Ask the banker {not charges related}

[Nattie]

Have you got a question about your bank account not charges related?
This is the thread to ask the questions and I will attempt to answer the queries and anyone else on the forum. If it a problem with a foreign payment, atm issue, point of sale/debit card payment, CHAPS or the like, this is the place to find solutions.

You may want to check the information the bank have told you about a specific non charges related query.

[michael]

Re: Ask the banker {not charges related}

Is it true that 14 years ago, as a cost cutting measure, Natwest withdrew back-office staff at branches and that when you pay in cheques, the branch itself keeps no record whatsoever of details of those cheques or the paying-in slip?

And that they are only entered into the system when they are couriered to a central processing point?

[Nattie]

Re: Ask the banker {not charges related}

I actually have no idea where you are going on this one because you are asking for POLICY and CAUSE and EFFECT without a specific example to go on, ie I have paid three cheques into the branch and want to know who the payee's are, will I be able to find out? The answer to that example is yes.
If you are asking about back office staff being reduced and more centralised cost effective methods being employed by NatWest Group Plc and later adopted by RBS Group Plc then yes cost cutting measures have taken place. Does this mean things are impossible to find out? No is the answer.

I can answer more specific questions on a query related enquiry.

[michael]

Re: Ask the banker {not charges related}

If you are asking about back office staff being reduced and more centralised cost effective methods being employed by NatWest Group Plc and later adopted by RBS Group Plc then yes cost cutting measures have taken place.

I only found out about this after a courier was robbed between branch and central processing. It meant that because the branch now don't record cheques or paying in slips, they had absolutely no idea how many cheques were involved, the amounts, which accounts the cheques were drawn on or who they were made payable to.

They couldn't contact customers who had paid in only cheques, since they had no idea who they were.
All they could do was wait for customers to complain that their account hadn't been credited

[Nattie]

Re: Ask the banker {not charges related}

Which may explain why they have changed the bag with which the cheques are taken from one that was not see through to one that now is, to protect the courier, because people could think that they were carrying money. It is a rare occurrence but there is a way of determining accounts where cheques have been paid into as they are swiped through the teller machines albeit it does not record the breakdown or account numbers. The problem is that it is not always done with every single voucher as no processing of cheques is made at the branch.