Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Bank On It



I shouldn't have been surprised, but I was.

I had to do a little banking Friday morning.  Nothing major.  Just cashing an income tax refund check and splitting the money between a couple accounts.

I visited two bank branches, next door to each other.  At one time, visiting a bank on a Friday was an exercise in wasted time and frustration.  You had to battle a crowded parking lot outside and long lines inside.

Times have changed.  Both branches were just about empty.  I zipped in and out.

When I sat down and thought about it, it made perfect sense.  I still write a few checks every month, but most bills are paid directly from an account, or I do it manually, on-line.  I don't remember what newspaper I saw it in, but a recent story noted how banks are building smaller branches.  The need for multiple teller stations isn't there.

You have a bank at your fingertips, in the form of the computer or smart phone, in your home.  Brick and mortar bank branches are on the way out.

Pardon a geezer moment, but I do miss those big old banks, with the marble and the stone, and the enormous steel vaults, and the high ceilings.  Those old banks were cool places.  Now, even the smaller buildings are endangered.