What Is The Point Of banks?

[PillowRice]

I've been thinking for a while that banks don't want human customers. The latest in the rage inducing and frankly astounding WTFery is that my frail little old mum, who is nearly 90, trundled all the way to her bank's head office today to transfer some money and was, eventually, told they wouldn't do it.

She had received a rather scrappy looking letter a few weeks ago purporting to be from a woman saying if she needed any help she should phone the mobile number given. It could have been sent by anyone with a printer and I wasn't convinced it was genuine so I suggested the next time she went into the bank to check with them.

After a good 20 minute wait (during which the bouncer asked her what she wanted to do and how much she wanted to transfer - why does he need to know that?) she was eventually taken to a booth and thought she'd get the letter checked first. The teller glanced at it and said it was legitimate. Then she asked what mum wanted to do today and when she said to transfer money the teller said no. I don't know whether mum asked why but she wasn't given a reason even if she did.

WTF is the point of being a head office if you don't do basic banking?

What bank is it? My 89-yr-old dad banks with Barclays and Nationwide. Barclays are ok but Nationwide are fab, branches everywhere and super helpful staff. He’s walked in and done big transfers with no problems. Barclays are helpful but they don’t have nearly as many branches. If you can stand to do the admin I’d see if you can move all her money to Nationwide - it’s a lot easier than it used to be

General comment here: it is all very well pp saying "but my 105 year old great granny uses internet banking with no issue, get with the times" are being horribly disingenuous.

My mum, for eg, was fine with internet banking until she wasn't. For complicated reasons although i have a POV registered i can't do internet banking for her, so she is now stuck because she can't do it any more. It is not necessary to give a reason.

My neighbour's son can never do internet banking because while he is able to live alone and can handle many things, the internet isn't one of them. And so he needs to go to a branch, and he is fine doing that and his bank are great.

People don't have to go in to details about why they don't use internet banking, any more than they should feel pushed to disclose hidden disabilities when using priority seats on buses etc.

Running domestic no-fee banking costs most banks far far far more than it gains them. They are closing branches because few people use them, they cost a fortune and are a nightmare to staff.

They are also picking up the costs of fraud (especially fraud that most people wouldn’t fall for committed on vulnerable people).

It’s horrible that older (especially) people are struggling to manage their banking the way they used to in the ‘80s and even 2000s, but I’m afraid the world has changed massively.

I went to my own 'main branch' (because it's the only one left) bank last year to take out cash. The teller asked what it was for so I said it was for two people who needed cash but couldn't get to the bank themselves. She wanted me to give her their bank details so she could transfer the money to their accounts. I paused for a bit before repeated that they couldn't get to the bank and needed cash ....

I understand they are doing their utmost to prevent fraud but it really is looking more and more like they have no interest in the people who provide them with their money. Without those people where would the banks be.

@Squidgoals I agree, I have found Nationwide to be very good. I'll look into your suggestion, thank you.

What bank is this that has a bouncer, a ‘bank van’ (wtf is that?) and people going into the head office rather than an actual branch?!

I go down to the arcades and use the machines for change for parking. You can go any time then.

It depends what you mean by head office -if you mean literally their corporate HQ then of course it makes sense that the people there wouldn't have the systems/training/authority to do everyday banking, in the same way you wouldn't go to Sainsbury's HQ (where the offices for HR, finance, CEO etc are) and expect to buy a banana!

However given you've said the "bouncer" asked her how much she wanted to transfer that doesn't sound like it was the "head office" and suggests it was something they had the capability of doing. Perhaps the woman meant she personally couldn't do that - which, again, if she was a member of the fraud investigation team then she probably doesn't have a clue or the authority to transfer money because they are completely different jobs.

Honestly the only person who is in a position to work out why they couldn't do it is your mum and tbh if she's physically and mentally able to get to the bank and discuss transfers then surely she's able to ask "why can't you do it?"

I agree - what’s the point of SOME of them. Nat West is a disaster. At work, a colleague in the finance department went to the only branch in the area with a bag of cash to deposit, approximately £750. They refused to take it, even though it had been weighed and bagged at work. The reason, only one human working that day. The business account has been held at this branch for 30+ years with no issues before when taking cash to bank.
She now has to phone the customer “help”line to make an appointment to find a branch that will take it.
I use Nationwide and their branch service is excellent, although the phone helpline isn’t great these days.

A bank van is what we have as a bank in town. Barclay's, who i don't use, literally drive a van into the community centre carpark for a couple of hours a week, and you can carry out limited banking transactions there. I assume it goes to other places in the region that have equally been left with zero bank facilities.

While Im sure bouncer isn't the official title, it's pretty clear to me this is the banking member of staff who greats you when you enter, and desperately tries to get you to use the machines or go online rather than talk to a bank teller.

Banks are businesses, if you don’t like what they offer then take your business elsewhere. The fact is if we want bank branches in every town they cost a lot to run and don’t make much money so we’d have to pay for them, and people don’t want to pay.

You take half a days leave to trudge to a bank branch to withdraw £2 in change? Talk about making a rod for your own back 🙄

Just get a fivers cashback from pretty much any shop or supermarket.

Running domestic no-fee banking costs most banks far far far more than it gains them. They are closing branches because few people use them, they cost a fortune and are a nightmare to staff.

Yes. But ti does allow then to provide a shit service. And flog your personal details around the known universe.

If they actually had the gall to charge for holding your bank account, they'd be 1 mile under justified complaints and legal actions.

Worth noting that the UK is very much an outlier when it comes to personal banking. Most countries charge.

Don't blame the banks, blame the criminals and scammers who are trying to steal our money or using our accounts to hide their illicit business. How many more times do I have to read that "Bodgit and Scarper Builders" have knocked on some old ladies door and told her she needed roof repairs that will cost £23k, then kindly driven her to the bank to get the cash. I have no concern at all about the fraud department calling me when I transferred a large sum to a niece as a gift, or the extensive questioning when I did the transfer of a much larger sum as a gifted deposit, I consider they were doing their job correctly to protect me

I recommend my fairly local Santander bank. Staff are always helpful and great with older folk.

The banks are not so much doing it to protect you, as protect themselves from having to compensate for frauds. As their harsh behaviour shows.

Surely you dont need to go to a bank to get change? Buy a can of pop from local shop with a ten pound note and ask for the change in 50ps.

Latterly my DM couldn’t pay her bills by cheque as her signature was a bit spidery due to arthritis even though she had banked there for 70 years and they knew her well. They couldn’t overrule ‘computer says no’

Our local corner shop wouldn't be able to do that. There's no law saying you have to be able to give change.

I went into my nearest Lloyds last year (not that near; there isn’t one where I live anymore). I hadn’t been inside for a couple of years, but I wanted to pay in cash and the ATMs weren’t working. I was surprised that there are no tills at all, just a big expanse of space, a couple of meeting rooms and a front desk at which there was initially no-one.

I was the only customer in there too.

It must cost them a lot to have a town centre bank which seems rather pointless now.

The idea of high street banking is fairly old fashioned nowadays I think. The last time I went into a bank was in 2018!

It's almost like not everyone is like you. The last time I was in a bank was last week.

Lol Supermarkets want the change themselves.
As for banks plenty of need for the bank where I live.

Always busy.

My bank had 2 city centre branches. They closed the one which had wheelchair access and always had a queue out the door at most times of the day.

People clearly want and need the human interaction but the banks just don't want to provide the service 😳

I don’t think supermarkets do cash back anymore. Our local Sainsbury’s stopped doing that before covid and told us to use the cash point outside the shop.

Blimey, things have changed at the Natwest. 6 years ago, they provided us with sealable cashbags. You filled out the amount on the outside & put it in the nightsafe or, if it was during opening hours, deposited it in the machine. We collected our franked deposit slips once a week. That was only six years ago - weighing our takings went out years ago. Perhaps our town is more advanced that I realised!