Barclays Statement Machines

GTR_King

Agreed times change! 

Hardly anyone uses cheques nowadays! 

But this service not sure if many people used it etc! 

Must not be popular if they scrapping these statements machines! 

eskbanker

GTR_King said:

I know they are offering that service! 

But some people rather go branch to do their banking/get their statements their & then 

Sure, but such people don't have some sort of right to insist on every service continuing to be provided in exactly the same way ad infinitum - presumably Barclays have identified that the vast majority of their customers are either happy with the original statements sent to their homes or with online equivalents, to the extent that the few whose needs aren't met by those choices can use the postal facility instead of expecting a machine to be maintained in branch?

Section62

eskbanker said:

GTR_King said:

I know they are offering that service! 

But some people rather go branch to do their banking/get their statements their & then 

Sure, but such people don't have some sort of right to insist on every service continuing to be provided in exactly the same way ad infinitum - presumably Barclays have identified that the vast majority of their customers are either happy with the original statements sent to their homes or with online equivalents, to the extent that the few whose needs aren't met by those choices can use the postal facility instead of expecting a machine to be maintained in branch?

The notice on the machine I used implied the machine will remain and be available for other functions, but the ability to print statements from it will be stopped.  So presumably the reduction in maintenance will be limited to not needing to add paper to the machine quite so often.... but then if so few people are using them to print statements then I'm not sure this saving will register on Barclay's quarterly profits.

I just find it ironic that having spent the last decade telling people to use the machines in branch rather than speak to a human, Barclays are finally making a change which requires branch customers to speak to a human rather than using a machine.

GTR_King

I didn’t think of that, so if they are keeping the machines then if you want a statement there & then! You have to speak human,

which I thought they wanted you to use the machines instead of speaking to someone which I do find ironic! 

But not many people use this service! 

Rob5342

It's not really ironic, hardly anyone uses branches these days and the number of  people that use statement machines must be miniscule, so you csn see why they wouldn't bother any more (in the same way you won't find 126 film for sale in vety many places).

It's not just filling them up with paper, there is ink, spare parts, keeping the software up to date etc. I expect they kept them running while they could, but now they hsve just died a natural death like all outdated technology has. 

GTR_King

Rob5342 said:

It's not really ironic, hardly anyone uses branches these days and the number of  people that use statement machines must be miniscule, so you csn see why they wouldn't bother any more (in the same way you won't find 126 film for sale in vety many places).

It's not just filling them up with paper, there is ink, spare parts, keeping the software up to date etc. I expect they kept them running while they could, but now they hsve just died a natural death like all outdated technology has. 

So true they look so outdated! 

Best to get rid or move to self service Machines! 

Section62

Rob5342 said:

It's not really ironic, hardly anyone uses branches these days and the number of  people that use statement machines must be miniscule, so you csn see why they wouldn't bother any more (in the same way you won't find 126 film for sale in vety many places).

It's not just filling them up with paper, there is ink, spare parts, keeping the software up to date etc. I expect they kept them running while they could, but now they hsve just died a natural death like all outdated technology has. 

You've not used one yourself then?

No ink, they use thermal paper.  And as I said in the post you appear to be replying to, the machines (at least in the branch I visited last week) will be staying, so other maintenance tasks such as software updates will still be needed.

If they have 'died a natural death' then fair enough, but that doesn't appear to be the case.

As for hardly anyone using branches.... on a wet Thursday morning the small-town branch had around 10 customers in the queue for the single counter position which was open, and we all know that Nationwide have taken a contrary view about the value of branches, which presumably is based on some evidence that customers are still using them?

GTR_King

When I go to my local branch (when I needed to) it was filled with people of all ages!

Didn’t know they used thermal paper to print statements, so have no clue why they sacking this service unless they moving it to other parts of the branches! 

WillPS

Section62 said:

No ink, they use thermal paper.

It's not an endless roll of thermal paper tho, is it? It's a consumable item. It has to be stocked, distributed, installed etc etc. This isn't incredibly complicated stuff but it still represents complexity which can be cut.

Section62 said:

And as I said in the post you appear to be replying to, the machines (at least in the branch I visited last week) will be staying, so other maintenance tasks such as software updates will still be needed.

As a software engineer of 15 years, I can assure there is almost always a time/cost saving which can be achieved by sunsetting a feature within a wider service/project. It's actually pretty important to do stuff like this to ensure resource/budget is directed towards areas which will achieve the greatest ROI - otherwise your technology costs just balloon over time.

Even if a feature is no longer being updated there'll be an overhead associated with supporting it still; particularly if it's doing something in a manner a software/equipment vendor no longer supports (I have no idea if that is or is not the case here).

eskbanker

Section62 said:

eskbanker said:

GTR_King said:

I know they are offering that service! 

But some people rather go branch to do their banking/get their statements their & then 

Sure, but such people don't have some sort of right to insist on every service continuing to be provided in exactly the same way ad infinitum - presumably Barclays have identified that the vast majority of their customers are either happy with the original statements sent to their homes or with online equivalents, to the extent that the few whose needs aren't met by those choices can use the postal facility instead of expecting a machine to be maintained in branch?

The notice on the machine I used implied the machine will remain and be available for other functions, but the ability to print statements from it will be stopped.  So presumably the reduction in maintenance will be limited to not needing to add paper to the machine quite so often.... but then if so few people are using them to print statements then I'm not sure this saving will register on Barclay's quarterly profits.

Perhaps 'retained' would have been a better word than 'maintained' - unless there's been any Barclays document that explains their reason for withdrawing the service then OP's assumption that it's cost related doesn't seem unreasonable but remains speculative.  My point wasn't really majoring on cost though, and was more about the fundamental principle that a commercial business can essentially choose how it delivers its services, as long as it complies with industry regulations and wider consumer rights/equalities legislation, etc, so, unless anyone has a valid challenge on these grounds (which would necessitate evidencing that the postal facility isn't a reasonable and proportionate alternative), there doesn't really seem to be much point in getting worked up about this?

Out of curiosity, does anyone know whether Barclays' competitors offer equivalent facilities in branches?