HSBC closes 82 more branches

username

2 local branches are up for the chop near me, shame really, but I suspect it is probably down to the cost of rent/rates on the building vs the income/profit they make. One of them I can remember being dragged to as a kid, when it was Midland Bank and you could check the stocks live on a keypad and TV in the entrance hall.

They're also fairly large ones too, with the ground floor being the banking hall and upper floors as back offices or dedicted to premier. Although I have noticed that HSBC have an awful 'habit' of locking out their ATMs on some of their branches - and surprise surprise, fewer withdrawals on the ATMs as one of the reasons why the branch was closing!

Lumping all of the "everyday banking" into the post office is not great - very often I have found the experience is sub par.
 I have never been to main PO where has not been a queue several deep. Can you get a statement? No. Can you talk about your accounts? No. And I suspect that they do not do cheque image clearing so any cheques will take more days to clear, whereas the banks will have been enrolled and have the gear.

Also, add to the fact that the service at POs is very much a mixed bag - it's nice talking to Gwyneth in some village PO with a smile but others I have found are lacking in service.

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MDMD said:

General_Grant said:

KxMx said:

I actually prefer paying in cash at a Post Office, it's so quick all you need is a debit card.

In Branch you have to fill out a pay in slip which TBH I find old fashioned and wasteful. 

Maybe you haven't tried to pay in cash in a bank branch for quite a while.
You might find that you have to put your debit card into a card reader, enter your pin and hand over the money to the cashier.

Presumably you haven’t been in an HSBC branch? They don’t have card readers on the counter. Some of the automated paying in machines take cash with a debit card, but other than that you need a paying in slip. Even if you pay a cheque into a machine you need a paying in slip.

Do they still require you write a cheque or they fill in a weird counter cheque to make a counter withdrawal?

MDMD

username said:

One of them I can remember being dragged to as a kid, when it was Midland Bank and you could check the stocks live on a keypad and TV in the entrance hall.

I remember this! I used to love playing with the screen.

MDMD

dahj said:

MDMD said:

General_Grant said:

KxMx said:

I actually prefer paying in cash at a Post Office, it's so quick all you need is a debit card.

In Branch you have to fill out a pay in slip which TBH I find old fashioned and wasteful. 

Maybe you haven't tried to pay in cash in a bank branch for quite a while.
You might find that you have to put your debit card into a card reader, enter your pin and hand over the money to the cashier.

Presumably you haven’t been in an HSBC branch? They don’t have card readers on the counter. Some of the automated paying in machines take cash with a debit card, but other than that you need a paying in slip. Even if you pay a cheque into a machine you need a paying in slip.

Do they still require you write a cheque or they fill in a weird counter cheque to make a counter withdrawal?

I presume now they would point you to the cash machine. But the last time I saw someone withdraw cash over the counter was with my mum in about 1990 when she wrote a cheque payable to cash and took about 8 £5 notes for the week....