Thursday, March 7, 2024

What, Exactly, Is the Purpose of a Bank?

Hick collects his coins. He has a giant plastic Coke bottle full of pennies. A wine bottle (which he called a wine jar, heh, heh) full of dimes, and a tall cylindrical jar full of quarters. He wants to cash in his quarters. He thinks he has around $150 to $175 in quarters. Last time he went to our bank branch, they told him the coin counter wasn't working. You know, just like they told me their two FAX machines weren't working. So Hick went in to ask about it on Wednesday.

"They told me they have a new procedure. They will ask how much I think my coins are worth, and send them to the vault. Then credit it to my account when they figure out how much I have. They won't give me any money. Just a credit in my account."

"Wait. What do you mean, 'send it to the vault?' Are they going to put in it the vault? Who's going to count it? How will they know how much credit to give you? Surely not just your word on how much you think you have. What kind of bank can't count coins??? That's MONEY!"

"I don't know. That didn't sound right to me. Maybe they're going to take it to the main bank over in Bill-Paying Town. Maybe they have a coin counting machine. But they only said they would 'send it to the vault.'"

"That seems shady! Why should you trust them to tell you how much your coins are worth?"

"I don't know. That's why I won't take them there. Old Buddy says his bank has a coin counting machine in the lobby. It doesn't charge anything like the Walmart machine does. So I'm giving him my coins to take there and get my money. He said you take the receipt to the counter, and they pay you for it."

"So you trust him to give you the right amount?"

"Yeah. More than I trust the bank."

What in the Not-Heaven? Isn't the business of a bank to take money, hold it while they use it for their purposes, and then give it back if you request it? Surely they know how to count money. CHANGE is a form of money. If they can't count change, how long before they can't count bills? Why not just hire ONE PERSON to sit and monitor the internet deposits and withdrawals, which a computer program can do?

If coins are in circulation, you would think that counting them and accepting and depositing and exchanging them would be part of the responsibility of a bank.

Just my opinion. Maybe I need the crazy temple twirly finger for my beliefs...

10 comments:

  1. Not sure what bank you use, but a couple of branches of the one we use here in St Louis used to have coin counting machines. Last time I tried to cash in change I went to three of them. They all told me that the machines were broken and they were waiting for parts.

    My only option was to put the coins into rolls and cash them in that way. There was only one or two rolls of each type so I went ahead and did it.

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    1. Our bank used to have a coin counting machine. They'd take the coins into a back room, and then come back with your total, and give you cash for it.

      I can't believe banks keep a NON-WORKING coin machine on the premises. Either fix it, or get rid of it. I told Hick to ask if they take rolled coins, but he FORGOT. Hick would gladly roll his quarters, rather than lose a percentage of his money at a Walmart coin machine.

      Remember during the pandemic, when there was supposedly a shortage of coins? And the grocery stores were rounding amounts to the nearest dollar unless you used a debit or credit card? But now there's no shortage. The stores will take your coins, or give you change.

      The banks can't count coins? I call shenanigans! They're in the MONEY business, for cryin' out loud! I think it's a ploy to get everybody to give up cash and coins, and use cards. Then they can lock you out of your account. Of course, that's a conspiracy theory...

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  2. My bank still counts coins but they ask me first how much I have then they take it to the machine and if thta tally matches mine they exchange the coins for notes. If it doesn't match, they count the coins manually right in front of me.
    I think too many of your banks have too many things wrong with them, what with all the broken coin machines etc.

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    1. That seems odd, that they'd use the coin machine, but then count by hand. What in the Not-Heaven? If they don't trust the machine, then get rid of it and do all counts by hand!

      I think too many of the banks can't get reliable employees. If they don't want to take coins, then make that policy known! Don't pretend that you have a machine, that "doesn't work." Then people can shop around and switch banks for one that provides the services they want.

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    2. They only count by hand if the machine count differs from what I counted, since I am more likely to have made a mistake than the machine. Usually it matches and I get the notes I wanted.

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    3. At least they use their machine, and don't tell you it's broken!

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  3. I would not take this kind of service. Me estimate how much I have? I expect them to be correct, not just take my estimate. That is really weird.

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    1. That's why Hick is not trusting them with his change.

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  4. HeWho recently took our coins to Walmart because our bank said the same thing! I said it was a conspiracy and you have now confirmed it!

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    1. Heh, heh! Many conspiracies have a tiny nugget of truth in them. But not Flat Earth and Bigfoot!

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