Bank Row

Doug and I have noticed a trend recently for bank branches to pop up on every corner. Years ago, we joked about Walgreens because when we gave directions to our first apartment, each turn's landmark was a Walgreens. Well, now it's banks.

We passed one intersection yesterday that had 3 banks! Not just one on each of 3 sides of the intersection, but all 3 were on the southwest corner of the highway and a major road. That got me to thinking about the major road nearest us. It intersects the same highway and also has 3 banks on one of the 4 corners of the intersection. You don't have to drive even a mile before you find another. In the 6.5 mile stretch of the road between two highways, I estimate one dozen bank branches. Trust me, I'll be counting them precisely very soon. Many of these have multiple branches of the same bank brand. That's to say nothing of the 9 branches I've counted on the neighborhood roads within 3 miles of the major road.

How many banks do we need? I understand some study was conducted that concluded that people are more likely to choose a bank if there is a branch nearby. That surprises me because Doug and I have both banked with the same company as long as we've been married and he even longer before me. They are headquartered elsewhere and have no branches. In that six and a half year span we have never once needed a physical branch to visit. Everything is done by mail, by phone or by internet. We make our deposits and transfers online. Our paychecks are auto-deposited. I can create new accounts, open cards, pay all our bills, receive statements and even sign documents online (we get no paper). I think it's great! There's nothing to file, there's nothing to lose. Less hassle for me.

I understand that having a branch nearby that is affiliated with your very own bank saves in fees. But our bank, presumably because they aren't buying so much capital in building on every corner, is able to reimburse us for ATM fees other banks charge us and there are no other fees. Our bank is profitable, and we get a dividend check each year.

So are these commercial banks really raking in the money so easily that they can afford to build a secure, vaulted building on every other corner? If so, why? And how do their customers tell them that they'd rather drive 4 miles further and receive more online conveniences and fewer fees? What's going to happen to all of these bank branches when all of the services they used to provide are available online (don't think it's far off, because all of our services are available online already). I imagine they'll sit vacant for years before someone comes along to bull doze and build something new.

Incidentally, I'd love to get you all an account with our bank, but an immediate family member has to have a membership for you to be eligible. But, it does go to show that it can be done with less overhead and far less waste than the standard commercial bank.

I typically reserve my blog for such sweet matters as the first day of school, cupcake capers and baby's firsts, but this has been bugging me for over a year and I needed to get it out there.