UK: Must not give machines names!

Once upon a time, you might have been on first-name terms with the staff at your local bank.

Now, it seems, Barclays wants you to be just as friendly with their automated counterparts.

In a move that furious MPs have branded ‘insulting’ to customers, the bank has given human names to its self-service machines.

Customers are being told to go to see ‘Sally’, ‘Mike’ or ‘Jake’ if they want to pay in a cheque, withdraw money or amend a direct debit.

The machines – dubbed ‘Assisted Service Counters’ – have name plaques, with a list of transactions they can help with underneath.

Those queuing up to speak to an adviser will be told to use a machine if they are performing a ‘routine’ transaction, such as paying in a cheque. Typically only customers with more complex enquiries – such as taking out a mortgage – will be directed to a member of staff.

Barclays said it is testing out this tactic at five of its 1,488 branches – although it refused to disclose where they are. It said the aim is to make it easier for customers to distinguish between the different types of machines. If the trial is successful, machines at branches across the country could be given names.

But the move appears to have backfired, with campaigners last night accusing the scandal-hit lender of ‘taking its customers for mugs’. The Mail has launched a campaign – Bring Back Real Customer Service – to highlight the frustration customers feel in banks, supermarkets and train stations when forced to deal with self-service machines rather than a real person.

Derek French, of the Campaign for Community Banking Services, said: ‘There will be some customers who will appreciate the joke. But this is an insult to those who have queued up at their local branch wanting to speak to a human.

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