4 ms·

I would imagine you do understand the advantage of 30 seconds of time from anywhere in the world versus a 20-60min round trip to the bank. I imagine there are

by sunir 6y ago

I would imagine you do understand the advantage of 30 seconds of time from anywhere in the world versus a 20-60min round trip to the bank. I imagine there are other reasons you value than time and space convenience. Why do you feel the physical trip is more valuable?

flohofwoe 6y ago
I have to interact with my bank maybe twice in a year, and rarely do I have to show up in person. Speaking over the phone works just fine ;) In contrast I have to show up at dentist or hairdresser appointments in person, and I don't consider this "wasted time" either.
- matz1 6y ago
  how do you check your balance or transaction ? you only do that over the phone ?
  - flohofwoe 6y ago
    I check the balance when I'm getting cash from an ATM. Transaction logs are sent by mail or I can print them at service machines. Really people, it's not that complicated, it worked before online banking was invented after all ;) I'm not sure if all those services (like the physical mail thing) are available to new customers though, I think those are nudged heavily to use an online account.
    - matz1 6y ago
      I only need cash for maybe once a month. Transaction logs sent by mail are way too slow. Yea that way much slower and much less convenient compared to online banking.
      - ghaff 6y ago
        I haven't gotten cash in over a year and I'll only need to get some more at some point over the next month or so because I was in a store whose credit card system was down. About the only thing I'd do with a bank in person (other than ATMs) would be either special transactions--much of which you can handle over the phone or on-line these days--or if I still had to deposit sheafs of checks like I did when I had a business years ago. (Though I assume these days most people would pay digitally in some manner.) I've observed over the past year that even brokerages and the like that pretty much used to require going into a branch have discovered that's actually not necessary. I don't care so much about the speed of transaction logs but that I can access my records, pay bills, transfer money, etc. with a few clicks.
    - 123jay7 6y ago
      I think when the world is trying to be more green-friendly ,you are creating unnessarity trips and waste.
- sokoloff 6y ago
  I switched to cutting my own hair (and modifying my hairstyle slightly to make that easier) exactly because of the time wasted sitting in the lobby. I don't mind the value-added time (when the hair is actually being cut/styled), but the non-value-added time was too high for me. I switched dentists for a similar reason; prior dentist kept a buffer of patients waiting to optimize their throughput. I had a dental appointment yesterday [at the newer place] and I was annoyed that I arrived 15 minutes early, because I know they make it a point to bring patients in exactly on time. Sure enough, 2:00 hits and I get called back.
dreen 6y ago
I cannot speak for him but kind of understand. Obviously depends on what is it you want to do. You go to the bank and express what you need in simple speech to another human, who handles everything. Depending on the bank, a journey to do the same on web/app may be less preferable, especially if handle a lot of mental load during the day.
- SketchySeaBeast 6y ago
  I wonder what requests are being made - for myself the entirety of what I do in a bank is moving money from one account into another, and that is way easier online than trying to get a human to understand exactly what I want.
- wilsonrocks 6y ago
  Getting a human to change over a bunch of direct debits from one account to another is way better than doing it myself online.
drewzero1 6y ago
Not OP, but my bank keeps pushing me to get their app to deposit checks. My phone doesn't do apps and I don't feel like taking up space on my tablet. Besides, there's a branch with a drive-through three minutes away from my house and another one a block away from work, so it's not that much time or travel and I get to talk to somebody outside of home or work for a few minutes. (Even if some of that time is spent declining their suggestion to get the app.)
- frosted-flakes 6y ago
  Wait, your bank's drive-through is staffed? Every drive-through at a bank I've seen is just an ATM.
  - jpindar 6y ago
    TD Banks drive-throughs are staffed. I recently had to get something notarized and it was good to be able to do it without going in to the bank.
  - drewzero1 6y ago
    Yeah, the ones here have multiple lanes with pneumatic tubes to transfer stuff to and from cars, and one of the tellers wears a headset like a fast food drive through. When a car pulls up, they step away from the counter and serve the drive-through window, often multiplexing to assist multiple cars. It's kind of interesting to watch, and can be (or at least feel) more efficient than going inside. They typically only staff the drive-through when the bank lobby is also open, or a half-hour later. One of the lanes will also usually have an ATM and a dropbox for after-hours service.

by sunir 6y ago

flohofwoe 6y ago

I have to interact with my bank maybe twice in a year, and rarely do I have to show up in person. Speaking over the phone works just fine ;) In contrast I have to show up at dentist or hairdresser appointments in person, and I don't consider this "wasted time" either.

matz1 6y ago
how do you check your balance or transaction ? you only do that over the phone ?
- flohofwoe 6y ago
  I check the balance when I'm getting cash from an ATM. Transaction logs are sent by mail or I can print them at service machines. Really people, it's not that complicated, it worked before online banking was invented after all ;) I'm not sure if all those services (like the physical mail thing) are available to new customers though, I think those are nudged heavily to use an online account.
  - matz1 6y ago
    I only need cash for maybe once a month. Transaction logs sent by mail are way too slow. Yea that way much slower and much less convenient compared to online banking.
    - ghaff 6y ago
      I haven't gotten cash in over a year and I'll only need to get some more at some point over the next month or so because I was in a store whose credit card system was down. About the only thing I'd do with a bank in person (other than ATMs) would be either special transactions--much of which you can handle over the phone or on-line these days--or if I still had to deposit sheafs of checks like I did when I had a business years ago. (Though I assume these days most people would pay digitally in some manner.) I've observed over the past year that even brokerages and the like that pretty much used to require going into a branch have discovered that's actually not necessary. I don't care so much about the speed of transaction logs but that I can access my records, pay bills, transfer money, etc. with a few clicks.
  - 123jay7 6y ago
    I think when the world is trying to be more green-friendly ,you are creating unnessarity trips and waste.
sokoloff 6y ago
I switched to cutting my own hair (and modifying my hairstyle slightly to make that easier) exactly because of the time wasted sitting in the lobby. I don't mind the value-added time (when the hair is actually being cut/styled), but the non-value-added time was too high for me. I switched dentists for a similar reason; prior dentist kept a buffer of patients waiting to optimize their throughput. I had a dental appointment yesterday [at the newer place] and I was annoyed that I arrived 15 minutes early, because I know they make it a point to bring patients in exactly on time. Sure enough, 2:00 hits and I get called back.

dreen 6y ago

I cannot speak for him but kind of understand. Obviously depends on what is it you want to do. You go to the bank and express what you need in simple speech to another human, who handles everything. Depending on the bank, a journey to do the same on web/app may be less preferable, especially if handle a lot of mental load during the day.

SketchySeaBeast 6y ago
I wonder what requests are being made - for myself the entirety of what I do in a bank is moving money from one account into another, and that is way easier online than trying to get a human to understand exactly what I want.
wilsonrocks 6y ago
Getting a human to change over a bunch of direct debits from one account to another is way better than doing it myself online.

drewzero1 6y ago

Not OP, but my bank keeps pushing me to get their app to deposit checks. My phone doesn't do apps and I don't feel like taking up space on my tablet. Besides, there's a branch with a drive-through three minutes away from my house and another one a block away from work, so it's not that much time or travel and I get to talk to somebody outside of home or work for a few minutes. (Even if some of that time is spent declining their suggestion to get the app.)

frosted-flakes 6y ago
Wait, your bank's drive-through is staffed? Every drive-through at a bank I've seen is just an ATM.
- jpindar 6y ago
  TD Banks drive-throughs are staffed. I recently had to get something notarized and it was good to be able to do it without going in to the bank.
- drewzero1 6y ago
  Yeah, the ones here have multiple lanes with pneumatic tubes to transfer stuff to and from cars, and one of the tellers wears a headset like a fast food drive through. When a car pulls up, they step away from the counter and serve the drive-through window, often multiplexing to assist multiple cars. It's kind of interesting to watch, and can be (or at least feel) more efficient than going inside. They typically only staff the drive-through when the bank lobby is also open, or a half-hour later. One of the lanes will also usually have an ATM and a dropbox for after-hours service.