Microsoft Chase XP

I rarely go inside a bank anymore. I limit all my transactions directly to the ATM. On my last visit, I spent at least five minutes looking at their new machines. At Bank Of America, there were only a couple human tellers. On the ATM you pick up the phone piece and you are connected in real time with a teller, possibly on the other side of the world.

This is impressive of course and I hope it makes standing in line a thing of the past. When I went to chase bank, their ATMs looked even more modern. I decided to open a new account with them and was hoping that the experience will be very techy.

But it wasn't.

First I had to wait 45 minutes to get someone to work with me. According to the greeter only the manager can open new accounts. That didn't bother me so much because I spent most of this time on YouTube anyway. When I finally got to the managers cubicle, the tech part got very interesting.

The manager was frustrated. He would hit is keyboard very hard and sigh for five minutes. It was the end of the day and I'm sure he couldn't wait for this transaction to end so he can go home. But the computer wouldn't let him. He turned his screen towards me to confirm that my information is correct, but all I think of was that he was using Windows XP.

He'd turn back the screen and type a little more and wait. And wait. And wait. Then silently he screamed "FUCK!" Then he apologized and said "We are going to have to start over."

I peaked over his screen and he was in the control panel trying to disable animations and graphics. His computer went from the XP theme to the traditional Windows 98 theme. He opened Internet Explorer 8 and started the process over.

I thought for a second about the high tech ATM they had only two cubicles away. How did they get the idea to upgrade their ATMs but not their computers? Windows XP is no longer supported. Sure Microsoft makes exceptions for big organization and I'm sure Chase bank is somewhat a big organization. But Windows XP and IE8 in a professional workspace is not acceptable.

It's not that the operating system is bad, but it is outdated. I think Windows XP is a relic for developers and shouldn't be used outside this context. Of course my recommendation is not to move to Windows 10. Never. I don't think Windows 10 is designed for these environments. I don't see a justification of sending a banks computer information back to motherbase.

I jokingly said "I think you should upgrade your computer, or at least use Chrome." He said he wasn't allowed to install software on his machine. I understand and agree, but IE8 will install software on his machine without his knowledge eventually.

In a bank as big as Chase, I'd think there would be one person with influence that would dare think "Maybe we should upgrade to windows 7, I hear it's more secure." But that is a dangerous thought in a corporate environment.

This is a broken system, please fix it.

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