Make Tipping and Splitting Checks Less Inconvenient by Withdrawing Small ATM Bills
According to my unscientific research, there are two situations where you go to an ATM for cash.
The first scenario is when you want a handful of money. What do you need it for? Anything can be! Maybe you are on a monetary diet .
The second scenario is when you need some money to avoid embarrassing situations. You know you are going to a nail salon where you are not tipped at stake. You need $ 10 to park at a baseball game. You can even bring a handful of cash with you, but at very little expense.
But you end up with a handful of $ 20. And then you have to ask the nail salon administrator to break your 20 dollars. Insert your own embarrassing situation here. You know you have it!
This scenario is the reason why I get excited every time I find myself in front of an ATM machine that allows me to select bills to withdraw funds.
Chase and PNC began allowing customers to choose “custom value” in 2013. Some Chase machines in branches and vending machines even dispense coins if you like it. TD Bank ATMs started spitting out small bills in 2014. At Wells Fargo, this feature began appearing in 2015 .
Here’s an example, if you haven’t seen this option in a regular bank ATM:
We are no longer trapped in the tempting $ 20. We can choose combinations of $ 10, $ 5 and $ 1 to be prepared for even the smallest tip. Or, if we’re high rollers, we can go for $ 50! Maybe $ 100! Maybe two dollars at 50 and ten dollars! The future has arrived, friends, we can have whatever we want.
The next time you go to your bank – to use an ATM rather than talk to a person – take a close look at the prompts to see if you can choose custom bills. This may take a few seconds, but it can simplify the next few cash transactions.