Riddle Me This Banker Man.

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

Some of you may have seen other threads where I've been testing some banks. A few of them have local branches, so I've made reasons to stop in and see how they handle customers and questions. Somehow I've managed to stump them with what I thought were basic questions that should be common knowledge for them. They say they'll look into thing and get back to me. I'm not holding my breath.

But the weird thing? Not a single person of color at any of them. Not one. Every other business of any size I've been to in this area has several.

I'm half tempted to contact the local Chamber Of Commerce.

 

[dullard]

I don't understand two things:
1) Why you would think non-standard banks would handle standard banking questions well.
2) Why you would think a strongly right-leaning political group would care about the racial makeup of banks.

 

[Charmonium]

You might want to check out Capital One's non-bank bank (i.e., has some IRL branches but is mostly internet). If you're in a fairly densely populated area, you might be able to get the best of both worlds.

Personally, I use a community bank. I think it's somewhat regional with branches in neighboring states but still acts like a local bank

 

[WelshBloke]

I can't remember the last time I actually went into a bank! I can't think of a reason why I'd want to now.

 

[dullard]

I can't remember the last time I actually went into a bank! I can't think of a reason why I'd want to now.

Tons of reasons if you want to do things you can't do online. Many of them might not be commonly done, but I have from time-to-time.
1) Access to products or options not available online. Talk to a banker (not a teller) and you can do a lot more. Talk to a personal banker and you can do even more than with just a banker.
2) Notaries
3) Medallion signature guarantees: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/medallionsignatureguarantee.asp
4) Instant foreign cash conversion to dollars
5) Safe deposit boxes
6) Fee waiving or returns (YMMV)
7) Waiving of typical policies. For example, I once walked into a bank, asked them to remove the daily ATM withdrawal limit while I was on vacation. It was done immediately.
8) Instant withdrawals of large amounts of cash (up to a few thousand dollars as they don't carry that much in any one branch at any one time).
9) No fee coin deposits.

I've done all but #5 in a physical bank.

 

[pmv]

I can't remember the last time I actually _saw_ a bank. That is, a physical building, that was still functioning as a bank (rather than having been converted to a wine bar or a pizza place or something)

 

[WelshBloke]

Tons of reasons if you want to do things you can't do online. Many of them might not be commonly done, but I have from time-to-time.
1) Access to products or options not available online. Talk to a banker (not a teller) and you can do a lot more. Talk to a personal banker and you can do even more than with just a banker.
2) Notaries
3) Medallion signature guarantees: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/medallionsignatureguarantee.asp
4) Instant foreign cash conversion to dollars
5) Safe deposit boxes
6) Fee waiving or returns (YMMV)
7) Waiving of typical policies. For example, I once walked into a bank, asked them to remove the daily ATM withdrawal limit while I was on vacation. It was done immediately.
8) Instant withdrawals of large amounts of cash (up to a few thousand dollars as they don't carry that much in any one branch at any one time).
9) No fee coin deposits.

I've done all but #5 in a physical bank.

1) Most products from my bank are available online. At least any I've needed in the last decade anyway.
2) Dont go to the bank for a notary in the UK, you go to a notary. And anyway my wife is a notary.
3) thats pretty obscure
4) who uses cash?
5) who uses safe deposit boxes?
6) what?
7) I can set my ATM limits in my banking app.
8) who uses cash?
9) who uses coins?

 

[pmv]

Tons of reasons if you want to do things you can't do online. Many of them might not be commonly done, but I have from time-to-time.
1) Access to products or options not available online. Talk to a banker (not a teller) and you can do a lot more. Talk to a personal banker and you can do even more than with just a banker.
2) Notaries
3) Medallion signature guarantees: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/medallionsignatureguarantee.asp
4) Instant foreign cash conversion to dollars
5) Safe deposit boxes
6) Fee waiving or returns (YMMV)
7) Waiving of typical policies. For example, I once walked into a bank, asked them to remove the daily ATM withdrawal limit while I was on vacation. It was done immediately.
8) Instant withdrawals of large amounts of cash (up to a few thousand dollars as they don't carry that much in any one branch at any one time).
9) No fee coin deposits.

I've done all but #5 in a physical bank.

You forgot (10) Traditional armed robbery, complete with shootahs, stockings-over-the-head, "everybody get down on the floor!" and a getaway car.

Possibly the last time I actually used a physical bank (to pay in a cheque) one of those happened while I was there (was sat on the floor by the counter, while piles of £50 notes cascaded onto the floor around my legs as the guy pointing a gun at the cashier stuffed them into a bag).

Had a wild thought of running out after them and jumping into the car with them shouting "right, move it before the rozzers get here!" while hoping they didn't notice their gang was larger than when they arrived.

 

[dullard]

Possibly the last time I actually used a physical bank (to pay in a cheque) one of those happened while I was there (was sat on the floor by the counter, while piles of £50 notes cascaded onto the floor around my legs as the guy pointing a gun at the cashier stuffed them into a bag).

Wow. Glad you made it out safely.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

Granted this is a small sample of three or four branches. You can't exactly walk in, look at all of the staff and walk back out now can you? Or pull up in the parking lot and use binoculars to look in.

 

[pmv]

Wow. Glad you made it out safely.

I think it must have been one of the last of the "old school" armed bank robberies. Remember finding it frustrating that this big pile of notes was landing on my legs as the guy fumbled shoving them all into a bag - figured that if I tried to slide any of them under me, and later into my grasping fingers, it would be spotted when someone looked at the CCTV and I'd end up being the only person getting nabbed for the thing.

Apparently banks have tightened up security so much that very soon after that all the gangs who went in for that form-of-crime decided it wasn't worth it and moved on to drug dealing and internet fraud instead.

That particular bank must have been one of the few at that time that didn't already have a kind of double-door "airlock" arrangement - the whole entrance lobby was completely rebuilt immediately afterwards to make it more secure.

 

[drnickriviera]

4) who uses cash?
5) who uses safe deposit boxes?

I find myself using cash more now to at least throw off all the algorithms tracking my purchases

Where do you store sensitive info offsite? I keep a usb drive with tax info, password backup, spare yubikey. Things I would need after a house fire.

 

[WelshBloke]

I find myself using cash more now to at least throw off all the algorithms tracking my purchases

I don't care if my credit card company knows I bought a coffee at 1430 on a Thursday. It's just so much more convenient to use a contactless card or phone to pay than having a wallet full of notes and pocket full of coins.

Where do you store sensitive info offsite? I keep a usb drive with tax info, password backup, spare yubikey. Things I would need after a house fire.

I'm British so I don't need to store tax info.
You have your passwords stored in a safe deposit box in a bank?! That's just bizarre to me. Do you go to the bank every time you change one or get a new account somewhere?

 

[mikeymikec]

4) who uses cash?

My customers do, I go to the bank pretty much every week as a result to put in cash/cheques. Local branches shutting down in the UK is a PITA.

An increasing proportion of my customers are using BACS as the years go by, but I bet that (assuming my business is still going in its current form) I'll still be making regular trips in twenty years' time to put money in (also assuming that society / our environment hasn't crumbled by then, maybe I'll just need a kayak?).

Back to the topic, the ways I'd like to test banking security tend to be frowned upon by law enforcement.

 

[WelshBloke]

My customers do, I go to the bank pretty much every week as a result to put in cash/cheques. Local branches shutting down in the UK is a PITA.

An increasing proportion of my customers are using BACS as the years go by, but I bet that (assuming my business is still going in its current form) I'll still be making regular trips in twenty years' time to put money in (also assuming that society / our environment hasn't crumbled by then, maybe I'll just need a kayak?).

Do you mind me asking what you do?

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

Armed robberies are still a big thing in the U.S.

Mantraps at doors are not legal as far as I recall.

Some early American banks had portals in walls overlooking bank lobbies with gunmen inside ready to take out gangsters.

Thread topic is minority staffing.

 

[pmv]

Armed robberies are still a big thing in the U.S.

Mantraps at doors are not legal as far as I recall.

Some early American banks had portals in walls overlooking bank lobbies with gunmen inside ready to take out gangsters.

Thread topic is minority staffing.

Hard to conclude anything about 'minority staffing' when there aren't really any 'bricks and mortar' bank branches any more - they've all been closed. From what little I remember, public-facing staff (i.e. cashiers) were as mixed as any other business in the area they were in. No idea about the 'back office'.

 

[drnickriviera]

I don't care if my credit card company knows I bought a coffee at 1430 on a Thursday. It's just so much more convenient to use a contactless card or phone to pay than having a wallet full of notes and pocket full of coins.

I'm British so I don't need to store tax info.
You have your passwords stored in a safe deposit box in a bank?! That's just bizarre to me. Do you go to the bank every time you change one or get a new account somewhere?

I use a password manager so it generates spaghetti passwords. Those get backup up once a year to a usb drive.

 

[WelshBloke]

I use a password manager so it generates spaghetti passwords. Those get backup up once a year to a usb drive.

And you keep that USB stick in a safe deposit box?