# Are employees of stores with Allpoint ATMs sworn to secrecy? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 1, 2015, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-employees-of-stores-with-allpoint-atms-sworn-to-secrecy/736304 "2015-11-01T01:26:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2015, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-employees-of-stores-with-allpoint-atms-sworn-to-secrecy/736304/1 "2015-11-01T01:26:03Z")
I just opened an account with a bank that is part of the Allpoint network. I wanted to use one of their ATMs to deposit a check. I went to four different stores with Allpoint ATMS, and when I saw that they didn’t take deposits, I asked an employee where I could find one that did. At all four stores, they claimed to not know. These four stores were three _different_ chains and one independent. Come on now, I **know** Allpoint is paying you commision. Help me use one of their ATMs. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2015, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-employees-of-stores-with-allpoint-atms-sworn-to-secrecy/736304/2 "2015-11-01T01:30:08Z")
Why not just assume that they don’t know? Go online, to Allpoint’s website, and find their nearest local point to you that accepts deposits. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2015, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-employees-of-stores-with-allpoint-atms-sworn-to-secrecy/736304/3 "2015-11-01T01:41:01Z")
I don’t know anything about Allpoint, I’ve never heard of it before, is it a bank? Either way, why would a random employee of a store have any idea where another one is? ATM sales people ask if they can put one in, if the owner says yes, they install it. That’s (more or less) it. The store doesn’t have any affiliation with it beyond that. It’s one thing to go to your bank and find out they don’t provide a service you’re looking for (say, counting change) and asking where the next closest branch is. But what you’re doing is going to gas station, finding out that their vending machine is out of Pretzel Goldfish and asking where you might find another vending machine. The clerk might just happen to know, but they’re not required to and it would be unlikely that they’d have any idea at all where the next closest vending machine is that’s run by the same company. ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2015, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-employees-of-stores-with-allpoint-atms-sworn-to-secrecy/736304/4 "2015-11-01T01:41:03Z")
Why would the employees know anything about where other Allpoint ATMs are located, or what their capabilities are? Whatever commission they get is specific to the ATM in their store - they get no benefit from sending you to use the ATM in someone else’s store (assuming that a retail employee cares about the commission paid to the store’s owner in the first place). ---
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2015, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-employees-of-stores-with-allpoint-atms-sworn-to-secrecy/736304/5 "2015-11-01T02:24:44Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > I don’t know anything about Allpoint, I’ve never heard of it before, is it a bank? It’s an alliance of banks who have a shared ATM network. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2015, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-employees-of-stores-with-allpoint-atms-sworn-to-secrecy/736304/6 "2015-11-01T02:52:39Z")
> [@boffking](#): > > It’s an alliance of banks who have a shared ATM network. The above still applies. A rep from the bank approaches the store, asks if they can put in an ATM, the store owner agrees and they install one. The store owner, and even less so the clerk running the register, has no idea where another one is. It’s no different then the store being out of a (obscure) product and asking them what other store sells it. At best, they can direct you to the product’s website or give you their rep’s number, but they wouldn’t have any idea where to send you (unless they just happen to know). Besides which, that’s just sending you to a competitor. In short, they didn’t claim not to know, they didn’t know. And don’t forget, you were talking (I assume) to a clerk. They typically have no idea what’s going on behind the scenes. They probably didn’t even know the ATM was on the Allpoint network until you asked them about it. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2015, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-employees-of-stores-with-allpoint-atms-sworn-to-secrecy/736304/7 "2015-11-01T02:55:34Z")
Are you _sure_ that your bank lets you make deposits at ATMs of other banks? Because I think, generally, that banks in the US don’t let you do that. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2015, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-employees-of-stores-with-allpoint-atms-sworn-to-secrecy/736304/8 "2015-11-01T03:17:32Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Are you _sure_ that your bank lets you make deposits at ATMs of other banks? Because I think, generally, that banks in the US don’t let you do that. Sure they do. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2015, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-employees-of-stores-with-allpoint-atms-sworn-to-secrecy/736304/9 "2015-11-01T04:16:27Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > Sure they do. Cite? I concede things might have changed while I wasn’t looking, but what bank accepts deposits for other banks? Allowing withdrawals, sure - cash is cash. But taking deposits for some one else’s accounts? ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2015, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-employees-of-stores-with-allpoint-atms-sworn-to-secrecy/736304/10 "2015-11-01T05:39:28Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Cite? I concede things might have changed while I wasn’t looking, but what bank accepts deposits for other banks? > > Allowing withdrawals, sure - cash is cash. But taking deposits for some one else’s accounts? I deposited checks many times in the 7-Eleven ATMs who accept the Cirrus network, in which my credit union is networked. Also in a rival credit union’s ATM (within the same Cirrus network) at the supermarket. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2015, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-employees-of-stores-with-allpoint-atms-sworn-to-secrecy/736304/11 "2015-11-01T13:57:29Z")
That’s a little different. CUs often band together, because they tend to be smaller and fewer in number. Banks not so much. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2015, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-employees-of-stores-with-allpoint-atms-sworn-to-secrecy/736304/12 "2015-11-01T14:16:00Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > I deposited checks many times in the 7-Eleven ATMs who accept the Cirrus network, in which my credit union is networked. Also in a rival credit union’s ATM (within the same Cirrus network) at the supermarket. I’m surprised to hear this, because I can deposit checks into my Citibank account at Citibank branded ATMs at non-Citibank locations ( including those in 7-Elevens) but not at non- Citibank branded ATMs. Are you certain the ATMs you are talking about are not actually ATMs operated by your credit union? Wait a second- I think I’ve found it. Some (not-all) of the 7-11 ATMs are VCOM units which apparently is part of a [shared branching arrangement](http://sharedbranching.org/)among credit unions. It has nothing to do with Cirrus , which is a much larger network. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2015, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-employees-of-stores-with-allpoint-atms-sworn-to-secrecy/736304/13 "2015-11-01T15:16:40Z")
If it is possible to use a foreign ATM to deposit a check (foreign in this case meaning one that doesn’t belong to your bank or credit union), it might be a result of the same laws that let you take a photo of a check on your smartphone and deposit it that way. So perhaps these ATMs take photos of the checks and transmit them to the originating banks? (And perhaps **boffking** ’s bank has a smartphone app and he can make deposits that way?) ---
**Author:** ![Old\_Time\_Hockey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9adbd/32.png) [@Old\_Time\_Hockey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Old_Time_Hockey)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2015, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-employees-of-stores-with-allpoint-atms-sworn-to-secrecy/736304/14 "2015-11-01T16:29:29Z")
Do these Allpoint units in stores even have depositories? I work in the atm industry and almost all standalone remote units in stores are narrow footprint atms that don’t come with depositories. They are there to dispense cash and nothing else. And I don’t know of any major bank that takes deposits in rival bank’s atms, in Canada anyway. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2015, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-employees-of-stores-with-allpoint-atms-sworn-to-secrecy/736304/15 "2015-11-01T18:32:00Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > I’m surprised to hear this, because I can deposit checks into my Citibank account at Citibank branded ATMs at non-Citibank locations ( including those in 7-Elevens) but not at non- Citibank branded ATMs. Are you certain the ATMs you are talking about are not actually ATMs operated by your credit union? > Wait a second- I think I’ve found it. Some (not-all) of the 7-11 ATMs are VCOM units which apparently is part of a [shared branching arrangement](http://sharedbranching.org/)among credit unions. It has nothing to do with Cirrus , which is a much larger network. It was Cirrus when I last used it, several years ago, before I got a phone app. They appear to be in several other networks now. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2015, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-employees-of-stores-with-allpoint-atms-sworn-to-secrecy/736304/16 "2015-11-01T19:55:45Z")
> [@boffking](#): > > It’s an alliance of banks who have a shared ATM network. Like some low-rent version of Pulse, Cirrus or Plus? My guess is that it’s probably used in those sketchy no-name ATMs in convenience stores. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2015, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-employees-of-stores-with-allpoint-atms-sworn-to-secrecy/736304/17 "2015-11-01T21:57:10Z")
Allpoint has allowed deposits at “selected ATMs” for about a year now. Among their sales points (to banks and CUs) are: Surcharge-free ATM network 55,000 ATMs around the world Allpoint ATMs are in retail locations, so they’ll don’t send one bank’s customers to another bank’s branches Bank ATMs do not participate, so they keep their surcharge revenue Locations include: 7-Eleven CVS Costco Kangaroo Express Kroger Safeway APlus Target Walgreens Winn Dixie ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2015, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-employees-of-stores-with-allpoint-atms-sworn-to-secrecy/736304/18 "2015-11-01T22:17:01Z")
> [@boffking](#): > > I just opened an account with a bank that is part of the Allpoint network. I wanted to use one of their ATMs to deposit a check. I went to four different stores with Allpoint ATMS, and when I saw that they didn’t take deposits, I asked an employee where I could find one that did. At all four stores, they claimed to not know. These four stores were three _different_ chains and one independent. Come on now, I **know** Allpoint is paying you commision. Help me use one of their ATMs. If I were looking for a new bank, an app with check deposit ability would be way higher on my list than an ATM network. Even my small community bank has one. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-employees-of-stores-with-allpoint-atms-sworn-to-secrecy/736304/19 "2015-11-02T00:53:11Z")
So the answer seems to be that no, you can’t make deposits at a ‘foreign’ ATM and deposits at non-depositor ATMs are limited to some very small collective networks of credit unions. I worked in the ATM field back when they were powered by hamsters, and I’m willing to concede that many things have changed since then, but it still seems that the fundamental simplicity of dispensing cash for each other is one thing, and the service of taking deposits for each other remains almost impossibly complex. ---
**Author:** ![tenacious\_j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/439d5e/32.png) [@tenacious\_j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tenacious_j)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-employees-of-stores-with-allpoint-atms-sworn-to-secrecy/736304/20 "2015-11-02T02:53:19Z")
How the heck would a store employee have information about what network the ATM is on, much less where the other locations would be? There are a lot of more relevant, more important things for them to remember than that. Yes, in the US you can deposit at ATMs outside your own bank as long as they participate in a shared network. NYCE is an example: [http://www.nyce.net/consumers/shareddeposit/index.htm](http://www.nyce.net/consumers/shareddeposit/index.htm) [http://www.nyce.net/atm-locator/index.htm](http://www.nyce.net/atm-locator/index.htm) It comes in handy when your own bank closes the branch near you and you need to make frequent deposits. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-employees-of-stores-with-allpoint-atms-sworn-to-secrecy/736304.md?page=2)