Everything to do with Conwy

[Michael]

  Hello Yorkie,   alli will say is whether you are right or wrong, if you have never, ever used an ATM, you must be about zero minus God knows what of the general Bank account public.
   I'm not saying you are wrong. But you are certainly an absolutely minority of one.  Mike

[Yorkie]

  Hello Yorkie,   alli will say is whether you are right or wrong, if you have never, ever used an ATM, you must be about zero minus God knows what of the general Bank account public.
   I'm not saying you are wrong. But you are certainly an absolutely minority of one.  Mike

Mike  -  thanks for the comment.  It is just that I have never had the need to use one!   However, I now realise that I have told a mis-truth.  I did use an ATM once.  That was when I opened an account in HSBC in Llandudno, when I used the one inside the branch to change the PIN on my new Debit Card.  I was inside the Branch as I had to get one of the Staff to show me how to use it!    L0L

Your statistics are wrong, or if they are right I must be unique, . . . . and God does not know, unless someone else has told him!   

[DaveR]

Your credit card is far more likely to be cloned in general usage in shops etc than at an ATM:

http://www.fraudjobsite.co.uk/news/view/76071

[Yorkie]

Your credit card is far more likely to be cloned in general usage in shops etc than at an ATM:

http://www.fraudjobsite.co.uk/news/view/76071

I have had a CC since 1967 and there has only been one attempt at impersonation when someone tried to change the holder's address.  My CC Company picked it up immediately and I had a new card 2 days later.  I have never lost one penny by using any of my Credit or Debit Cards.  Now ain't I lucky?  Or should I say, careful and very security conscious?

If it is cloned it will NOT be from using an ATM with a false front, a camera or someone watching through binoculars or over my shoulder.  All cards are fraught with possible problems but the Bank Guarantees tend to nullify them.   With my Bankers anyway, if not with other peoples!
 ZXZ

[DaveR]

Can't say I've ever had a problem either, and I've used ATMs probably a thousand or more times over the years. As with all things, you just have to be a little careful and use common sense.

It seems that the Banks hate having to staff their branches, or indeed, having to have branches at all, and would far prefer that all transactions are automated. Thinking about it though, I've gone in my bank branch about twice in the last 10 years, so maybe they have a point?

[Yorkie]

I do the majority of my banking on the Internet and Branch visits are about once every 3 months.  On the basis that I use more than one Bank, I hope it will be some years before they stop counter service, or close all my banks.  But then there is always the Post Office!
 D)

[Fester]

The point has been missed, this is about Conwy, not banks in general.

It is very important to have a free ATM in a town where they have regular street event.
Stall holders at the Honey Fair, Seed Fair, Medieval night, Feast day etc...etc... will not have debit card machines, and the queue at the ATM on those days is massive.

It will have a disastrous effect on those market days, when cash is king. 
Visitor and traders alike will be unable to function as they should.

[llewelyn]

My sister has a shop, she has to pay a lot to have a card machine plus a percentage of each sale goes to the bank. she does this as she has to, but with business so tough cash is better for small sales, I didnt realize my card was costing the retailer until she explained this to me

[DaveR]

Fixed Card Processing machines arent so expensive, about £20-30 per month to rent. Debit card transactions cost the retailer around 20p to process, whilst credit cards are more expensive,  about 1.5% of the transaction cost. So, yiu can help the small retailer by paying with a debit card, rather than a credit card, for larger transactions.

The mobile Card Processing terminals have a different fee structure.

[Ian]

I've gone in my bank branch about twice in the last 10 years, so maybe they have a point?

Like it or not things are changing - certainly in commerce - and it's little wonder that First Direct, a bank with no branches anywhere, is consistently rated more highly than any other by its customers. Fewer and fewer use branches, and branches cost a lot of money to keep going. The main function branches now serve is for the physical receipt of cash, so that's unlikely to change so long as someone, somewhere uses cash. But tiny businesses still use cash, and forcing the installation of NFC card readers that use 3G to check is almost certainly coming.

But the cashless society isn't yet upon us, despite HMRC's urging, so the banks need to consider alternatives to closing down the ATMs everywhere.

[FatAndy]

Perhaps the large Nat West branch, (beneath Gamlins), could install a cash machine?

I once spent a summer holiday working in that branch (a long time ago) and I know they wanted to install an ATM but there was some reason why they couldn't.  I can't remember exactly now but I think it was something to do with listed building consent or something similar.  That must still be the case because I can't imagine in this day and age any bank would choose not to install a machine if it could.

On the subject of HSBC I was working in Craig-y-Don when they closed the branch there.  They asked local businesses if any would be willing to have a machine installed on their premises to replace the one at the bank.  The bloke I was working for investigated this but it's easier said than done.  They need to smash a hole into your building, the machine takes up a lot of space and also they need access to be able to refill the machine when it starts to run low on cash.  I'd imagine that there aren't many places in Conwy that could accommodate a machine but the one place that does spring to mind is the Visitor Centre.  It's close to the castle, it looks like a big enough building and as a commercial enterprise it could only benefit from having a tourist magnet installed.

[Ian]

the one place that does spring to mind is the Visitor Centre.  It's close to the castle, it looks like a big enough building and as a commercial enterprise it could only benefit from having a tourist magnet installed.

Excellent idea. Perhaps all tourist centres should consider the idea.

[DaveR]

I've gone in my bank branch about twice in the last 10 years, so maybe they have a point?

Like it or not things are changing - certainly in commerce - and it's little wonder that First Direct, a bank with no branches anywhere, is consistently rated more highly than any other by its customers. Fewer and fewer use branches, and branches cost a lot of money to keep going. The main function branches now serve is for the physical receipt of cash, so that's unlikely to change so long as someone, somewhere uses cash. But tiny businesses still use cash, and forcing the installation of NFC card readers that use 3G to check is almost certainly coming.

But the cashless society isn't yet upon us, despite HMRC's urging, so the banks need to consider alternatives to closing down the ATMs everywhere.

Contactless payments for small transactions, whether using a Debit Card or your mobile phone, will be the next stage in phasing out cash. Lots of outlets already have the Terminals fitted, i.e. Caffe Nero.

http://www.visa.co.uk/products/visa-payments/visa-contactless/

[SDQ]

I've gone in my bank branch about twice in the last 10 years, so maybe they have a point?

Like it or not things are changing - certainly in commerce - and it's little wonder that First Direct, a bank with no branches anywhere, is consistently rated more highly than any other by its customers. Fewer and fewer use branches, and branches cost a lot of money to keep going. The main function branches now serve is for the physical receipt of cash, so that's unlikely to change so long as someone, somewhere uses cash. But tiny businesses still use cash, and forcing the installation of NFC card readers that use 3G to check is almost certainly coming.

But the cashless society isn't yet upon us, despite HMRC's urging, so the banks need to consider alternatives to closing down the ATMs everywhere.

Contactless payments for small transactions, whether using a Debit Card or your mobile phone, will be the next stage in phasing out cash. Lots of outlets already have the Terminals fitted, i.e. Caffe Nero.

http://www.visa.co.uk/products/visa-payments/visa-contactless/

I've been using contactless payment for a couple of years & the reliability of the machines leaves a lot to be desired. It's not too bad if you use a card because you can resort to using it the normal way via chip & pin but when using a phone you're knackered. On a few occasions I've popped somewhere on the way to/from work to use it having forgotten to bring cash & had to leave empty handed because the machine wasn't working properly so they have a bit of a way to go yet I'm afraid. When it is working it's a great system & definitely one for the future. I quite like the fingerprint scanner on my phone as a payment method with Apple but hope if I ever get mugged they don't resort to extreme tactics to ensure they can access my phone (if you catch my drift!).

[Fester]

My little business has benefitted (to a degree) in 2013 by the use of a 3G debit card machine, with a contactless option.

However, it's efficiency leaves much to be desired, and fails to complete the transaction on about 50% of occasions.  Luckily, the customer will usually be patient and try again.

The contactless option frightens many customers, has no PIN number to aid security, and has only ever been used once in my shop.  Also, the customer does not receive a receipt when using that option.
I found that strange, so I queried it with Barclaycard, the provider, and they confirmed it was something they were 'looking at fixing in the future'