Nationwide to restrict small cash counter withdrawals
 

Nationwide Building Society is to stop some customers taking out less than £100 over the counter at its branches.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8613166.stm

Re: Nationwide to restrict small cash counter withdrawals
 

What ever happened to the old adage that 'the customer is always right'?:erm:

Re: Nationwide to restrict small cash counter withdrawals
 

Glad Im not a customer of theirs

Re: Nationwide to restrict small cash counter withdrawals
 

Me too but what bank is a good one really... No mine either...

Re: Nationwide to restrict small cash counter withdrawals
 

I can, to some degree, understand their decision. What's the point of using the counters, if you get a more efficient service from the in-branch ATM?

Re: Nationwide to restrict small cash counter withdrawals
 

They already restrict how much change you can pay into an account per visit to only 3 bags

Re: Nationwide to restrict small cash counter withdrawals
 

Let them go for it, just means more of a problem with criminals manipulating cash machines and the innocent elderly public... As if things were not bad enough with cards at present...
I hope the banger that came up with this has a wee elderly mum that this disadvantages...

Re: Nationwide to restrict small cash counter withdrawals
 

Abbey (now Santander) already do this.

Re: Nationwide to restrict small cash counter withdrawals
 

If you have less than £100 in your account and it's an amount of say £83, how can you access it? I can see a lot of low-earners and people on benefits leaving them over this.

Re: Nationwide to restrict small cash counter withdrawals
 

Seems reasonable. I have a couple of times been caught behind people making small cash withdrawals from the bank, an elderly lady who chatted away to the person behind the counter for about 5 minutes to withdraw a few quid came to mind.

At least the option is there for them to retain the service by switching to different accounts. Can't please everyone but have to take account of the majority if the few are affecting their service, especially given it's Nationwide so there's unlikely to be a profit motivation behind it as they aren't a profit making business.

Re: Nationwide to restrict small cash counter withdrawals
 

HBOS have been doing something similar for years. These days about all you are allowed to do that the counter is pay cash in, and get cash from "book" accounts. They expect you to do everything else at one of their ATM machines. Ofc, this was done after they cut the number of staff in each branch so that there where bigger queues to contend with....

Money grubbing barstewards the lot of em....

Re: Nationwide to restrict small cash counter withdrawals
 

So children who only have bank books are stuffed :dozey:

Re: Nationwide to restrict small cash counter withdrawals
 

i can see natwest starting this soon ,but hey i'm not bothered cos i,m sure it will mean a nice reduction in bank charges and possibly an increase in interest payments on my current account :rolleyes:

Re: Nationwide to restrict small cash counter withdrawals
 

The rule as I understand it is that they will still deal with people who have no other option apart from the counters, but like Halifax/Alliance and leicester and a few other places if you have a card then they insist you use the machines to deposit/withdraw cash and also deposit cheques..

Re: Nationwide to restrict small cash counter withdrawals
 

No.

Re: Nationwide to restrict small cash counter withdrawals
 

No the article says people with cash cards only (ie not debit cards or passbooks) are affected.

Its a bit of a non-issue really as in the article the main demographic that have the problem with it are the elderly who are scared about withdrawing money in the street...well they don't have to do it in the street, as Nationwide still has cash machines inside their branches without having to use the counter service.

Halifax say you can't withdraw less than £300 over the counter and make you use the cash machines.

Re: Nationwide to restrict small cash counter withdrawals
 

It is more aimed I think at those with basic bank accounts to be honest.

Re: Nationwide to restrict small cash counter withdrawals
 

Here's a radical idea for reducing queues. Employ more counter staff. When my local nationwide was a portman building society, it had four windows, and usually three open (four between 12 and 2).

The Nationwide took it over. They closed the branch for a refit, removed one of the counters. Of the remaining three, they only open two at lunch time. The rest of the time, there is just one.

Re: Nationwide to restrict small cash counter withdrawals
 

One can still withdraw money from the cash machine, I don't think the machines discriminate against low earners. The only difficulty will be the three pounds, but I am sure if the customers ask, they will be accommodated.

Re: Nationwide to restrict small cash counter withdrawals
 

You've missed the point. Low earners and those on benefits will make every penny count. If the balance of their account ends in a figure between zero and 10 and they need to withdraw it, what will the bank say? Let's hope they do use discretion and common sense but banks aren't known for that.

Re: Nationwide to restrict small cash counter withdrawals
 

it'll be the seven pounds as most cash machines only carry 10s and twenties

this sort of policy will affect people who have benefits paid into the bank ,as russ said every penny counts for those people

Re: Nationwide to restrict small cash counter withdrawals
 

What they really want is everyone using internet banking and ATMs so they can reduce the staff they employ.

What those on really low incomes with little chance of access to the internet are is a nuisance to the banks.

If banks are after a truly moneyless society then they need to stop making it hard for debit card users to use their cards for small amounts..Those £5 limits in some retail stores are not helpful.

Re: Nationwide to restrict small cash counter withdrawals
 

My local Natwest has had a refit recently and replaced more than half their counters with ATMs. A lot of the time I still queue up at the counter (as I do in Tesco and B&Q, both of which are going the same way). When asked whether I realise that I could have completed my transaction more quickly at a machine my response is always the same - that I'd prefer not to see the staff all replaced by machines. Their silence after I say this suggests to me that they feel the same. :)

My other objection (and I realise this may be slightly irrational) is that these companies are pushing what was once their job onto the customer. In a lot of examples it's not the machine that saves the money, it's the fact that they're getting the customers to take on some of the work. Automated answering services with umpteen options to select from make me feel the same way.

Rant over. :D

Re: Nationwide to restrict small cash counter withdrawals
 

i totally agree
i have noticed B&Q ,supermarkets ,banks,all are replacing traditional tills and tellers with machines that would do the same job ...IF THE BLOODY THINGS EVER WORKED

Re: Nationwide to restrict small cash counter withdrawals
 

In fairness I suspect that a lot of the time problems I experience with these machines (particularly those self-service checkouts in Tesco) are more a case of me not working, rather than the machine not working ;)

You'd have thought that a computer programmer would be able to navigate those checkout screens with ease. :D

Re: Nationwide to restrict small cash counter withdrawals
 

The other day I used the Asda version of these tills.I swear I bought 8 items and everyone of them gave me trouble despite me being very careful to follow instructions and keep up the rhythm .The number of times the assistant had to help me made it seem that I might as well have used one of the manned tills.

Re: Nationwide to restrict small cash counter withdrawals
 

The reason there are more queues are becuase the stupid banks are reducing their amount of staff which means less desks to serve the public.

I've seen my bank go from 8 desks to 4.

Re: Nationwide to restrict small cash counter withdrawals
 

Its exactly the same in the HBOS opposite Belfast City Hall....

Five years ago there where 10 - 12 tellers in the branch. Now I believe there six tellers, and 3 - 4 ATM style machines for the customers to pay in cash/cheques, and to pay bills at.... Its a bloody joke, considering how much they screw out of us in charges....

Re: Nationwide to restrict small cash counter withdrawals
 

That says more about society today than the bank imo the poor old girl might not have spoken to anyone else that day and may not know when she'll speak to anyone next. When I am at work I encounter someone similar once every couple of weeks, yeah it's a bit of a chore listening to him especially when he gets on to the Korean war but tbh rather that than just be another person that doesn't have time for him, must be a lonely existance.

Alternatively the old bint in the bank might just have been a talk a holic in which case, move along granny.

---------- Post added at 15:04 ---------- Previous post was at 15:02 ----------

or a rise in banking bonuses....

Re: Nationwide to restrict small cash counter withdrawals
 

Thank Lord I'm not the only one..... :rolleyes: :D

they are a bleedin nuisance,they are! :mad:oops:

Re: Nationwide to restrict small cash counter withdrawals
 

I witnessed, and had a great deal of sympathy with, an elderly lady hitting the automatic checkout machine in our Tesco Store with her umbrella because it wouldn't listen to her. The assistant trying to help was bent over double with laughter as were most of us in the till queue next to her. :D

I hate machines, bring back human beings.

Re: Nationwide to restrict small cash counter withdrawals
 

the thing is,they TALK,and they talk WAY TOO MUCH!!! Probably supposed to resemble a human being? :confused:

Re: Nationwide to restrict small cash counter withdrawals
 

The darned things never work properly and it is often quicker to queue at the normal checkout.

Re: Nationwide to restrict small cash counter withdrawals
 

If you want a real challenge try going in and paying for a single Krispy Kreme doughnut at a self-service checkout. Bet ya can't do it in under three minutes without assistance! :D

Re: Nationwide to restrict small cash counter withdrawals
 

Oh, thought I'd chip into this thread again.... I was in the HBOS branch in Castlecourt in Belfast today, and there was a sign at the end of the queue area, stating that HBOS would no longer allow cash withdrawls of less than £300, oevr the counter in branches.... What a bunch of cretins.... :rolleyes:

Re: Nationwide to restrict small cash counter withdrawals
 

So what happens when ALL the ATMs in the area go down at the same time. :erm:

Agreed it's not happened for a while but it has happened to me. :(

Re: Nationwide to restrict small cash counter withdrawals
 

No idea at all Maggy, all I know is that HBOS closed seven local branches and I now have to travel into Belfast City Centre to do my banking.... :erm:

Re: Nationwide to restrict small cash counter withdrawals
 

Then I presume contingencies will be put in place and the limits would be eased.

---------- Post added at 13:06 ---------- Previous post was at 13:05 ----------

What's wrong with internet or telephone banking?

Re: Nationwide to restrict small cash counter withdrawals
 

I can't pay an Army pension cheque into the bank by either phone or internet. Before you say it, yes I can get the pension payed straight into the bank electronically, but it actually suits me better to have it as a cheque to be payed in when needed....

Re: Nationwide to restrict small cash counter withdrawals
 

Are there no other banks you can pay the cheque into??

Re: Nationwide to restrict small cash counter withdrawals
 

As there is no sensible alternative I still get paid by cheque and I have to visit a branch of my bank in person to pay any I receive into my account.

Re: Nationwide to restrict small cash counter withdrawals
 

But surely the sensible alternative is to have your salary paid direct to your account.

Re: Nationwide to restrict small cash counter withdrawals
 

I do not receive a salary. The cheques are from clients for my artwork.

Re: Nationwide to restrict small cash counter withdrawals
 

Can they not pay by CHAPS or BACS? Why do you have to go to a branch of your bank. Technically you should be able to pay cheques into any bank. Yes, it takes a little longer for it to get to your account, but you have to weight that up with convenience of using a closer bank branch.

Re: Nationwide to restrict small cash counter withdrawals
 

The use of cash or cheques is just the way it is. If one of my clients broached the subject of paying by another means then I would consider it, but I am normally paid at the clients home when I deliver, and have installed, a piece of work.

I am well aware that I can pay the cheque/cash into another bank and, thankfully, can do so quite easily where I live but you seemed to be under the impression that internet banking solved everyone's need to deal with a bank in person and I was just showing that it doesn't. :)

When I was working in the restoration field the antique dealers I dealt with seemed to assume everyone was part of the black economy and would have cringed if I had asked for anything but cash. It's all a case of horses for courses but the banks are trying to reduce the number of options we have access to.

Re: Nationwide to restrict small cash counter withdrawals
 

Sorry if I gave that impression, it was not intended. :erm: I was, however, just trying to point out that a lot of the transactions we used to carry out in branches, no longer needs to happen. It is unfortunate that the banks don't seem to point this out very often and when they do, they don't explain it very well.