Thanks Obama!
We have too many banks here in San Diego. Almost every intersection, but not much real traffic in them. It is a waste of city space and they drive out the small merchants.
They seem to go from being one bank to another on the same property.
The too big to fail banks are also too big to not profit, while the smaller banks are dropping like flies. Why do we need large national banks? Beats me..they are really just mortgage brokers and any big business loans are always consortiums..
Unmentioned is the fact that branches are not required. With direct deposit by customers and electronic payments to vendors, the need is drastically reduced.
The “Bank of Mason” and the “Bank of Sealy” are thriving in the Obamanation......
That would be a real change, because it seems that small bank branches have been springing up all over the place. I couldn’t really understand it, as I never ever go to my bank.
‘we believe, will be the inevitable ‘de-banking’ of the U.S. financial system’
This is bad?
Walmart-ization?
I’m old, and I can remember a little gas/groceries/cigarettes/candy store every fourth crossroad or so hereabouts. Today it’s about every fortieth, and a good percentage of the stores are cookie-cutter multiples or ambitious local chains.
Just like the rest of you, we’ve been seeing thousands of these branches sprout up all over our fair city; much like the days when there was a gas station on every corner.
But......we may be missing the bigger point here, i.e., that with the squeeze on banks profits it may be harder for people to qualify for an account, hence Baxter’s line about banks not chasing marginal customers. It was pretty obvious that, for example, Wamu would chase nickel and dime acounts just to charge an over draft fee. Those days are history........so what’s the “little” guy to do if you have to make a minimum deposit of $1000.00 to open an account and have to maintain a minimum balance of $1000.00 to keep the account open?
This could become another dog chasing it’s tale down the rathole of doom for many in that, “He can’t get a job without a bank account, but he can’t get the account because he doesn’t have a job......”
I understand from acquaintances in the banking business that it is not just that easy to close a bank branch. You have to get permission from Der Fuherer first. For example, if you want to close one in a bad part of town with declining deposits and a high risk of armed robbery, you have to run the gauntlet of charges of “Racism!” from all the usual suspects.
Generally the only times I go into a branch are to get small change I can't get out of the ATM or for my annual coin deposit where I dump a bucket of coins into the coin counting machine. If more and more people are acting that way by using direct deposit, ATMs, and even applying for account and loans over the web, then the branches become redundant other than as a place to keep safe deposit boxes.
Even for a primary savings account I dumped the local branch bank and picked an internet bank to get 30 times the interest rate paid, so the local bank only serves as a temporary transfer account for my savings.
The Chase bank that I visit everyday has ten teller windows, but usually only one is open. Little activity is evident. I don’t see how they keep the doors open.