5 ms·

I live in the UK and this article describes a type of bank branch that seems baffling to me. I don't think I've ever seen a bank branch that had a car park, le

I live in the UK and this article describes a type of bank branch that seems baffling to me. I don't think I've ever seen a bank branch that had a car park, let alone a drive-through window.

lordnacho 4y ago
Same here. When I went to visit relatives in the US I saw a place where you could drive to get both a coffee and then money, next to each other, without getting out of the car.
- bombcar 4y ago
  It is possible to get money, coffee, liquor, and ammunition in the USA without getting out of your car. The simplest drive up bank isn't that expensive at all, and in areas with 6 months of below freezing temperatures, it was quite nice.
  - taylodl 4y ago
  - legitster 4y ago
    > money, coffee, liquor, and ammunition Uhhhh... really depends on your state for those last two.
    - pessimizer 4y ago
      Years ago in New Orleans they'd sell you a mixed drink in a styrofoam cup with a straw from a drive-through window.
      - bombcar 4y ago
        In Portugal a few years back the McDonald’s had a “McBeer sold inside only” sign on the drive thru so it was a pretty recent change.
      - selimthegrim 4y ago
        What do you mean years ago? All they do now differently is tape the straw to the side and tape the hole at the top half-heartedly.
      - hammock 4y ago
        They don’t do this anymore? (The drive thru daiquiris) North Carolina has places as well called “brew thrus”
  - kube-system 4y ago
    You forgot drugs!
tfehring 4y ago
It's not just a single drive-through window either, even in small towns in the US there will be multiple lanes at the bank drive-through, with pneumatic tubes to send your money and documents from the car to the inside of the bank [0]. When I was a kid, I loved watching the container get sucked through the tube, plus they'd usually send back candy with the receipt. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5pVJ8ID0DQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5pVJ8ID0DQ
- bombcar 4y ago
  The drive-thru windows are often open LATER and EARLIER than the branch itself, because it's secure the teller can open it the moment she arrives and keep it open almost until she leaves. It's not uncommon for the window to open half an hour before the branch and close up to an hour later.
  - kyleee 4y ago
    pneumatic systems like these are so fun, costco used to have big tubes they sent wads of cash and other things through, and of course there are great articles about the old pneumatic postal infrastructure in paris
    - CoffeeOnWrite 4y ago
      Obligatory: https://idlewords.com/2007/04/the_alameda_weehawken_burrito_tunnel.htm https://idlewords.com/2007/04/the_alameda_weehawken_burrito_...
    - bombcar 4y ago
      The Home Depots around here seem to still have them but I’m not sure how much they’re used.
    - cynwoody 4y ago
      From 1897 to 1953, New York City operated a pneumatic tube mail transport system. It consisted of 27 miles of tubing connecting 23 post offices and carried 95,000 letters per day, amounting to 30% of the city's mail volume. The canisters were two feet long and eight inches in diameter and could carry 600 letters.[1] Jams were a bear. Crews would travel the route of the tube and check air pressure at test points every two blocks where the tube surfaced. When they found a drop in pressure at a test point, they would try to free the stuck canister by injecting extra pressure. If that failed, they would have to dig up the street.[2] In the early 2000s, parts of the network were repurposed to run fiber optic cable. [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pneumatic_tube_mail_in_New_York_City#Statistics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pneumatic_tube_mail_in_New_Yor... [2]https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01870447/document https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01870447/document
bombcar 4y ago
Found one! https://www.simpleea.com/news/londons-first-drive-thru-bank-to-open-in-southall/127249 https://www.simpleea.com/news/londons-first-drive-thru-bank-...
legitster 4y ago
This is addressed in the article: > Bank branches are not destinations. Like Starbucks and cell phone shops, they rely on capturing your day-to-day custom when you’re out and about. In the U.S., that mostly means being maximally accessible by cars. (In Japan, and other places with different transit behavior, bank branches are among the most likely user for large parcels directly adjacent to hub train stations, with smaller light branches and ATM-only locations being deployed close to far-from-station workplaces.)
fy20 4y ago
I've lived in a number of European countries and have had dealings with banks as both a private and business customer. The whole article sounds very different from what I would consider a bank branch in Europe. Here a bank branch is basically a physical way of dealing with customer service. The people you talk to in the branch are no different than the people you talk to on the phone, they don't have any real power in decisions, they are just navigating the paperwork and submitting applications that someone/something in HQ (which may even be another country) makes a decision on. Some branches don't even deal with cash, you can only use an ATM to withdraw and deposit.
- MichaelZuo 4y ago
  Sounds like most European bank branches are 'light' branches then.

I live in the UK and this article describes a type of bank branch that seems baffling to me. I don't think I've ever seen a bank branch that had a car park, let alone a drive-through window.

lordnacho 4y ago

Same here. When I went to visit relatives in the US I saw a place where you could drive to get both a coffee and then money, next to each other, without getting out of the car.

bombcar 4y ago
It is possible to get money, coffee, liquor, and ammunition in the USA without getting out of your car. The simplest drive up bank isn't that expensive at all, and in areas with 6 months of below freezing temperatures, it was quite nice.
- taylodl 4y ago
- legitster 4y ago
  > money, coffee, liquor, and ammunition Uhhhh... really depends on your state for those last two.
  - pessimizer 4y ago
    Years ago in New Orleans they'd sell you a mixed drink in a styrofoam cup with a straw from a drive-through window.
    - bombcar 4y ago
      In Portugal a few years back the McDonald’s had a “McBeer sold inside only” sign on the drive thru so it was a pretty recent change.
    - selimthegrim 4y ago
      What do you mean years ago? All they do now differently is tape the straw to the side and tape the hole at the top half-heartedly.
    - hammock 4y ago
      They don’t do this anymore? (The drive thru daiquiris) North Carolina has places as well called “brew thrus”
- kube-system 4y ago
  You forgot drugs!

tfehring 4y ago

It's not just a single drive-through window either, even in small towns in the US there will be multiple lanes at the bank drive-through, with pneumatic tubes to send your money and documents from the car to the inside of the bank [0]. When I was a kid, I loved watching the container get sucked through the tube, plus they'd usually send back candy with the receipt. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5pVJ8ID0DQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5pVJ8ID0DQ

bombcar 4y ago
The drive-thru windows are often open LATER and EARLIER than the branch itself, because it's secure the teller can open it the moment she arrives and keep it open almost until she leaves. It's not uncommon for the window to open half an hour before the branch and close up to an hour later.
- kyleee 4y ago
  pneumatic systems like these are so fun, costco used to have big tubes they sent wads of cash and other things through, and of course there are great articles about the old pneumatic postal infrastructure in paris
  - CoffeeOnWrite 4y ago
    Obligatory: https://idlewords.com/2007/04/the_alameda_weehawken_burrito_tunnel.htm https://idlewords.com/2007/04/the_alameda_weehawken_burrito_...
  - bombcar 4y ago
    The Home Depots around here seem to still have them but I’m not sure how much they’re used.
  - cynwoody 4y ago
    From 1897 to 1953, New York City operated a pneumatic tube mail transport system. It consisted of 27 miles of tubing connecting 23 post offices and carried 95,000 letters per day, amounting to 30% of the city's mail volume. The canisters were two feet long and eight inches in diameter and could carry 600 letters.[1] Jams were a bear. Crews would travel the route of the tube and check air pressure at test points every two blocks where the tube surfaced. When they found a drop in pressure at a test point, they would try to free the stuck canister by injecting extra pressure. If that failed, they would have to dig up the street.[2] In the early 2000s, parts of the network were repurposed to run fiber optic cable. [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pneumatic_tube_mail_in_New_York_City#Statistics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pneumatic_tube_mail_in_New_Yor... [2]https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01870447/document https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01870447/document

bombcar 4y ago

Found one! https://www.simpleea.com/news/londons-first-drive-thru-bank-to-open-in-southall/127249 https://www.simpleea.com/news/londons-first-drive-thru-bank-...

legitster 4y ago

This is addressed in the article: > Bank branches are not destinations. Like Starbucks and cell phone shops, they rely on capturing your day-to-day custom when you’re out and about. In the U.S., that mostly means being maximally accessible by cars. (In Japan, and other places with different transit behavior, bank branches are among the most likely user for large parcels directly adjacent to hub train stations, with smaller light branches and ATM-only locations being deployed close to far-from-station workplaces.)

fy20 4y ago

I've lived in a number of European countries and have had dealings with banks as both a private and business customer. The whole article sounds very different from what I would consider a bank branch in Europe. Here a bank branch is basically a physical way of dealing with customer service. The people you talk to in the branch are no different than the people you talk to on the phone, they don't have any real power in decisions, they are just navigating the paperwork and submitting applications that someone/something in HQ (which may even be another country) makes a decision on. Some branches don't even deal with cash, you can only use an ATM to withdraw and deposit.

MichaelZuo 4y ago
Sounds like most European bank branches are 'light' branches then.