Bank practices or branch practices that have ceased....

MABLE

I can remember my first bank was National Provisional later to become National Westminster.  In those days if you wanted a bank statement you would go into your branch and they typed it up while you waited.

Rob5342

eskbanker said:

ChirpyChicken said:

Not a bank practice but the days when getting cash back at super markets was a thing! On ya switch card 

I believe it's still a thing, but less widespread now:

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskUK/comments/1amoyh2/do_shops_still_do_cashback/

I thought you could still do it but I haven't done it for years. It tends to be the opposite for me now, my daughter gets some cash for her birthday and wants to spend it at Amazon, so she gives it to me, I transfer the money to her and use the cash when I go to the shop.

TheBanker

Rob5342 said:

eskbanker said:

ChirpyChicken said:

Not a bank practice but the days when getting cash back at super markets was a thing! On ya switch card 

I believe it's still a thing, but less widespread now:

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskUK/comments/1amoyh2/do_shops_still_do_cashback/

I thought you could still do it but I haven't done it for years. It tends to be the opposite for me now, my daughter gets some cash for her birthday and wants to spend it at Amazon, so she gives it to me, I transfer the money to her and use the cash when I go to the shop.

Link (the ATM network operator) are actually trying to make cashback more widely available, to make sure areas that no longer have bank branches/Post Offices/free to use ATMs still have access to cash. They are aiming this at smaller shops.

Until a few years ago, giving cashback without a purchase was a regulated activity. It was not lawful for a shop to give cashback without a purchase unless they were authorised by the FCA. The 2021 Financial Services Act removed the requirement for FCA authorisation with the aim of making cashback more widely available, to help communities access cash as their local banks and ATMs closed dow

A thought that occured to me was that when I worked in a branch the bank was much more concerned about making sure the branch was open when it should be - even though the impact of closing it would often have been minimal as there were lots of other branches in the same town. I remember several 100+ mile trips when I went to another region to help out during various staff shortages. My older colleague told me that back in the 1970s she was sent to a seaside town to work in their branch for a couple of weeks, being put up in a hotel at the bank's expense. The seaside branch needed extra staff due to the number of holidaymakers going in to get cash.

This occured to me because I just saw a facebook post from a bank saying some of their branches in Scotland and Northern Ireland are closed today due to the red weather warning. I don't think we would have given up so easily in the past... although I recognise that safety is important and today most customers won't be as badly affected by the branch being closed given there are other ways to access funds.

MABLE

DasTechniker said:

Access credit card - your flexible friend. Remember him?

Access was very good at taking your money at high rates of interest.

ChirpyChicken

MABLE said:

DasTechniker said:

Access credit card - your flexible friend. Remember him?

Access was very good at taking your money at high rates of interest.

yes 25% or such like

EarthBoy

MABLE said:

DasTechniker said:

Access credit card - your flexible friend. Remember him?

Access was very good at taking your money at high rates of interest.

Only if you didn't pay your balance in full.  I had an Access card for years, and I didn't find the interest rate any higher than the few Visa cards around, which mainly meant Barclaycard back then.