Is this a war on cash or a war on privacy? Or both?

[thepumpguysc]

I made the mistake of going to the grocery store on "welfare day".. When it came my time to pay, I opened my wallet & paid w/ CASH..
The teller looked up & smiled & said.. "OH> REAL MONEY".. We both laughed out loud..
I've ALWAYS SAID.. the credit card & internet are gonna be a huge factor in the future..{they already are} but you can sit in the comfort of your home & buy ANYTHING your heart desires.. no need to go out anymore.. & the ONLY people on the streets are gonna be "the bad guys"..

 

[kc5dlo]

I have only read 4 pages of comments but I have a possible reason as well. Perhaps the banks are wanting to do away with cash and employees and do everything electronically? I still like to pay for small items out of pocket with cash. Until recently, I would go the bank once a week or so and write a check for cash. Once while there the head teller asked me why I did not use an ATM card? Said "I could get cash outside from inside my car." I replied that if everyone did that there would not be a need for her position. She looked puzzled for a moment and then said she never thought about it that way. One day several years later I stopped in and that branch had closed. The sign said the ATM was still available though!

Same thing is happening at retail store with self checkout. Walmart or home depot just about forces you to do your own checkout or you wait in a long line. McDonald's wants order and pay at their new Kiosks. Again, I prefer to pay with cash for small items like fast food. They once had a person try to persuade me to use the Kiosk. I told her I already had eggs, bacon, sausage, etc. in the fridge at home and could make my own breakfast but did not want to. The same goes for ordering my food.

 

[Einthewoods]

Ah, another step towards the "your papers please" society.

So far you need your ID for more and more...accept voting in some states of course.

Inch by inch slowly allowing the State to demand from the people.

It is no near fiction to think of all babies being born to be chipped like dogs before leaving the hospital. No more cash and everything you do traceable.

Sad to see businesses falling right into that conditioning of behavior.

 

[MossRoad]

A lot of it is labor costs. Many times, labor is the biggest expense at a company. All companies seek to automate as much as possible and eliminate as much human labor as possible. It makes good business sense. ATMs are much faster and more convenient for the customer than parking your car, going inside, waiting in line for a human teller, etc... there are way more ATM locations than human staffed banks with tellers. I've only been inside our financial institution maybe a dozen times in the last 15 years, and that was either to meet with our financial advisors or renew our home equity loan every 7 years.

 

[dragoneggs]

A lot of it is labor costs. Many times, labor is the biggest expense at a company. All companies seek to automate as much as possible and eliminate as much human labor as possible. It makes good business sense. ATMs are much faster and more convenient for the customer than parking your car, going inside, waiting in line for a human teller, etc... there are way more ATM locations than human staffed banks with tellers. I've only been inside our financial institution maybe a dozen times in the last 15 years, and that was either to meet with our financial advisors or renew our home equity loan every 7 years.

And automation is more reliable and consistent meaning quality is better overall.

 

[ultrarunner]

Lots of changes over the years... I landed my first real job at age 13... payday was Friday at 5 and banks stayed open to 6... so I would walk over to the bank to cash my paycheck... the Branch VP said anyone old enough to earn a paycheck is old enough to have a checking account... this was Bank of America... back when branches were all over town.

My brother was 16 when he went to work as a summer lifeguard for the park district... his bank gave him a $200 limit credit card... the Bank president said he was going out on a limb because my brother being a minor could refuse to pay... but NO LAW AGAINST IT... my brother has always been good with money... had about 8k in the bank at age 16... our parents had never set foot in either of these banks...

Now I go to the same branch and if a new teller is there and I have cash rent deposits it is a problem... I tell them I have been making the same rent deposit in cash for years... I don't raise rents often and renting to college students cash if preferable... some want to do it electronically but I have never set it up... and no one has a checking account.

Wells is the worst bank I have dealt with.. they took over where my folks banked and open those phony accounts...

When I have had issues with banks on more than one occasion I have said close my account... so far it has worked but I'm sure one day it won't... another is asking for what was a free Cashier Check and being told it is $10 and then saying... sorry, give me the cash... all of a sudden they can waive the fee.


Had to get an ATM card yesterday... something I have refused to ever do... can't check balances online now without having an ATM... really!!!


That said... I 100% LOVE my credit union except they are not conveniently located for me... they have great rates going both ways...

 

[dragoneggs]

Hey ultrarunner, the more I read your posts, the more we have in common.

When I moved down to Berkeley to go to school in the late 70s, I never heard of Wells Fargo but that is where I opened my second account. I had an account in Wa to deposit my paper route and lawn mowing money. My other income was a 50cent allowance for household chores that I burned up every week buying baseball/football cards.

Getting off track, but Wells Fargo wasn't friendly to me then... even though I had my own account at a previous bank, they treated me like an untrustworthy transient. A simple phone call was all that I thought was needed to my existing WaMu bank but they didn't lift a finger to 'dial' the phone.

Returning to WA long ago to finish school and going to work for Boeing, I joined BECU (Boeing Employees Credit Union). Been there for almost 35 years and I do most all my banking, loans, etc. Still there even after 18 years removed from Boeing. I have never had an issue dealing with them.

P.S. My dang bitcoin is dropping! Was supposed to pay for my retirement boat.

 

[Diggin It]

I haven't been inside a bank in so many years I've forgotten when the last time was. I have things deposited and paid for electronically and automatically.

I've heard though that some of the banks mentioned will now charge you to use a live teller, but I haven't seen it mentioned in this thread. Yet.

One of my last experiences inside a regional caused me to close my account there. I had been using one branch, but they just opened a new one. I was in that area and decided to try it. Went inside and all I saw were screens similar to ATMs. No teller windows, no tellers. A couple of small offices with loan writers. Turns out the drive up tellers also did the bit at the other end of the TV screens ... from behind a wall a few feet away.

 

[Howling]

It is what the bank is focused on. The big banks appear to profit driven, reduce costs, increase high margin/volume activities.

I did contract software development for BankBoston in late 1990's. (One of the short lived entities in merger craze). Watching the backend activity and indifference the business group had for commercial customers they processed loans for, made me appreciate the small local banks.

My local bank has grown over the 40+ years have backed there. Couple years ago they merged with another small bank. Now have 14 branches are still friendly and easy to work with. Tellers greet me by name. They have human receptionist in the lobby. We have personal accounts, business account and mortgage all at this bank.

Any bank can setup an account, take deposits, process transactions, etc. The difference comes when there is a problem or error. Can the tellers and customer service folk take care of it or are you battling a bureaucracy.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Yep, no face to face tellers anymore at my cu, at least new branches. Not sure about old branches.. You go inside, its a video screen just like outside.