
Hundreds join line at NYC ATM to access unemployment benefits - jpkoning
https://nypost.com/2020/05/30/hundreds-join-massive-line-at-nyc-atm-for-unemployment-benefits/
======
hellojason
> customers baked in 79-degree temperatures as they waited

Bit dramatic? With summer temperatures of 96+ in Texas, 79 sounds delightful.
Is this a common discomfort up North, like the heat wave episode of Seinfeld?
I’m fascinated with how we acclimate to different climates.

~~~
Balero
Yes this is hot. In direct sunlight I would find it uncomfortably hot, and
would hopefully have some water if I was to wait around for half an hour or
more.

Conversely I think nothing of going out in shorts and a t-shirt in 45-degrees.

~~~
Spooky23
79 is not hot for outdoor conditions in NYC. The "baking in the heat" bit
works in August when it's in the 90s and swampy.

------
ilamont
_“There are more than 1,000 ATMs in New York City that KeyBank debit
cardholders can use for free, including over 100 in each borough, and it is
entirely unacceptable that the bank failed to communicate those options to
unemployed New Yorkers,” said state Department of Labor spokeswoman Deanna
Cohen._

I'm kind of amazed that the bank didn't at least put a sign up in the window
listing the nearest fee-free alternatives for the sanity of its own employees
and the continued operation of the ATM at that location. How many transactions
can one machine manage before it runs out of cash or requires maintenance?

------
carlosdp
> A KeyBank spokeswoman said they will be adding signage at the East 22nd
> Street branch “to remind of the importance of social distancing.”

What? Why not a sign with a map of all those 1000+ ATMs they can use for free?
This seems like the wrong takeaway.

------
kwhitefoot
Why wasn't it paid in to bank accounts?

~~~
mumblemumble
It was explained better in the (otherwise less informative) BoingBoing article
that this originally linked to: Direct deposit is an option, but not everyone
takes that option.

There are a _lot_ more unbanked people than I think most folks who occupy the
more stable corners of the economy realize. All those private businesses that
prominently advertise check cashing services littered about major cities?
Those signs aren't archaic leftovers from the 1970s; that's still a useful
service that a lot of people use.

~~~
luckylion
Why is that? I assume operating a bank account can't be that expensive for
banks. If they don't let customers withdraw past zero, they don't really have
risks, but they could still take a fee. Is there some regulation that makes it
unprofitable? Are people okay not having a bank account and don't bother
getting one because paying rent in cash is accepted?

~~~
sshumaker
People are unbanked for various reasons. Banks are not well optimized for
those of lower socioeconomic conditions (and in fact don’t really want them as
customers). Here are a few examples where banks fail them:

1\. Speedy access to money When you deposit a check into a bank account, you
have to wait a few days before the cash is accessible. Many people live
paycheck to paycheck and they cannot wait. Hence check-cashing services.

2\. Overdraft fees These are incredibly regressive - punishing those who have
low funds. Some banks were caught with predatory behavior - rearranging
transactions in a day so the largest hit first and they could trigger multiple
overdraft fees (since it is per-transaction) until laws were passed to prevent
this behavior.

3\. Other hidden fees (low-balance, etc) that aren’t very transparent and
really painful when every dollar counts.

Not to mention cultural issues etc. Long-story short, there is a reason people
use check-cashing services even though at face value they seem a worse deal
than traditional banks.

(Source: was VP of ENG at Credit Karma)

~~~
luckylion
Those and other reasons make absolute sense, but I would imagine somebody to
offer basic banking to the unbanked with a reasonable fee structure etc and
just take the market. Germany's banking system is terribly customer hostile,
but we've got that covered. The US is the motherland of disrupting old
industries, why is it that it's not sorted out yet?

I get why some old self-important bank does not want to deal with the poor and
makes faces if you suggest it, but somebody has to yell _pecunia non olet_ and
jump int.

------
cylinder
why did they not elect for direct deposit?

~~~
dragonwriter
If it's anything like California unemployment last time I used it (for paid
family leave, not traditional UI), you can't actually “elect for direct
deposit” in the simple sense; you get an ATM card and after benefits are first
loaded you can go through a process to transfer the balance to your bank, and
only then set up future deposits to be transferred automatically to your bank.
The bank transfer is not instant, either, it's a 2-3 business day process.

The quickest way to get benefits out if you need it the first time is to
withdraw the limit from the card at an issuing-bank ATM.

And, of course, the people.that are least employment-secure overlap
significantly with the unbanked. Can't elect direct deposit if you don't have
a bank in the first place.

~~~
jevogel
At the end of the article, it states that 80% of the New Yorkers that receive
unemployment benefits chose to receive them via direct deposit, and the 20%
that didn't received them in the form of a debit card.

~~~
dragonwriter
Right, what I’m saying, using California UI as an example, is that it's
possible that there are implementation-detail-based reasons that people do not
choose direct deposit, especially the large surge of new filers in the present
predicament who often also had delayed benefits and thus were more likely to
have urgent immediate need.

The 30,000 foot view of a program often obscures important details;
information on California UI I've seen also refers to how many choose direct
deposit vs. choosing an ATM card, glossing over the details of the mechanics
of how that works which is actually that everyone gets an ATM card, and some
people, after getting it, redirect the funds to their bank, which only happens
as direct deposit _after_ the first time (and not really even then, IIRC, it
still goes into the account tied to the card and then is immediately
automatically transferred.)

------
sixhobbits
"NYC has only one Keybank Branch leading to queues for unemployment benefits"

would be a less clickbaity title

