Bank or Building Society?

Nasqueron

boingy said:

Nasqueron said:

boingy said:

I find it bizarre that any bank or BS branch would refuse to let a customer pay in money over the counter. Isn't that what they are there for? 

I get that they want to close branches but while a branch is still open they should let people do their banking. Imagine working in an organisation where you are basically told to dissuade customers from using your services, thus doing yourself out of a job. That's got to be demoralising. 

It means no issues with miscounting or complaints by customers and means they can deal with issues that cannot be done remotely or automatically. Bank staff messing around weighing coins or counting notes and storing them means they can't deal with someone else, while a machine that can do all the process in seconds saves time for everyone except for the person who refuses to use technology 

It's absolutely nothing to do with fear of complaints or other "issues". It's to do with finding a reason to justify closing branches because "no-one uses the counter service any more". Here is a daft parallel. Some years ago the BBC wanted to retire Top of the Pops because it had become too expensive to make. They knew that just cutting it would cause lots of bad publicity so they moved it from Thursday night prime time to Sunday early evening grave shift. Then a bit later they killed it off completely and cited the "fact" that it had lost too many viewers. An easy game to play and one that all of the banks are playing, even Nationwide if you look beyond their advert claims.

Closing bank = cannot access the cash deposit machine in the bank that the staff are telling customers to use (as they cannot pay in coins at an ATM outside). We don't need outlandish conspiracies for this, banks are a commercial operation and can shut branches if they want. It's far safer for bank staff to not have cash lying around or run the risk of miscounts and complaints

People can pay in coins and notes at a PO for pretty much every UK bank if they want to. People who want to cling to cash or physically paying in cheques in a digital world still have that option, plus banking hubs.

flaneurs_lobster

I do sympathise with the OP, no-one should be forced to use the annoying machines especially if they suffer from anxiety issues and a counter service is available.

I find that I might have a cheque or cash to pay into my account maybe 3-4 times a year. I have made it a personal quest to never use the machines and to inveigle my way past the counter service gatekeeper.

Inventing a physical disability is a favorite (dodgy eyesight (actually true), arthritic fingers, dyslexia), complete machine phobia etc. You can be quite creative if you try.

Last resort is simply to say "I want to talk to a person" over and over until they give in.

Nasqueron

flaneurs_lobster said:

I do sympathise with the OP, no-one should be forced to use the annoying machines especially if they suffer from anxiety issues and a counter service is available.

I find that I might have a cheque or cash to pay into my account maybe 3-4 times a year. I have made it a personal quest to never use the machines and to inveigle my way past the counter service gatekeeper.

Inventing a physical disability is a favorite (dodgy eyesight (actually true), arthritic fingers, dyslexia), complete machine phobia etc. You can be quite creative if you try.

Last resort is simply to say "I want to talk to a person" over and over until they give in.

Lying to and harassing staff in branch is a good way to get your account closed

Rob5342

Why go to all that hassle instead of simply paying the cheque in on your banking app? It's like phoning up BT and insisting you talk to someone to tell you what the time is instead of just looking at a clock. 

Indout96

People can pay in coins and notes at a PO for pretty much every UK bank if they want to. People who want to cling to cash or physically paying in cheques in a digital world still have that option, plus banking hubs.

Our local Post office (we are a main city not a small village) opens at 10.00am, shuts at 3.30pm and no longer opens Saturdays, not so great for anyone who needs to go to work.

TheBanker

Indout96 said:

People can pay in coins and notes at a PO for pretty much every UK bank if they want to. People who want to cling to cash or physically paying in cheques in a digital world still have that option, plus banking hubs.

Our local Post office (we are a main city not a small village) opens at 10.00am, shuts at 3.30pm and no longer opens Saturdays, not so great for anyone who needs to go to work.

Those hours are similar to most banks these days. And quite a few banks don't open the counter at all on Saturdays.

However in this part of the country it's different. Our main town centre PO is open 9 - 6 weekdays and 9 - 5 on Saturdays. Within a mile there is a branch open from 7am - 9pm Monday - Saturday and 8am - 8pm on Sundays, this one where the PO counter is attached to the retail shop so the shop assistant can do PO transactions as well as general sales.

I imagine most people who need to go to work aren't messing about with cash - they'll get paid into their bank account, their bills will go out by direct debit, and their cash needs can be met by an ATM.

Indout96

My wage is indeed credited to my Bank and most of it immediately transferred to several on line only banks, I am certainly no technophobe. However we ran a dance business for 22 years on top of main jobs and that was 100% cash which needed to be paid in. We no longer do this but attend several other classes / social which are all cash only. there is still a need for cash and the ability to get it in to a bank (we had to use a building society as it was the only viable option) Our Bank like the OP whilst open on Saturday do not want to actually deal with banking at the counters, only selling extras
The dance business was an partnership for tax reporting so no need to be using (and paying for) a business banking account.

eskbanker

Indout96 said:

My wage is indeed credited to my Bank and most of it immediately transferred to several on line only banks, I am certainly no technophobe. However we ran a dance business for 22 years on top of main jobs and that was 100% cash which needed to be paid in. We no longer do this but attend several other classes / social which are all cash only. there is still a need for cash and the ability to get it in to a bank (we had to use a building society as it was the only viable option) Our Bank like the OP whilst open on Saturday do not want to actually deal with banking at the counters, only selling extras

But if you turned up at your bank on a Saturday wanting to deposit some cash, was it actually a problem to be directed to a machine to do so?

Indout96 said:

The dance business was an partnership for tax reporting so no need to be using (and paying for) a business banking account.

Academic now, but chances are that the Ts & Cs of your bank account would have said otherwise, so if your bank was prepared to allow business use of a personal account then that would have been a concession, consciously or otherwise....

Barkin

TheBanker said:

Indout96 said:

People can pay in coins and notes at a PO for pretty much every UK bank if they want to. People who want to cling to cash or physically paying in cheques in a digital world still have that option, plus banking hubs.

Our local Post office (we are a main city not a small village) opens at 10.00am, shuts at 3.30pm and no longer opens Saturdays, not so great for anyone who needs to go to work.

Those hours are similar to most banks these days. And quite a few banks don't open the counter at all on Saturdays.

These days? I'm fairly certain those are the exact times that the counters were staffed when I opened my first bank account 40-something years ago.

Ah, the good old days... 

TheBanker

Indout96 said:

My wage is indeed credited to my Bank and most of it immediately transferred to several on line only banks, I am certainly no technophobe. However we ran a dance business for 22 years on top of main jobs and that was 100% cash which needed to be paid in. We no longer do this but attend several other classes / social which are all cash only. there is still a need for cash and the ability to get it in to a bank (we had to use a building society as it was the only viable option) Our Bank like the OP whilst open on Saturday do not want to actually deal with banking at the counters, only selling extras
The dance business was an partnership for tax reporting so no need to be using (and paying for) a business banking account.

Would it be viable to run a dance class on a cash only basis these days? Or would you find a large number of customers ended up oweing you money as they didn't have cash on them? I don't attend dance classes, but even the smallest businesses I use now accept cards or bank transfers. I pay my gardener and window cleaner by bank transfer, and I buy ice creams with my bank card.

When we do charity collections/retirement collections etc at work, we get hardly any cash. Everyone wants to pay electronically. This despite the fact that I work for a bank and we have a bank branch (with staffed counter!) and a bunch of ATMs in our reception area.