Yesterday I made a trip to my bank's ATM to make a deposit. I discovered, however, that all of the deposit slips and envelopes were missing. I eventually figured out that the bank had installed a new ATM -- manufactured by Diebold -- which no longer requires such envelopes. Instead the machine allows you to insert the check directly into the machine, which then scans a copy.
It's a lot simpler and faster, and I imagine is also marginally beneficial to the environment as it reduces the usage of paper products.
My guess, however, is that the bank did not invest the money in the new ATM to either save the planet or save a minute of my time. Rather, they were more likely motivated by a desire to save money, avoiding the need to provide envelopes and eliminating the need for someone to sort through them to take the checks out. In the process of attempting to reduce costs -- and increase profits -- they also benefited me and the environment.
This is the reason I crack up when I see people make ridiculous statements about getting profits out of health care. What we need is greater competition and cost-cutting, which only occurs when a profit motive exists. If you think health care is a mess now, just wait until we get rid of any incentive for health care groups to care about the bottom line.
It's a lot simpler and faster, and I imagine is also marginally beneficial to the environment as it reduces the usage of paper products.
My guess, however, is that the bank did not invest the money in the new ATM to either save the planet or save a minute of my time. Rather, they were more likely motivated by a desire to save money, avoiding the need to provide envelopes and eliminating the need for someone to sort through them to take the checks out. In the process of attempting to reduce costs -- and increase profits -- they also benefited me and the environment.
This is the reason I crack up when I see people make ridiculous statements about getting profits out of health care. What we need is greater competition and cost-cutting, which only occurs when a profit motive exists. If you think health care is a mess now, just wait until we get rid of any incentive for health care groups to care about the bottom line.
1 comment:
I know you read Carpe Diem, but I was wondering if you saw this post on a similar option offered by USAA? Why did they offer it? Serving military members all over the world makes captive ATM's cost prohibitive, so the realities of their business model drove them to develop the iPhone app.
http://mjperry.blogspot.com/2009/08/markets-in-everything-iphone-check.html
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