Banks

[Anita Bensoussane]

Forum posts about new technology (Windows 11 and barcoded stamps) reminded me of a change that has taken place in banking - or at least in the HSBC. Recently I went into the HSBC as I wanted to change a £20 note into four £5 notes. The counters were closed but there was a member of staff near the entrance so I spoke to her. She said the HSBC would no longer be providing a counter service (even after the lifting of all Covid restrictions) and that there was no way of changing money via the machines. She suggested I buy something from a shop in order to get small change (which causes shopkeepers great inconvenience and may not even be possible now, as some shops are only accepting card payments). Alternatively, she said I could try the Post Office (our Post Office is only small and has long queues as it is, and I seriously doubt that they keep loads of banknotes on the premises).

I thought of paying the £20 into my account through the machines and then doing four separate withdrawals of £5 each. However, the machines only had £20 notes available for withdrawal (as is increasingly the case). Among other things I need small change for the local market where I buy items like fruit, cheese, herbs and spices, binbags and secondhand books, often spending no more than £1 - £2 at a stall. Only cash is accepted and, for obvious reasons, the stallholders prefer customers to have more-or-less the right money.

I was wondering whether it's only the HSBC who no longer change money (they've gone downhill terribly since the days of "Come and talk, talk to the Midland...Come and talk, to the listening bank!"). Would I be able to get this service at another bank?

[Lucky Star]

Would I be able to get this service at another bank?

I wouldn't know as I no longer have any banks in my town. They have all, one by one, shut down and pulled out, referring us to the branches in the larger town about six or seven miles away. This means I have to spend money on either train fare or petrol and parking if I want to visit the bank.

To be honest all of the banks now seem to be actively withdrawing from personal interaction with their customers. Whether it be by closing down local branches or by limiting the services provided by the remaining branches it seems they are going all out to persuade us to switch to online, telephone ort mobile app banking. This of course saves them a fortune in property costs and staffing. We are also slowly but surely moving towards a cashless society. It's all very irritating but I really don't see that much can be done unless we are willing to close our accounts and inform them of why we are doing so; i.e. our dissatisfaction with their practices.

[Katharine]

My main bank in town is still open, or at least it was last time I looked, but their service isn't great. Whenever I've gone in there are only one or two counters open, and a member of staff wandering along the queue trying to get customers to use the self-service machines. The bank I had to use for my last place of work only had one counter open and there was always such a long queue, that I reluctantly used the machines for transactions, as I was on the company's time.

A couple of local branches of banks have shut, one in particular was always busy, so I can't see how they could justify that.

Thankfully, our local post office is brilliant, so I normally use that instead. As long as I didn't do it too often, I'm sure they wouldn't have any problem changing a large note for me, but normally if I'm withdrawing cash from there, I would ask to have a mix of notes (or even coins on occasions).

I find the attitude of banks today particularly annoying considering that a few years ago, I used to get interest on my account, now I get nothing, and they offer a poor service!

I think perhaps the old man in The Mystery of Holly Lane had the right idea.

[Boodi 2]

I find the attitude of banks today particularly annoying considering that a few years ago, I used to get interest on my account, now I get nothing, and they offer a poor service!

The situation is the same here in Germany and in addition to the lack of interest on accounts and very poor service, the bank charges and fees have increased dramatically over the last few years, with the result that we closed two accounts in order to save money. I also gave up my credit card as I refuse to pay an annual fee of 48 Euro for something that I hardly ever use, especially as previously credit cards were free (unless of course one failed to pay back the amount "borrowed" each month). Our bank also gave customers a gift of a rather nice calendar every Christmas, but that has also been abolished since Christmas 2020, which is rather a pity. Hopefully they won't consider introducing a charge or fee for using the ATM to withdraw cash!!!

[Hannah]

Yes, fees are rising here in Germany (while services decline) too, probably mainly due to the zero interest-rate policy of the European Central Bank. I'm now at a direct bank as there were no advantages to other banks.
I have to withdraw at least 50€ at an ATM (except if there is less money in the account) but at least it's free as long as I go to the ATMs of certain banks. I rarely use ATMs though. You can withdraw up to 200€ at almost all German supermarkets now if you buy items for at least 10€ and pay with the Girocard. So I mainly use that because I can then withdraw less than 50€ if needed.

[Boodi 2]

Good point Hannah! I recently started withdrawing money at the supermarket too, which is a great service. I am old-fashioned and don't like to be without some cash in my pocket and I also need it when I go to the local market every Wednesday.

[Wolfgang]

I changed to a direct bank years ago, there were no fees and interests were higher. All in all I think their service is still more customer friendly than the other ones although conditiones have become significantly worse.
But: as far as I know all banks in Germany charge people if they store money there which is higher than a given amount. Actual it would be a financial disaster if people were that smart and removed all their money which was charged. The banks would break down.
I also see the policy of the ECB critically. I would like to know Ms. Lagarde's answer if in summer the inflation rate is still about 5% (which I suspect because business says it will have to make customers pay for higher production costs). Ms. Lagarde stated some weeks ago that they (ECB) won't adjust the interest setting because they expect the inflation rate will drop significantly until summer. I just hope she won't say they expect that the rate will drop until winter.
I'm also no fan of the ECB buying stock. Their policy is to buy reliable ones which practically means they're buying the ones of companies which are too big to fail (as far as I know). So they provided the money for those companies to expand at the cost of others, which is what smaller companies complained about. And what will happen when the the ECB starts to remove their money from this market? Do they really expect that this won't have any effect on the markets?

[pete9012S]

My gripe with the Natwest is that every single time I pay money in or use the counter service I get emailed to fill in a questionnaire.

Also, there there is a lady at the entrance who trys to make me use an automated machine inside the bank instead of seeing a human - I always decline. The one time I agreed the machine broke down!

I have always replied on the questionnaire that I would love more counter staff, better weekend opening hours and no questionnaire's every single time I have used the bank.

I have never had a reply or acknowledgement.

Otherwise I love my bank!

[Anita Bensoussane]

Thanks for sharing your experiences, everyone. John (Lucky Star), it's alarming to hear that all your local branches have closed down.

I don't mind not receiving interest as it used to amount to just a few pence per year, but not having a counter service is miserable and inconvenient. I could ditch my bank for another one but it's not worth the hassle if they're all going to go the same way before too long.

I think perhaps the old man in The Mystery of Holly Lane had the right idea.

I'd love to see what my workplace would say if I asked to be paid in cash!

[Barnard]

My local town of East Grinstead still has Lloyds, HSBC, Barclays and Nat West banks. There is also a Halifax but this is closing next month. Compared to many places, we are quite well off.

[Boatbuilder]

I'm not sure how many banks there are in Lowestoft as I don't use any of them. My bank's (Co-op) nearest branch is Norwich and I think the last time I had to go there was in 2008 when I wanted to pay in a sizeable cheque and didn't want to use my usual method through the Post Office. My actual branch is in Stockport, Cheshire, from when I opened it nearly 40 years ago. I haven't been in there since 1990.

I don't tend to pay for many things using cash and if I do need cash there is a Co-op ATM within a couple of hundred yards from home at the Co-op supermarket.

I get about £20 or so a year 'interest' on my current account from the Co-op Bank but it's not really interest. They pay £1 a month if your account meets a certain criteria, and 2p for every debit card transaction up to 60 each month. It's not a lot, but better in my pocket than theirs. Originally they paid £4 a month plus 5p per transaction up to 30 a month, but in the past two years it has changed twice to the current level. I wonder how long it will stay at the current rate.

I've just had a look online and there are still 5 banks in Lowestoft: Nat West, Barclays, Lloyds, HSBC and Santander. They are all close to each other along the same road.

[Fiona1986]

I have no problem using the machines in a bank to withdraw/pay in etc but it's a bit silly that they haven't given them the basic functionality of exchanging denominations. As an unfortunate purchaser of a dead parrot might say - "it's scarcely a replacement then, is it?"

A nearly cashless society is a total pain for places that are cash only - I know this because the library is cash only. Customers print things then try to pay with cards, assuming we take them as just about everywhere else does. As we don't have card facilities we have to send them down two floors to the cash machine to withdraw money. Then they reappear with £10 or £20 to pay for £1 or less of prints... I've taken to telling people to pay us the next time they're in because my float is only £25 and I can't break a note every time!

[Moonraker]

I have no problem using the machines in a bank to withdraw/pay in etc

I can now pay in cheques to my account by using the HSBC phone app.

[Hannah]

I'm curious: Are cheques still a thing that is in common use in the UK?
I think in theory they exist in Germany but they aren't used anymore. I was surprised when I was in France in 2009/10 that they used cheques a lot. Unfortunately I got a very high cheque with a refund from my accomodation only when I was back in Germany - it cost me quite some fees to get that money into my bank account. If I recall correctly it was especially expensive because it was not a German cheque - despite both France and Germany having the Euro.

[Katharine]

I don't know how common they are, but I certainly use cheques wherever possible.

One place I definitely still use a cheque is I have a building society account that I pay into as and when I can. Some months it's only £10, but every time I went in with my £10 note I had to fill in a paying in form. As a glasses wearer I found it awkward enough as my vision is at that in between stage when it comes to looking at things at certain distances, so I found it difficult to actually see the form properly. When Covid came along it was even worse as my glasses would be steaming up and I couldn't see anything! Eventually I discovered that if I wrote a cheque to myself from my bank account, I could just pay that straight into my building society without the need to fill in any forms. Needless to say I've being doing that ever since. Once or twice I've had bigger sums to pay in, so again a cheque is much easier than me having to go to a bank, withdrawing say £50, only to pay it straight into somewhere else.

I regularly pay for mine and my daughter's termly dancing lessons by cheque. As far as I'm aware, the dancing school doesn't do on-line transactions, and I'd much rather pay by a cheque than in cash.