In 1967 a Barclays bank located in England opened the first ATM, or automatic teller machine. Also commonly referred to as a cash machine, or as a bank machine, ATMs are widely used. Many individuals who use an ATM do so for the sole purpose of taking money from their current savings account, or their current checking account. Phone bills, and also utility bills, among other things, can be paid through the use of an ATM.

Bank customers are accustomed to the services provided by ATMs, and now consider them essential. The entire industry of banking was revolutionized by the ATM. People no longer had to stand in long lines to access money in the bank. Appreciated by many people was the fact that they had access to all of their funds even if the bank was not open. The customer experience when using an ATM could still receive improvements.

These six recommendations are areas that could use improvement with bank machines:

1. Availability of Functioning ATMs:

There can be problems with ATMs, which make them unavailable, and cause great frustration amongst customers. In many cases this is because the bank has employed an old ATM system that is outdated. It is a very important expectation of customers that ATMs are always able to be accessed, and fully operational.

2. Cleanliness and Hygiene of ATMs:

One of the most disturbing experiences in ATM customer can have is to attempt access of the machine that is covered in oil and grease from another person’s food. A number of bank machines are commonly used as waste bins for all manner of trash. Banks should keep the areas around ATMs well maintained and clean. This improves the experience of customers using those machines.

3. Ease of Access to ATMs:

Sometimes it can be difficult to physically reach certain ATM machines. Any ATM machine should be easily accessed by all people. It is also important that the size of the text on screen is large enough.

4. Elimination of Fees and Charges

One of the more recent and welcomed trends in bank machine access is the elimination of bank charges and fees when using the machine. While these are good steps, not all bank machines employ them, and some still charge very large fees to access funds.

5. Privacy, Safety, and Security of Customers and Their Money:

An important consideration for many individuals is their privacy, as they do not want others to see how much cash they have taken, or what their pin code is. Many times you can find ATMs that is not in a safe area which concerns a great many people. The security of individuals is also of concern, as a thief only needs to find a person by themselves in order to rob them.

6. Sufficient Cash Stocked In Machines:

It is extremely frustrating when you stand in line to access your ATM only to discover that it is empty of cash. It should be a priority of every bank to make sure that there will always be enough cash in their ATMs.

Credit counselling is a practice which involves educating shoppers on how to manage their finances, more so, on how to avoid being indebted with inveterate liabilities. This course is best delivered under debt management. The aim of this action is to liberate the client of debts.

This system is like an arbitration process, where the parties involved come together to find a solution to the outstanding amount that is due in payment. The advisor outlines the conditions that the creditor has set, and together the advisor and the consumer come up with a strategy of how to settle it.

On agreeing to a strategy of clearing the debt, the lenders proceeds to modify the accounts of the consumer, to the agreed charges. The changes to the account involve combining all the payments to a single account, which is to be paid on a periodic duration of say monthly. The beauty of this agreement is that, the total amount decreases by a certain significant percentage.

Another feature, of the debt management program is the fact that the rates charged are reduced marginally. This is a strategic move, which is aimed at recovering as much debt as possible. The client is assured of being financially freed from debts, after a considerable duration of time, once they enroll for the plan.

On sticking to this financial strategy, the consumer gets an opportunity to redeem their credit worthiness. This comes about when the debt collector has seen commitment by the debtor to offset the outstanding balance. Once convinced, the creditor may update the status of consumers account so that the current activities may be reflected.

Such a plan may be seen to benefit the debt collector, this is because it normally extends the period in which the creditor can take a legal course to seek compensation. However, this service is majorly offered on good will. The institution involved are; government bodies and consumer alliances.

It is imperative for the consumer to only engage in this plan after being well advised. This is why there is need for a debt counselor. The advisor oversees a number of issues such as, acting as the link between the two parties involved. He also analyses the financial situation, in order to ascertain that the course of action taken is legally acceptable. Administrative duties are also enlisted in this docket.

A number of agencies that specialize in this trade have come up. They are however regulated by an umbrella association of the same trade. The umbrella board ensures that all cases are carried out while they meet legislative policies.

A lot of credit counseling agencies are in more than one trade organization. However, not all credit counselling agencies belong to a trade organization, nor are they required to do so. There are those who argue that this financial move is fraudulent since advisors are deemed to be partisan to the debt collectors. This conflict of interest is brought by the fact that their fees are met by the creditors. However, the credit counseling industry is mandated to serve both parties fairly.

Spread betting is an easy and cost-effective way to trade financial markets. It enables the traders to profit from both rising and falling prices. It is more often viewed as an alternative to traditional trading as it allows gaining exposure to a financial instrument without actually having to own it. To put it simply, it is a bet, in which every point movement in the price multiplied by the size of the stake bet results in either profit or loss. The outcome depends on how correct your predictions are.

The concept is pretty straight forward – you would go long, meaning you would buy a particular instrument, if you think that the trading environment is pointing to rising markets. Conversely, you would go short, i.e. sell, if you think that it is going to fall. If your prediction is correct, you make profits. However, if it is wrong, then you lose.

There are couple of features that are appealing to a spread better:

- It is tax free. Profits in spread betting are not taxed. Also, as you bet on the price movement only, and you neither buy nor sell the underlying market, no stamp duty is paid on the transaction.

- Variety – through one spread betting account you have access to a wide range of global markets. You gain exposure to both domestic and international markets.

- Flexibility in approach. Spread betting allows you to go both long or short, meaning that profits can be attained not only when markets are rising, but also when they are falling.

- Leverage – by using only a portion of the total value of your position you can gain much bigger exposure to the underlying markets with the money you have. Effectively, you can open bigger position or more positions with any given amount of money. This enables you to amplify the yield on your investment. The leverage works both ways, however, meaning that you can lose more than the initial deposit.

- Commissions-free trading – there are no prohibitive commissions associated with spread betting as everything is already included in the spread of the two quoted prices, which makes the whole process more transparent and cost effective.

One should not forget that, as leveraged tool, spread betting is a risky business and that it is possible to lose more than the initial deposit. Therefore it is important to understand all the risks associated with the trading, and implement the accurate trading strategy, along with the appropriate risk assessment, as a gut feeling is probably not the right approach. It is important to be aware of one’s own pain barrier by setting stop loss orders on the positions and above all, to bet with the money that one can afford to lose should this scenario occur.