Conference 7.286::dcu

    
    Yes it is true, according to Andover DCU. I don't know if it has
    been documented anywhere. It might be in small print somewhere where
    they can show you after the charges hit you.
    
    

        Yes - it was documented in some past issue of the "newsletter"
        that comes in your statement.  Actually, the increase kicked
        in about six months later than originally scheduled, so
        it's not quite as bad as it could have been.
        
        And this fee is for using non-DCU ATMs.  There is no charge
        to DCU members for using DCU ATMs.
        
Jim Stratton
        

    Note also that this is the ATM network fee that is charged
    to DCU.  By DCU charging this to the users of those ATMs,
    those of us who use only DCU ATMs are not subsidizing those
    of you who use others (whether by choice or not).

Re: .3

	So why shouldn't people who use DCU ATM's be charged so that 
those who don't use ATM's at all don't have to pay for them?

				>>>==>PStJTT

    Re: .4
    
    We're even - you pay for the tellers' salaries, I'll pay
    for the ATMs. :-)
    
    Bruce

    Speaking of who pays...
    
    Who funds the DCU ATMs found at some of the DEC sites?  I'm
    speaking of the installation and purchase costs of the ATM.
    
    Don

        Re "who funds the DCU ATMs found at some of the DEC
        sites?" - the members fund them, like every other expense
        that the DCU has.
        
        Why should members who cannot possibly use ATMs have to
        pay for them, I hear you ask.  Its sorta like the government.
        Your tax dollars pay for, oh, maintenance of the flag in
        the middle of the Pentagon.  Have you ever seen it?  Is
        it of any value to you?  Did you even know it is there?
        
        I don't mean to sound sarcastic.  It's just that "members"
        of a member-funded organization will invariably pay for
        things that any given member may not benefit (directly)
        from.
        
Jim Stratton
        

    re .7
    
    Who makes the decision as to where an ATM is installed?
    and/or
    Who does BTO have to talk to to get one installed here?
    
    Don

    Regarding tellers and ATMs.
    
    I read in the local paper a couple of years ago that ComFed stated
    that the cost of installing an ATM can be recovered in 18 months
    of teller salaries, benefits, etc.  It doesn't seem that ATM's are
    that expensive to install especially if they supplant an existing
    teller.  Lokk at BayBanks.  They have 3 within 1.5 miles of my house.
    2 within a half mile of each other.
    
    Marty
    

    	The real problem with the 1.00 dollar charge for using the ATM
    machines is that the Digital Credit Union only supplies their machines
    from what I've seen to the eastern Ma. plants, we hear at Springfield
    have been trying for a year to get a DCU machine in-house with no
    luck, seems the DCU is only interested in suppling full services
    to certain selected plants and isn't really interested in the rest
    of us Dec employees, I think it's time for more people to look
    elsewhere for their banking needs and let the DCU take their snobby]
    attitude elsewhere, like maybe the un-employment line!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    
    	
    

    RE: .9
    
    I accept the premise that the ComFed indicated that ATM costs can
    be recovered in 18 months. Like any set of numbers, what didn't
    they say / include?
    
    Does that include the cost of servicing / supporting / auditing
    the ATM durning that time? People still must remove and count the
    money in the machine, see that its transaction log is correct and
    "correct" differences.
    
    If you ask a bank about an ATM (DCU or otherwise) they tend to classify
    the beasties as expensive. (Yes, I did ask, but never got a clear
    answer from any bank / CU as to why its viewed as expensive.)
    
    Carl

    Re .11:
    
>   Does that include the cost of servicing / supporting / auditing
>   the ATM durning that time? People still must remove and count the
>   money in the machine, see that its transaction log is correct and
>   "correct" differences.
    
    I suspect it does.  A teller spends some number of hours at his/her
    position in addition to the end-of-day stuff.  The responsibilities
    involved in supporting the ATM are probably thought of as a fraction of
    a person per unit, based upon hours per 24-hour period. 
    
    The availablility of the ATM is probably thought of as *multiples* of a
    teller position.  It can perform many more transactions per hour than a
    teller, partly because it doesn't have to do the hard ones. 
    
    Auditing of it is also straight-forward.  The biggest part is dealing
    with deposit envelopes, which are still a relatively small proportion
    of the total transactions.  All the actions are "cut-and-dried", and
    there's no potentially-hostile customer standing there glaring at the
    clerk.
    
    I have no time/motion studies to back me up, but I'd imagine that one
    person can keep up with about 3 ATMs.  Few bank branches have that
    many, so the job probably falls on an existing teller.  At the same
    time, the number of teller position-hours has probably been reduced by
    several times the amount required to service the ATMs in use. 

        Here's the word from John Tilley, from the Communications
        department of DCU, on "who pays for ATMs" -
        
        "DCU pays for the ATMs that are adjacent to our branch
        offices and DEC covers our lease payments on machines at
        'remote' locations.  We've also found ATMs to be a cost
        effective alternative to adding additional personnel or
        expanding current office spaces, and they're able to service
        smaller groups (under 900) of employees more efficiently.
        
        "We're currently doing over 30,000 transactions a month
        on Easy Cash24 machines and the related networks."
        

    re .13
    
    Thanks for doing the research to find the answers!!
    
    Don

        re .14 re my .13 - actually, John sent me a memo, asking
        that I post the information in .13.  I wrote a previous
        reply that said "the members pay for the ATMs", which isn't
        true and John wanted me to correct it.
        
        After I posted it, I called to tell him that, and figured
        I might as well ask other questions we've discussed here.
        (I wrote another reply, about that, somewhere else.)
        

    I don't understand something, rereading .7,.13 &.15
    
    with the exception of the ones DEC leases for remote locations,
    Its John's contention that members don't pay for the ones situated
    at branches, that just DCU pays for them?  Excuss me, I thought
    it was my money going into DCU, and that I was a member.
    
    I still fail to see the logic of putting an atm machine next to
    a branch window, while depriving other locations of service!
    ed

    >>    I still fail to see the logic of putting an atm machine next to
>>    a branch window, while depriving other locations of service!
    
    Working in a facility which has an ATM next to the the branch, this
    is easy to answer - just walk by the branch anytime on Thursday!
    Given the length of the lines all day, it is in Digital's best interest
    to shorten the time its employees stand on line (and therefore not
    working); I wonder if that's why the ATM is there.
    
    In any case, most banks have their ATMs right outside their offices;
    it would be nice if they were located in other places, too (I think
    about this every time I have to drive 10 miles from my house to find
    the nearest MONEC [and it's not a DCU machine], passing several other 
    ATMs on the way).

    I like some of the non-DCU ATMs that limit you to $100 per transaction.  
    That way, on a $200 transaction they get $2.00 instead of $1.00!
    
         :-}
         
              Bill