back to article Barclays: So sorry about LIBOR... How about some free Wi-Fi?

BT is putting free Wi-Fi into 1,500 branches of Barclays Bank - presumably so that impatient customers can do some online banking while queuing for a teller. Barclays can easily afford its £290m fine for attempting to rig the global borrowing-rate benchmark LIBOR, and thus it can easily pay for the new wireless service. …

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  1. wyatt
    WTF?

    What's the point?

    1. Why Not?
      Flame

      Obvious really

      When a criminal gang (I can't say which country it will be from I'm not a prospective MP) steals your details, over badly secured wifi in a bank branch, they can tell you its your fault the criminals emptied your account and Barclays are re-possessing your house.

      Can't we see some senior bank officials go to jail over falsifying government submissions?

    2. Alpha Tony

      'What's the point?'

      Y'know... Because online is better.

      That's why we need toasters that can connect to twitter (#toast #crumpets #poptarts) and the ability to connect to facebook while having a root canal ('Tony is in incredible pain' / '51 people like this').

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: 'What's the point?'

        I can't wait for the twitter enabled toilet.

        Saturday, 11:30 AM: Dave just had a shit like a flock of sparrows leaving a bush.

        1. Inventor of the Marmite Laser Silver badge

          Re: 'What's the point?'

          Monday, 14:03pm: Just dumped a gobfull of tea over my keyboard and poptart

        2. Rampant Spaniel

          Re: 'What's the point?'

          Haven't heard that on before, truly excellent!

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: 'What's the point?'

        Mmmmmmmmmmmm #poptarts

        1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge
          Flame

          Re: 'What's the point?'

          Mmmmmmmmmmmm #poptarts

          I once heard them described as 'napalm covered in cardboard'.

          So I'm presuming that mmmmm is due to your inability to speak after eating them, because of the third degree burns to your mouth?

          I can well believe this, having once achieved the same, incendiary, effect with a jam toasty. Delicious agony - as I'm sure the Marquis de Sade would agree.

      3. TheOtherHobbes

        Re: 'What's the point?'

        I've had far more pain from Barclays than I've had from any root canal treatment.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Wait a sec

      Just let me stick this wi-fi enabled card skimmer onto the front of the ATM, and set up the webcam focussed on the keyboard.

      OK Ivan, Jobs a good-un. You should be able to clone all the cards over the Bank's own free Wi-Fi network now. Saves me having to stay anywhere close to the thing!

      1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge
        Happy

        Re: Wait a sec

        Is that why the Barclays cash machine I used yesterday had the WiFi logo on it. It comes printed on all those nice little webcams you can buy. I just assumed they'd moved their cash machines to unencrypted WiFi, to save on networking costs...

  2. h3

    Be somewhat useful for me right now if it was already available. (Branch of Blockbuster closing next door so convenient for checking prices.) Cannot imagine any use for it after that though.

  3. Captain TickTock
    Facepalm

    I'm very cross and want to express my-

    -oooh free wi-fi!

  4. Bob H
    Go

    I wouldn't say 1500 is small potatoes compared to 16,000, a coverage increase of +9% is significant in any business.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      @ Bob H

      its 1900 branches actually in the UK.

      1. Bob H
        Stop

        Re: @ Bob H

        @AC "BT is putting free Wi-Fi into 1,500 branches of Barclays Bank"

  5. Steve 13
    WTF?

    "Barclays can easily afford its £290m fine for attempting to rig the global borrowing-rate benchmark LIBOR, and thus it can easily pay for the new wireless service."

    Logic failure... A does not imply B...

    In fact, the mention of the libor fixing scandal appears to be completely unrelated to the minor wifi story.

    1. Mike 68

      Context...

      It's just to show Barclays as the usual evil bank wasting customers' money.

    2. ecofeco Silver badge
      Angel

      Well, to SOMEONE, anyway.

  6. Andrew_b65
    Megaphone

    Swindling bastards

    Hey Barclays, how about you actually try to make some money through adding value to products and services instead of just swindling it from everyone else? You might only be taking a penny here, a penny there, multiplied by ten trillion, but the money you 'make' doesn't come from nowhere.

    Every casino banking market manipulation gain is a loss on a balance sheet somewhere else. False profit from ill-gotten gains. The only loser is everybody except you.

  7. ukgnome
    Coat

    I didn't realise they had a dating site

    What? Oh Wi-Fi, I thought you said wifey

    *the one with the grumble mag in the pocket

  8. JDX Gold badge

    Chip on shoulder El Reg?

    It reads like this entire article was merely an opportunity to bring up the LIBOR scandal, which is totally unconnected to the actual story.

    1. arrbee
      Flame

      Re: Chip on shoulder El Reg?

      You have to keep in mind that the banks have taken thousand pounds from each of us since the start of the Cockup Crisis(*), plus saddled us-as-a-country with a rather large debt. This may cause resentment.

      (*) a better name might be the Great Heist

  9. arober11

    Wot no FON

    Why no mention of the [BT] FON network, as it's the largest Wi-Fi network in the country (thanks to BT's participation), and open to all (not just BT customers): http://maps.fon.com/?lang=en

  10. ecofeco Silver badge
    FAIL

    The WiFi T-Shirt

    Got screwed out of my life's savings and all I got was this wifi t-shirt.

  11. John H Woods Silver badge

    Wifi makes it all ok...

    Get in the van!

    No!

    The van has wifi!

    Umm, ok!

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Banksters say woohoo to WiFi

    It was originally supposed to be for the Personal Bankers, but some numpty forgot to setup a closed network with Mac address security and WEP/WAP etc to close the door.

    They have since closed the open door (for now) though having a second WiFi Node (located in the banking hall) would be a better idea than locating the current nodes in the back office where the staff are well cooked with microwave radiation.

    having been on a lot of barclays sites, they all have poorly located nodes for the PB's. but that was a (former)executive decision, not a proper planned site surveyed approach.

    as a side note it was a former CEO that gave his misses who worked for apple the gift of the worldwide 8,000+ iPad contract, thats a nice little gift for her career.

    they did have a shit fit (just after xmas) when there was a coffee shop user caught piggybacking a free node for a bit of adult entertainment during the day, so expect a white or black list table of places where your not gonna be allowed to go in the branches.

    the idea of a public wifi node is a good idea as the majority of branches have terrible 2G/3G data reception, mainly due to thick outer walls as they tend be old buildings.

    the wifi nodes are on a seperate dedicated BT link, so there is no risk to the existing corporate network or its VPN data stream.

    if they do set up a public network, dont be supprised if you get spammed with all those annoying Barclays adverts direct on your wifi enabled device.

    why miss yet another opportunity to annoy yet more of your customers and make a buck on the side. :)

  13. Arachnoid

    Hmmm marketing ploy anyone?

    Free WiFi hmm......there's got to be a business read profit related catch here somewhere so maybe having to log in with your "customer account" details including a spamable email address to access it....

    Nothing in life is free you just have to work out what the small print means

  14. Marlons
    WTF?

    But BT WiFi isn't free, its 'included' if you're a BT customer and sign up to it. Or they charge a fortune.

    Annoys me when they say free and actually it isn't free. ElReg should know better.

    1. Bill Ray (Written by Reg staff)

      BT's wi-fi is indeed a chargeable service, but this wi-fi will be branded Barclays and will be free.

      BT is providing the infrastructure, Barclays is paying the bill.

      Bill (the author of the piece, not the bill being paid).

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