Went to the bank, six cashier points and only one open, massive queue. Yet there were THREE members of staff walking up the queue asking 'are you paying money in or paying bills ?' if you were they directed you to the quick deposit postbox (where you put the money/bill in an envelope rather than use a cashier). I was paying money in but because I had coins I couldn't use the quick deposit.

1) If there are three members of staff with nothing else to do but question a massive queue OPEN MORE DESKS !

2) Do they not realise that if everyone started using the quick deposit they wouldn't need as many staff/cashiers and so they're doing themselves out of a job by encouraging people to use said quick deposit.

3) I'd prefer to deal with an actual person so the money can be checked and accounted for, and a receipt given rather than put £500 in a postbox and it never arrive in my account or only part of it.

1) but the rota says it's only Helen on the desk today

2) yes they know, but that's what they're made to do. Like when I worked in a bank callcentre and they offered to fly a few of us out to Malaysia for 6 months, with extra pay and all expenses paid while out there. "To do what?" said me. "To train up 1,000 people to do your job for a 1/3rd of the cost". Schyeah. Still wish I'd gone, though :(

3) Always used to be the case that if you used those machines the money didn't show up in your account until overnight, meaning that if you had bills due out etc. you were fucked. Also, the error rate on them was astronomical.

It's the instantly in your account part that always make me want to go to a cashier.

I know some banks (definitely Nationwide) have machines that actually count the money (like self service tills) so it goes in instantly. I wouldn't mind using those. But sticking it in an envelope and through a post box I don't trust one bit.

I agree. Halifax also have ones that scan cheques and do OCR on them so that they can deposit the amount into your account immediately, which is nice (and helps to ensure no mistakes). But yeah, stupidly longs queues and staff wandering aimlessly around is really daft!

That's nice. Can it actually be trusted to work well though?

as far as I can tell the HSBC machines that don't have the scanner, just an envelope, still register the money pretty much straight away. Some branches have newer machines than others. And they all give a receipt. But anyway, yes, sign 'o the times. Even my local waitrose has self-checkouts now :( and I generally use them instead of a human one :C

It shows you what it thinks it is and asks you to confirm that it's correct before it continues. So far, it's got all but one of my cheques correct. The only one it got wrong was one that was so badly written it couldn't decipher it at all. It'll still pay it in for you though and gives you a scanned copy as a receipt so you can check it went through and challenge the bank if it doesn't show up on your account the next day (these ones have to be checked manually at the end of the day by the bank, just like old-fashioned envelope ones).

Either way, it's quite a neat system and much better than the HSBC one the missus has used before.

Our Tesco now has hand held barcode scanners for people to scan their shopping as they go round.

The ASDA has recently fitted a couple of self-checkouts that are full size checkouts with conveyor belts.

Yeah our Waitrose has had that scanner thingy for aaages but you had to sign up first or something, I've never bothered looking into it. Probably I should, it sounds useful.

Twice I've undercounted when paying in, once was only by £20 but the second was £100. If I'd used the self service till I wonder if the person checking the amount would think 'they've paid in £100 more than they've said -  I'm having that'.

But what if it's the other way round, I pay in £500 and put £500 on the paying in slip but the cashier miscounts and says I only paid in £400, what comeback would I have, how could I prove I actually paid in £500 ?
 

Given the degree of shit that would kick off if this happened with any sort of regularity, I assume they have two staff working alongside each other on inputting deposits.

You complain, they count it again. And you hope that they find the missing money this time.

Or I go to an actual cashier, they count the money in front of me and it goes straight into my account.

Once I used an ATM and it swallowed my card, heard it drop into some sort of container. Went inside and they told me they couldn't do anything and to come back the following day. The next day they said they couldn't find my card in the machine and would have to cancel it and issue a new one. So where'd the card go ?

Whatever the financial equivalent of Narnia is?

You can only get there if you're not looking for it.

I'd go to an actual cashier but, you know, queues. I'm usually in and out before the first person in the queue's got anywhere, never mind the fourth or fifth. And there's also that horrid human interaction stuff too, bleugh.

Mrs.D was a teller for about a year. The pay and benefits were terrible (they made sure everybody stayed part time so there were no benefits), and she was under constant pressure to sell 'products' (credit cards, insurance) to people on pensions and welfare. This was for the most profitable and uncompetitive industry in the country.