European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 31, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 14 the stars and stripes Money matters monday october 31, 1994 today s rates following Are fixed rates at which Community banking and credit Union facilities will sell for eign currencies to . Personnel for personal use. British Pound. 1.68 dutch Guilder 1.63german Mark. 1.46 note the rates above apply within the Host country. Figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other currencies to the Dollar following Are Interbank rates that fluctuate and should be regarded As the approximate value of the . Dollar to foreign Curren cies. ".-.,. F austrian Schilling 10.542 Bahrain Dinar 0.37799 belgian franc .30.83 British Pound 1.6348 Canadian Dollar 1.3494 danish Krone. 5.8588dutch Guilder 1.682 French franc 5.1258 German Mark 1.497 greek drachma. 230.45 italian lira 1,531.80 Kuwait Dinar. 0.2963 norwegian Krone .6.512 portuguese escudo. 152.88 saudi rial. 3.751 Spanish peseta. 124.58 Swiss trans. 1.25 turkish lira 35,710.00. Note figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other currencies to the Dollar Gold quote $388.40 an ounce Silver quote $5.39 an ounce sources merchants National Bank & Trust co. And the associated press Banks Cut Back  hours at night to curb robberies Schwa or s ice Brearn gets cold shoulder Marshall Minn a nobody wants it at Home so a Minnesota company is looking outside the state for a place to dump millions of Gallons of ice Cream made before it closed a Plant due to a Salmonella outbreak. Schwan s issued a nationwide recall of its ice Cream oct. 7. Hundreds of Salm Onella cases linked to the ice Cream have been confirmed in 16 states and thou Sands of cases arc suspected in 20 others. Officials say the source of Salmonella May have been a truck that carried raw eggs before delivering pasteurized ice Cream mix to the Plant in Marshall. It was unclear whether All the ice Cream to be dumped was tainted but officials did not want to take any chances. Company spokesman Dave Jennings did t know specifically Why Minnesota Sites were ruled out but he speculated that some May be full. He said the ice Cream would be dumped at several Sites around the country. But Mark Jacobs director of the state pollution control Agency s regional office said Minnesota landfills did t want their Cream. Schwan s is storing the recalled ice Cream at its Marshall Plant until it finds a place to dump it. The company is using a Plant in Iowa to make ice Cream until its Marshall Plant reopens. New York a. Vou need Cash at 3 . And visit the local Bank s Auto mated Cash machine Vestibule 24-Houratm card in hand. Surprise. Bankers have concluded that safety concerns sometimes outweigh customers needs for round the clock Access to their Cash through arms. Night crime at arms is beginning to cause Banks across the nation to curtail Cash machine hours especially at vestibules located in cities. Banks Are recognizing that limiting hours is one Way of dealing with safety concerns said Barry Schreiber professor of criminal Justice at St. Cloud state University in St. Cloud minn., and a recognized  crime expert the restrictions come against a Back drop of enormous growth in both  use and the array of services available on them for customers reduced  hours infringe on the convenience that the machines Are intended to provide Banks usually curtail night  Hursin response to crimes in or around the machines. For example a spree of 30  robberies in Tampa fla.,prompted Barnett Bank to close some arms there at 10 . And some in neighbouring St. Petersburg fla., at 7 . The arms reopen at 6 . In Tampa and at 7 . In St. Petersburg the Bank believed that it was in customers Best interest to limit the hours said Robert stickler a spokesman for Barnett which operates 800 arms throughout Florida and Georgia. The benefits of convenience were outweighed for safety reasons said  a v  other Banks keep Cash machines in Low traffic areas closed overnight. Sanfrancisco based Wells Fargo Bank for example closes arms in downtown san Francisco in the evenings for safety Pur poses said William r. Wipprecht director of Security. During the Day the area is filled with people but at night it s deserted he said. We be had some complaints fro people who do use the machines at night and it s a Tough Trade off but we feel it s better to be  a total of 170 of Banka Nerica corp s 3,400 arms throughout California have restricted hours the Bank said through a spokesman Schreiber said that Les than 1 percent of. New York times Filean  inside a police station like this one in the Chicago police department s seventh District is one Way to curb late night robberies at the machines As Banks across the country Are trying to do. The country s 95,000 arms have restricted hours but some cities May have a greater proportion of limited hour machines be cause of significant crime problems. This is especially inconvenient for customers in Low income neighbourhoods who already contend with relatively few Bank branches compared to More affluent areas. Though not widespread when measured against the millions of times arms Are used every Day  crime is one of Urban life s scariest realities. Most towns have  safety Laws re Quirini Banks to provide special lighting video surveillance and Safe Access to thwart crime. But it happens anyway. Schreiber estimated that there is one crime for each 2 million to 3 million  transactions. Bank network news an Industry publication estimates that in 1993 there were 642 million  transactions per month or 2.1.4 million Cash withdrawals deposits and other transactions made each Day All around the country. That works put to around 7  robberies per Day. Bankers said they need to strike a bal Ance Between convenience and safety be cause convenience is All important to customers even in areas of High  say that roughly one third of All Bank transactions Are handled electronically at arms rather than at the  ,. One solution is to put arms in High traffic areas that Are convenient for customers such As grocery stores pharma cies fast food outlets Gas stations and convenience stores. Many of these locations Are open 24 hours a Day. Although Bankers choose these locations primarily for convenience Sake Security also plays a role. Atm crime sur Veys show that retail locations get hit less frequently than standalone or in Branch arms said Schreiber. Polaroid urges discard of Flash    ".", -.-.-. A.  mass. A Polar Oid corp. Warned Consumers saturday that about 200,000 flashlights it gave away free As part of a halloween promo Tion can overheat and melt. Trie company said some Consumers had complained about the 5 Inch Long flashlights handed out nationally As part of a halloween film promotion. The Cambridge based company said the flashlights bearing the Polaroid name were supplied by a foreign manufacturer. V " spokesman Robert Guenther declined to identify the supplier. Rather than a recall the company urged Consumers to remove the batteries for other uses and throw away the Flash lights. Guenther said Polaroid had t decided whether to offer a replacement gift. A toll free customer service line was set up at 1-800-343-5000, to operate from 9 . Until 10 . Sunday and today. Booklet helps gon umers rate credit cards Washington a the Federal Reserve marked National Consumers week on Friday by issuinga1-7-Page Booklet designed to assist Consumers in selecting the Best credit cards. Fed vice chairman Alan Blinder said Consumers should be Able to comparison shop among credit card issuers just As they would if they were  car or a Home or a refrigerator. If Consumers arc unable to choose on an informed basis then their dollars Are wasted Blinder said in introducing the Booklet shop. The card you pick can save you  Booklet contains valuable information for Consumers in selecting the credit card that Best fits their needs and helps them save their hard earned Vioney added Polly Baca director of the . Office of consumer affairs. Although there Are hundreds of differ ent credit card plans the Booklet contains information on just 150. Still Blinder described the list As representative of the Industry and said it will be updated twice a year. The information includes annual percentage rates ranging from 8.5 percent to 21 percent fees ranging up to $40 a year and Grace periods of up to 30 Days in which no finance charges Are imposed. The Booklet illustrates How card hold ers can save Money by selecting their plans carefully for example a card Holder with an average monthly balance of $2,500 will pay $470 annually in finance charges under a plan with an 18 percent annual rate and a $20 annual fee. That same debt would Cost the consumer Only $350 if the plan charged 14 percent interest and had no yearly fee. Blinder said the credit card Industry now holds debt totalling an estimated $325 billion. / As of last year there were about 250 million Bank credit cards just ban credit cards he explained. That s one for every american including babies. About 63 percent of american House holds hold at least one Bank credit card he continued. That compares to 38 per cent in 1977. Bank credit cards ast year were used in 4.3 billion transactions. And the interest and fees Consumers paid on these cards last year amounted to about $30 billion Blinder added. The Booklet May be obtained from the office of Public in formation at any of the 12 regional Federal Reserve Banks or from the Federal Reserve system publication services ms-127. Washington . 20551