugit

steelman99 wrote: »

both times I went into the branch ,the teller was sat behind the counter twiddling her thumbs , so it was not as though she was rushed off her feet

So she was effectively being paid to do nothing, hence why the branches are being closed. You've answered your own question.

hoc

There is a huge difference in the service offered by my local Lloyds and Barclays. Lloyds has by far the worst customer service of any bank/building society in our town (we have them all) and Barclays are the best among the big ones. Our Lloyds frontline staff is unprofessional and rude (ignoring customers, playing on phones, etc.). Unfortunately I have to maintain some business with Lloyds but they have lost the bulk of my custom over things like this so it does matter.

gardner1

steelman99 wrote: »

I live in a small market town which upto about 3 years ago had branches of all 4 of the main banks plus agency's for nationwide, halifax ect

we are now in a position where all the agency's have moved on HSBC closed last year , Nat west are closing this year , Barclays have reduced their opening hours to 2 days a week between 10am &3 pm.

Today I went into Lloyds to pay in some change from our piggy banks (Mrs & I have this thing where we put all our £2 coins, 20p's 2p's & 1p's into a piggy bank throughout the year, then in Jan , bag them up and use them ad a deposit for our holiday)

There was about £400 in around 25 bags , all correctly counted , when I handed them in I was told that it was now Lloyds policy to only accept 10 bags per customer per day in bagged coins

Apparently customers weren't notified of this , it just became the rules last November

Luckily I found a way to change it all to notes by a local shop keeper who was glad of the change - apparently they get charged by banks to get change

Went back to the branch and was informed by the jobsworth behind the counter that they were only there at a weekend to deal with complex transactions that could not be done by machine , so I had to pay my cash in by putting my card and the notes into this machine

Know it might not be all the bank staffs fault , but they certainly are doing the best to close their branches , by making it difficult to use the branch

both times I went into the branch ,the teller was sat behind the counter twiddling her thumbs , so it was not as though she was rushed off her feet

Get used to it i also live in small market town 15 years ago we had Lloyds,Barclays.Hsbc,Tsb......Mercantile BS,Universal BS plus agency for Halifax
We now have Tsb