# Cashless bank branches - why?



## Irishchappie (15 Aug 2007)

I work in the city centre and the nearest AIB to me, who I bank with have just decided not to deal with cash anymore.. in any shape of form. 

This has really really annoyed me, as I deal a lot with cash in my everyday dealings and now I have to make a half an hour round trip on foot to the nearest branch who take cash..

What is the point of having a branch where you no longer can withdraw/lodge cash, even with the quick lodge, do foreign exchange or even get a bank draft for cash..

Its completely pointless and bloody annoying.. 

I.C


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## pc7 (15 Aug 2007)

*Re: Cashless Bank Branches - WHY!!!!!*

did they notify people of this? seems very strange. I know the banks on campus in TCD won't deal with cash but that's for security reasons so understandable.


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## Irishchappie (15 Aug 2007)

*Re: Cashless Bank Branches - WHY!!!!!*

Nope. notified no one, just a sign in the window to say they were closed for renovations and then gone.. Stripped out the counters, secure money facilities etc.. makes no sense.. 

There are literally thousands of people in the area who would use this bank and now they have a long walk ahead of em.. 

Completely pointless..


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## ATgirl (15 Aug 2007)

*Re: Cashless Bank Branches - WHY!!!!!*

why wouldn't banks deal in cash.....??? is that not what a banks business is - dealing with money??


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## ATgirl (15 Aug 2007)

*Re: Cashless Bank Branches - WHY!!!!!*

are they not just renovating??  getting new counters, etc which would explain the ripping out of old ones?


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## comanche (15 Aug 2007)

*Re: Cashless Bank Branches - WHY!!!!!*

Was this AIB in the IFSC? I got a letter in the post about this.


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## Guest120 (15 Aug 2007)

*Re: Cashless Bank Branches - WHY!!!!!*



comanche said:


> Was this AIB in the IFSC? I got a letter in the post about this.



Plus they had signs up for three weeks previous to inform of the same.


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## Irishchappie (15 Aug 2007)

*Re: Cashless Bank Branches - WHY!!!!!*



> are they not just renovating??  getting new counters, etc which would explain the ripping out of old ones?



Nope they just ripped everything out.




> Was this AIB in the IFSC? I got a letter in the post about this.



Yup, thats the one. You must be one of the few who did, as no one I work with who banks with AIB did and there are about 30 so far who use it at least once a week. 

I dont understand why they didn't put a notice up in the window of the bank. I called in on Monday when it opened and there were a line of people there wanting to know why they dont accept cash anymore and they werent a happy bunch!!!


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## Irishchappie (15 Aug 2007)

*Re: Cashless Bank Branches - WHY!!!!!*



Bluetonic said:


> Plus they had signs up for three weeks previous to inform of the same.



Well if they did they werent seen by anyone.. as no one I've spoken to so far knew about it.. there are a lot of very unhappy people around at the moment because of it..


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## Sunny (15 Aug 2007)

*Re: Cashless Bank Branches - WHY!!!!!*

The point of these cashless branches is to 'sell sell sell'..The Bank Of Ireland in IFSC is the same. They don't to do day to day banking. They just to sell loans, insurance, mortgages etc..Don't see the point of them either but they must do ok if the banks are copying each other


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## comanche (15 Aug 2007)

*Re: Cashless Bank Branches - WHY!!!!!*



Irishchappie said:


> Yup, thats the one. You must be one of the few who did, as no one I work with who banks with AIB did and there are about 30 so far who use it at least once a week.



Perhaps you don't have an account there? there fore how would they know that you bank there and send you a letter of notification.

Any hows is there not an AIB on talbot street?

I can see more and more banks going this way. People very rarely lodge cash (apart from businesses and i am guessing they are pushing them to use securicore etc), they tend to use ATMs and online banking. Its in the banks interested to move away from dealing in cash, all the handling costs them money!


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## wanderer (21 Aug 2007)

Not just cashless, but less everything else as well!

I needed printed statements for the last 3 months so during my lunch break today popped down to the nearest branch only to be told that they only do that for members of their branch. 

Fine. So i drove down to my own branch 5 miles away, wait in line only to be told that they don't do printouts any more & i'd have to use online banking for a printout.
Only problem is that online banking will only give me 1.5 months and is pretty much useless for official purposes. She then says that if i do a printout i can bring them back & have them stamped. 

So i calmly walk out. Then remember that there's an internet cafe on Dundrum main street. Happy days! I logon (dangerous, i know) & print statements & transactions. Head back to bank.

WHAM! Brick wall! "We need to see ID".
"Well here's my banklink card", says i.
"We need photo ID before we can stamp it."

i calmly walk out, into car & head home, retrieve passport, return to bank.
Walk up to desk, another woman altogether. Hand over printouts & ask for them to be stamped.

Stamp, stamp, stamp, stamp.
"oh do you think you could do these second copies as well just so i don't have to go through this rigmarole again?"
"Sure, no problem"

So i ended up driving all the way home to fetch ID & this woman didn't even ask for it eventually! 

2 branches, entered 4 times, 2hrs lunch wasted!

So, no cash, no statements. What next!


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## Guest120 (21 Aug 2007)

*Re: Cashless Bank Branches - WHY!!!!!*



Irishchappie said:


> I dont understand why they didn't put a notice up in the window of the bank. I called in on Monday when it opened and there were a line of people there wanting to know why they dont accept cash anymore and they werent a happy bunch!!!



They had notices up in the windows.


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## ang1170 (21 Aug 2007)

*Re: Cashless Bank Branches - WHY!!!!!*



Bluetonic said:


> They had notices up in the windows.


 
And that makes it OK?

How long were these notices up for?

What if someone only calls into the branch every couple of months? How are they supposed to see these notices?


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## Guest120 (21 Aug 2007)

*Re: Cashless Bank Branches - WHY!!!!!*



ang1170 said:


> And that makes it OK?


Thats not for me to say. The bank in question is only answerable to it's shareholders, and to a lesser degree it's customers, of which i am neither.

From a purely neutral perspective the bank is entitled to do what it likes. I think common sense would dictate that when a commercial decision is made and a period of notice is given then that is sufficient. People have the power and means to bank with whoever they like.



ang1170 said:


> How long were these notices up for?


They had them up for at least 3.5 weeks before it became cashless, perhaps longer. They were quite clear, large, and in prominent positions both in the windows and within the bank. That gives most people reasonable notice, of course you always get unreasonable people in any aspect of life.



ang1170 said:


> What if someone only calls into the branch every couple of months? How are they supposed to see these notices?


As with any service I would expect infrequent customers to use their savvy and check to ensure said service is still in existence before they make an unnecessary trip. I believe account holders of this particular branch were notified by mail.


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## paddyodoors (21 Aug 2007)

Well I never.

I am one of these infrequent users of the IFSC branch - probably go 1x a month or 1x every 2 months.....my branch is with Baggot street - not moved because of their own inadequate sytems meant I would have had to close my baggot st account and re open a new account with them...if I am going to go through account opening procedures - it will be with a more efficient and cheaper bank - which is what I did.

So this thread is the first I have heard of it - yet I would still have expected the same service when I next wander down there...my savvy doesn't question services changing, maybe I should check with dublin bus before standing at a bus stop next coz I havent got one in ages 

Looks like maintaining my cashsave account to pay cheques into is now redundant - so yet another part of my business is shortly to be removed from AIB.

paddy


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## CCOVICH (21 Aug 2007)

paddyodoors said:


> ...my savvy doesn't question services changing, maybe I should check with dublin bus before standing at a bus stop next coz I havent got one in ages


 
Bus stops in the city centre have been moving around quite a bit in the past few years.


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## comanche (21 Aug 2007)

paddyodoors said:


> Well I never.
> 
> I am one of these infrequent users of the IFSC branch - probably go 1x a month or 1x every 2 months.....my branch is with Baggot street - not moved because of their own inadequate sytems meant I would have had to close my baggot st account and re open a new account with them...if I am going to go through account opening procedures - it will be with a more efficient and cheaper bank - which is what I did.
> 
> ...



If you have a problem with your bank, complain to the revelant department, vote with your feet! There is a BOI off angiers street which is a cash branch.

However if you complaint is that you weren't given enough notice to the bank changing its in brach policies, well if you aren't in often enough to see the notices then the service is of little importance to you!


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## paddyodoors (21 Aug 2007)

CCOVICH said:


> Bus stops in the city centre have been moving around quite a bit in the past few years.


 
Lol....so if I could find a bank branch that would give me some of my money, I wouldn't be able to find a bus to take me somewhere I could use it!!


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## paddyodoors (21 Aug 2007)

comanche said:


> If you have a problem with your bank, complain to the revelant department, vote with your feet! There is a BOI off angiers street which is a cash branch.
> 
> However if you complaint is that you weren't given enough notice to the bank changing its in brach policies, well if you aren't in often enough to see the notices then the service is of little importance to you!


 
I wasn't complaining, just commenting on the statement that an infrequent user should be thinking to check that a standard offering had been stopped.  So for any of the hundreds of services that I use on an irregular basis, that have been up and running for years, I should check with them each time? "Hello is that O'briens? - do you still make sandwiches?"

whilst I would have found it inconvenient to go there to find the service had changed I have no issue with them doing so, other than that I will no longer be using them - as I stated in my post. 

N.B. I pass by this branch almost daily but do not pay attention to the various notices in the window as it is usually marketing junk.


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## Guest120 (21 Aug 2007)

paddyodoors said:


> N.B. I pass by this branch almost daily but do not pay attention to the various notices in the window as it is usually marketing junk.



You'll know in future so.


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## paddyodoors (21 Aug 2007)

Bluetonic said:


> You'll know in future so.


 
Know what???

Nothing will change - I still have no interest in looking at random marketing from a bank.


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## CCOVICH (21 Aug 2007)

So no interest in higher rates on savings, free banking etc?


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## paddyodoors (21 Aug 2007)

CCOVICH said:


> So no interest in higher rates on savings, free banking etc?


 
What???

why is everyone jumping on my statements  - I never asked for your opinion on why I am not interested in marketing!

AIB cannot offer me higher interest and I left their current account offering because they did not offer free banking (and before you say it - it is too late the horse has bolted)

For the record, when I am interested in a finance product I will check the whole market. I will not pass by a branch and suddenly be sucked in by some "all flash and no substance" offering they have in their window.


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## vector (24 Aug 2007)

I remember something similar to this in Cork City AIB had a unit in Merchants Quay Shopping Centre (a respectable area off Corks main street Patricks street) at one time you could buy foreign exchange, lodge cash (quick lodge),  use an ATM, it wasn't a full branch, it was along the lines of the branch you are all talking about, and guess what happened to it... it closed down, and a notice appeared in the window telling people to use another branch (named), if I worked in that dublin branch I'd be worried for my job, perhaps this a "half way house" method of closing branches piecemeal

yet can we blame the banks? to make some generalisations they must long for the cashless society, sure they make money off commercial lodgements and withdrawls, but it must cost a fortune paying for insurance, securicor, counter staff, carpet etc


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