The ATMs in convenience stores operate 24 hours a day, yes. But you cannot always use them to withdraw cash or make deposits. I use Hokuetsu Bank (in Niigata), I chose them mostly because they charge absolutely no fees for ATM usage anytime, anywhere (unlike Mitsubishi UFJ, the bank I was roped into using in Tokyo grumbles). Also, they have Mighty Atom for their mascot, who can refuse that?
While I can use any Hokuetsu ATM or 7-11 ATM free of charge, I can only use them between certain hours (7am until 11pm [what a coincidence, eh?] on weekdays, until 9pm on weekends and holidays). It’s not really that much of a hassle.
The Post Office ATMs (the only FI, other than Citibank, that has access to the big North American networks) still close. The one in Shin-Ochanomizu Station, mere steps from where my office used to be, closes at 5PM on Sundays, and 9PM other days. I’m pretty sure I’ve dragged you around Tokyo more than once looking for an ATM that I could use…
One nitpick to BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed’s post: I’ve never had to use a credit card to access funds at a Citibank or Post Office ATM. My debit card has been sufficient since 2001.
I suspect much of the inaka still does. The PO closes, as well as the local banks here, like Aomori and Michinoku Ginko (local in that they extend throughout the ken, and into nearby ones, but not nationally). I imagine that like most things, Tokyo catches on years before the rest of the country gets to them.
And yeah Cerowyn, I meant debit. My Mastercard is both, but I guess when I use it at an ATM I use it as debit.
You’re lucky, because it went exactly the other way around in France. Three years ago or so, one bank began to charge a previously unheard of disloyalty fee, and every other bank (as far as I can tell) followed suit.
(Regarding coins : rolls here. Before, relatively convenient paper rolls. Now fucking plastic rolls you have the hardest time closing properly, at which point the plastic thingy that’s supposed to keep the roll closed is crushed, and you have to start again with another fucking plastic roll)
Ooooooooo! I hate hate hate those plastic rolls, both the kind you’ve mentioned and the awful super thick shrinkwrapesque ones.
I’ve only ever ran into the shrinkwrapped ones when I worked retail and we would get new coins out of the safe for our till. %$#ers were absolutely impossible to open and, once you did, you had to practically force each coin to come out, or rip the wrap to shreds. With the paper rolls my grandparents used at their farm market (my only other retail experience), you could just peel open one side and they’d all slide out easy.
Paper is cheaper, easier to use (both sorting and opening), and more environmentally friendly! Whhyyyyyy did they need to replace it with plastic? :mad:
I Perth (Australia) they have the counting machine available to the public. You throw in a jar of coins and hand the ticket to the teller to credit your account. If the line is too long you can pocket the ticket and return at a less busy time. I haven’t seen them in Brisbane though.
Haha, the nostalgia! I could get one and save up for a timewarp holiday by the seaside in Ayrshire, or on a camping site in the Highlands.
“Mummy, Daddy, it’s cold, whine, whine”.
“No, no, no, don’t be daft - it is just, ahem, ‘bracing’!”
Actually I don’t know of Poundworld but there might be some variant thereof nearby. Knowing that the things still exist, it would be a laugh to keep an eye open for them. (Of course, I can’t be sure that I would be any good at putting coins into it right now).
Surely most unstylish for a former Teddy Boy like yourself?
As I said in the Teddy Boy thread, I once had a whole bunch of pics of me and the gang.
We all looked mean, moody and magnificent and yours truly looked especially handsome and debonaire.
Unfortunately somewhere down the line the pics were either lost or turfed out, you’ll have to take my word for it that I was so devastatingly handsome and simply oozing sex appeal that women used to beg me to ::ahem:: “Take them”…right there, in the street, in full view of everyone.
Modesty forbids me to name any of these women …except for Gladys
If I had the time on my hands I might have made it troublesome to turn me down.
Certainly they can’t turn down a £20 deposit, eh? I think I would just return every hour with £20 of coins. After a while I bet they would just take all your coins.
I would also change banks.
There is a bank locally here that will let you use their change counter for free. If I need a new bank I will go to them.
