A question for my US friends...

[kellifer]

Do you guys have ATMs (Automatic Teller Machine) and PINs (Personal Identification number) for banking or is it called something else? I was just writing something and then thought... wait, am I doing that thing where I refer to a footpath when it's a sidewalk to you?

Comments

[amireal.livejournal.com]

Nope. I go to the ATM all the time and it always asks for my pin. Damnit.

[crownglass39.livejournal.com]

I use ATMs and PINs.
Sadly, I use them WAY too much...

[libitina]

We have them. And they are called that. In some areas, ATMs have other names - somewhere in the midwest they are TYME machines, and in the northeast they are often MAC machines - but ATM is true everywhere that I know.

[lyssie.livejournal.com]

Tyme and Mac are company names, though. They're still all Automated Teller Machines.

And don't forget that most Americans call them "ATM machines". As redundant as it is. And "PIN number", too.

[kellifer-fic.livejournal.com]

Hey... outta my brain!

I had a snarky character voicing his annoyance at this very thing which led me to think... hmmm... am I making a point that everyone is going to say "What the hell is she talking about? What is this ATM thing?"

Heh...

[live-momma.livejournal.com]

Irrelevant factoid: in Germany, it's called "Geldautomat", literally, "Moneymachine."

[kellifer-fic.livejournal.com]

Colloquially (I just realised I have no idea how to spell that word... isn't that terrible?) we call them a "Hole in the Wall" which... sounds kinda dirty once I think about it... heh

[surreallis.livejournal.com]

Yup, just as everyone else said. And they usually ask you if you want spanish or english at the beginning of your transaction. At least around here they do. And they charge about 2 to 3 dollars as a fee for each transaction. (bleah!) Just in case you needed extra useless info. ;)

Also, as trivia, I'm so lazy that I'll actually drive out of my way to hit a drive-through ATM rather than get out of my car to hit a walk-up ATM.

My mother is so proud.

[sp23.livejournal.com]

The Spanish has to be regional because it's not true where I live, and the charge is only if you're using another bank's machine. As long as I use my bank's ATM, I don't get charged a fee.

[surreallis.livejournal.com]

ooh, interesting. Even when I travel, I find the spanish/english machines, depending on how old they are. And yeah, I think most people don't have to pay a fee if they're using their own bank's ATM, provided their bank *has* an ATM. My credit union doesn't.

[sp23.livejournal.com]

Maybe they never bothered with the Spanish/English thing because we have maybe twelve Hispanics in the entire valley. Not counting the illegals that get busted on the Interstate. *g*

[moxie-brown.livejournal.com]

This came to mind: I'm not sure if it's true of people of later generations, but at least amongst the 20-something crowd, we tend to use credit cards more often than going to actual ATMs and withdrawing money. Everything's on credit or debit! In fact, going to the ATM is a chore for me that I only do once or twice a month.

[beatrice_otter]

Yeah. If I need cash (which I seldom do), I usually just ask for cash back when I make a purchase. You can do that with a debit card at most stores, usually $20 or $40. Many stores have limits on the amount of cash back you can get, but since I rarely use cash, it lasts for quite a while.

People on the lower end of the economic scale (at least, the financially responsible ones) tend to use cash instead of debit/credit cards because it's a lot harder to get into trouble. I mean, if you have an overdraft with an ATM card, it's usually somewhere around a $25 fine even if the overdraft is only $.50. If you're on the edge financially, it doesn't take many of those to create a real problem, y'know? And credit cards have such high interest rates.

Finances in the US--these days, it seems there's a payday loan place on every corner in big cities. What those places do is, you go in there and tell them how much your next paycheck is going to be, and they give you an advance on it. Problem is, the interest is incredibly high. And since the people who live from paycheck to paycheck are the ones who can least afford to pay that kind of interest ... it's a real problem. Here in Oregon the legislature is considering a bill that would regulate such places. They're objecting because it would restrict their busines. Which is, um, kind of the point.

[crayonbreakygal.livejournal.com]

ATMs and PINs it is. Thank goodness. You never know.

[hoshi-reed.livejournal.com]

US PINs are 4 digits (I only have to add that because here in Brazil they are 6)
Also the card doesn't come out until you finish the whole transaction. (Here the machine just scans it, spits it out, IF you are withdrawing you have to REINSERT the card AFTER your PIN and the amount you want to withdrawl.)