Is Nationwide's £100 minimum withdrawal fair?

04/16/2010 (53 m 28 s ago)

There's been a storm of criticism as Nationwide imposes a £100 minimum cash withdrawal over the counter. So why should there be a problem with using a machine, instead? Don't ask! You are in a lunchtime queue in a building society which snakes almost to the door. Yet the person in front of you is withdrawing a piddling amount of cash. On the other side of the branch, a row of cash machines lies idle. Can't something be done to make these financial Luddites wise up, start using the ATMs and stop clogging up the branch? Yes, actually. This week Nationwide said it will bring in a minimum over-the-counter cash withdrawal of £100, specifically to help cut queues. Anyone with a card account who wants to withdraw less will have to use an ATM instead. It seems that something like a third of all counter transactions at Nationwide are carried out by less than 8% of their customer base, and that the other 92% want the bank to do something to speed up queues. But if Nationwide thought it could quietly get away with this, how wrong it was. There has been a storm of criticism from customers and the press. As one wrote: "So Nationwide branches are too full of pesky customers wanting to do time-consuming things like take their own money out?" But hold on. ATMs aren't exactly a new-fangled technology – they were introduced in the 1970s. People have had rather a lot of time to get used to them. This upsets my colleague Caroyln. She says you can't force someone in their 80s to start using an ATM. They may be easily confused, or forget four-digit pin numbers. But even someone in their 80s today would have been no more than 50 when they saw the first hole-in-the-wall machine. And quite what are these people with card accounts using their cards for? Surely they've become accustomed to chip-and-pin at the petrol station or supermarket? And, in any case, most pensioners now have Post Office cards for accessing their pensions. Just get with the programme. I decide to ring my father. He's a retired accountant in his mid-80s. In fact, it's his 84th birthday this week, but he's no old fogey. He uses a laptop to keep his household accounts and has become an expert on Excel spreadsheets. He even tells me off for not using Skype. Surely he wouldn't be fazed by what Nationwide is doing? "Your mother and I have never used an ATM at the bank," he says. What? Dad, you must be the last person on the planet. "I use my cheque-book and take money out at the counter. I don't have a credit card, either." Good heavens. He's not a Luddite. He's a dinosaur. But I dutifully let him go on (and on). "And, if the likes of Nationwide thinks that it's people like me clogging up their branches, they can think again. When you go into banks, you see one cashier and a long queue waiting to be served, yet there seems to be help desks and mortgage desks all over the place, fully staffed and not doing much. If they want to get rid of queues, they could start with having more cashiers." Umm. A good point. I have to agree, as much as anything to bring this conversation to a close. In a moment, he'll start admonishing me for not doing more about that mad idea to ban cheques. And when am I going to do something about not being able to ring his branch and ask for the manager? Look, father, don't blame me, it's not my fault. I wish I'd never started this … p.collinson@guardian.co.uk Banks and building societies Consumer affairs Nationwide Patrick Collinson guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

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