Some years ago I had a run in with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia about the “service” they allegedly provided. At the time all Australian banks were closing branches asserting that ATMs would provided an equivalent service to branches – and in any case it was what the public wanted.
I wrote to the Commonwealth Bank’s then CEO, David Murray questioning his motives and asked him whether he knew what the word ‘service’ actually meant. I suggested that an ATM provided a ‘facility’ for withdrawing cash but that only a human being could provide a ‘service’ to another human being.
David Murray’s secretary replied (after some prompting – telephone calls and more letters from me) with a rather ‘shirty’ letter which I still treasure.
Now the reasons put forward at the time for the closure of branches was that they were expensive to operate and many customers waiting in queues were there just to withdraw cash – something an ATM was designed to do at a lower cost. This was and is a perfectly valid point. Further advantages put forward by the banks were that ATMs operated 24 hours a day, that the costs were lower and that there was interbank co-operation for withdrawals from other bank ATMs, for a small fee. All sounds quite reasonable. The hidden agenda with the proliferation of ATMs was that customers were a nuisance and that banks should be allowed to get on with their ‘real business’ - protecting their share holders.
It may be of interest to recall that one bank (I think it was the ANZ) dreamed up a scheme to provide a ‘virtual’ teller for those customers who needed to talk to someone. There was to be a TV screen built into the ATM with the image of a teller. This ‘teller’ would answer questions and placate irate customers. This idea was justly ridiculed and died ‘in utero’ as it were. One wonders if they had heard of an actual branch with an actual teller!
Obviously banks have now come to the conclusion that having some branches, while necessary, are costly to run and that ATMs are now also expensive pieces of equipment to run and programme, particularly when it comes to sorting out ATM interbank transactions (and to replace after they get blown up – see Sydney).
But what about loyalty and service – why should I be penalised with a ‘disloyalty fee’ for using another bank’s ATM? Loyalty cuts both ways. I have been a loyal customer of the Commonwealth Bank for about 26 years. I have also had a Bankwest account (remember the old R & I Bank?) off and on for about the same period of time. Now if Bankwest do not have a convenient ATM – remember I am a loyal customer – and I use another bank’s ‘facility’ whose fault is that? Mine? Recall that the banks, Bankwest and the Commonwealth included, actually encouraged the use of ATMs – in fact forced us to use them and get used to their convenience, by closing branches. Now they want to slug for that self same convenience factor.
Banks really are bastards.
Today I actually phoned Bankwest and asked their ‘help desk’ operator what would happen if (now that Commonwealth Bank have bought Bankwest and I have accounts with both banks) I used a Commonwealth bank ATM because there was no convenient Bankwest ATM. Would I have to pay the ‘disloyalty fee? The girl said no, there would be no penalty fee. I then phoned the Commonwealth bank asking them the reverse of the same question. The girl did not know – could I please wait and she would find out? A few minutes later the answer came. At the moment I would get hit with a ‘disloyalty fee’ – this would be the case until the computer programmes were modified to account for the changes. She could not tell me when the computers would be reprogrammed. Confusion obviously reigns and this is a case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing.
The Commonwealth Bank has just announced a $2 billion profit for the half year to December 2008. This is a 16% fall in profits caused by soaring bad debts to the banking sector. See the paradox? The banks make a mistake by making loans which turn out to be dodgy and we pay with reduced access to credit and that which is granted is at a high cost. Also if I happen to be overdrawn in my savings account by $1.85 I get slugged with a $45 ‘honour fee’. Now if I happen to use another bank’s ATM, because mine has not provided one where I need one I get hit with a ‘disloyalty fee’ - if it is the Commonwealth Bank. Where is the bank’s loyalty? The bank(s) must remember that a ‘service’, in the first instance, is provided to help the customer, then to possibly make some money – not the other way around. Otherwise it is not a service, it is just a grab for money.
As I said Banks are bastards.
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