ATM - a self-service banking terminal
An ATM (automated teller machine) is a self-service terminal at or near a bank. The customer inserts a card and enters a PIN, checked against the account before any transaction. Six services follow: withdraw cash, deposit cash or cheques, check the balance, print a mini statement, pay a bill, transfer money. Cash is dispensed as whole notes, so the amount must divide by the smallest note held. It runs 24 hours a day, at many locations, with no staff present.
EFT - account to account, no cash or cheque
EFT (electronic funds transfer) moves money between bank accounts over a computer network, with no cash or paper changing hands. It drives a debit or credit card payment, where the retailer's terminal sends the details to the bank to be authorised or declined; a standing order or direct debit, moving a fixed or variable amount on a set date; and an internet- or telephone-banking transfer. Funds move the same or next working day, with no document to lose.
Internet banking, telephone banking, cheques
Internet banking - log in to the bank's site or app with a customer number, password plus a one-time passcode, to view statements, transfer money, pay bills, set up standing orders. Telephone banking - ring the bank and use an automated touch-tone menu or an operator, after security questions (date of birth, memorable word). Cheque - a signed paper instruction to pay a named payee; it must pass cheque clearing, typically a few working days.
Drawn from real examiner reports.
"Saves travelling" inside the branch
When the stem places the customer at a self-service terminal inside the bank, stock home-banking advantages such as "the customer does not have to travel to the bank" score nothing - the customer is already there. Check who the question asks about: the mark scheme wanted the advantage to the bank, which needs fewer tellers and so pays less in staff wages.
Flagged w22 P12 Q10 - internet banking set inside a bank branch; candidates gave home-banking advantages instead of the bank-side advantage.
Telephone banking is not a banking app
Telephone banking means an actual phone call to the bank's number, then an automated touch-tone menu or a human operator, with security checks answered by voice. A smartphone banking app is a form of internet banking - it reaches the bank over the phone's internet connection. Both happen "on the phone", which is why candidates swap them - but only one is a call.
Flagged s22 P13 Q14 - telephone banking answered as a phone app rather than a phone call.
"The bank checks the card" is too vague
Asked how a card payment is checked, "the bank checks the card" or "it sees if you have money" earns little. Name the chain: the shop's computer/terminal sends the details electronically (EFT) to the customer's bank, which confirms the account has sufficient funds - or available credit on a credit card - then returns an authorisation before the sale completes.
Flagged s22 P11 Q15 - card check = the shop's computer checks with the bank that funds exist.
POS is not "paying for a product"
POS is set rarely, and candidates who met it wrote about the customer paying for products instead of the system. POS (point of sale) is the shop's own till system: it captures the card and item details, records the sale and updates stock levels automatically. Paying is what the customer does; POS is what the shop's computer does with the sale.
Flagged s23 P13 Q7 - candidates wrote about paying for products, not POS/stock control.
A debit card is not a credit card
A debit card takes the money directly out of the cardholder's own account, usually within a day or two of the transaction. A credit card borrows money from the card provider up to an agreed limit, to be repaid later, with interest charged if the balance is not cleared in full by the due date. Both run on EFT, but only one spends money the customer already holds.
EFT is not just a faster cheque
An EFT payment is electronic end to end: it reaches the payee's account almost at once and there is no physical document to lose or alter. A cheque is a paper instruction that must be written, handed over, paid in and then passed through the cheque clearing system, typically a few working days, so the money is not available immediately.
Card authorisation is not verification
Checking a card payment - the PIN, and the bank confirming funds by EFT - is a security/authorisation check on who is paying and whether they can. Verification is a data-entry check that data was copied correctly, for example by double entry, and says nothing about whether the data is correct. Do not offer verification as the answer to a card-check question.
Name the exact channel
ATM, internet banking, telephone banking and the branch counter are four separate channels - a machine, a website or app login, a phone call, and face-to-face. Writing generally about "online banking" when the stem names one of them loses the mark.
Say whose advantage it is
"Advantage to the customer" (24-hour access, no travel needed) and "advantage to the bank" (fewer tellers, a lower wage bill, lower running costs than a branch) are different lists. Read the stem for the beneficiary, then check the point fits where the scenario puts the customer.
An advantage needs a comparative
A benefit states something good; an advantage compares. "Internet banking is convenient" is a benefit and fails. "Quicker than queueing at the branch counter" is an advantage and scores. Every advantage, disadvantage, compare or discuss answer needs a comparative word in it.
Give a because; never a split list
On explain and describe, follow the point with because... - "it is quicker" on its own scores nothing. On discuss and compare, take the same feature on both sides instead of ruling a vertical line down the page into advantages and disadvantages columns, which caps marks.
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