A Tale of Two ATMs

At a nearby Walmart, two ATMs were sitting near each other by the customer service desk. One ATM is owned by a local bank. The other ATM is owned by Walmart itself. Now I don't have an account with this local bank, so when I insert my ATM card and request a withdrawal, said bank wants to add a $2.50 surcharge. Kinda high, if you ask me, even among banks that do this sort of thing.

So I go to Walmart's ATM. Here's the interesting thing: It sells money orders, in addition to operating purely as a cash machine. So, out of curiousity, I use the machine to buy a money order for $10, whereupon I'm assessed a 46 cent fee for the instrument, and the machine produces it on the spot. Then it asks if I want cash back from the purchase(!). I say yes, specify the amount, and the machine dutifully withdraws the funds from my checking account and dispenses it to me. The wonderful thing is there's no ATM surcharge at all, and I can turn around and redeposit the money order or use it for any other purpose.

So it's $2.50 vs. 46 cents. Seems like a no-brainer to me. Local bank, are you listening??? --SJR

First Movie!

Quite frankly, I didn't think I could post a *video clip* straight from my Palm Treo, but it has come to pass (however brief it might be). And here's nearly another first: Andrea is singing straight from the hymnal during church. --Sandy