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> After the introduction of the ATM, the number of bank tellers in the US actually increased Weird, why that would happen?!... I don't think that's a common ou
by brabel 6y ago
> After the introduction of the ATM, the number of bank tellers in the US actually increased
Weird, why that would happen?!... I don't think that's a common outcome elsewhere...
In Northern Europe, for example, there's almost no bank branches left now... they've been closing down for years and now it's actually hard to find any branch that's open to the public (this started with ATMs but now it's mostly a result of the cashless economy and online banking).
- bobthepanda 6y agoThe US bank market is (was?) highly competitive, the US still uses a lot of cash and checks, you can generally only deposit at ATMs for your bank, and non-bank ATMs have very high fees. So it becomes a distinct advantage to have more locations for customers, because it makes banking with your bank more convenient.
- c22 6y agoThe bank I use has very few branches, from what I can tell. They let me deposit checks by mail or with a smart phone and they refund all of my off-network ATM fees, I guess with the money they're saving by not operating physical branches.
- bobthepanda 6y agoYou can do that with a check but you can't really take smartphone pictures or use mail to deposit cash. I have an online bank account but I do maintain a checking account with a traditional US bank for this reason.
- c22 6y agoThis is true, and my bank does have one branch in my city I can go to if I ever had to deposit cash. In actuality, though, I rarely receive large sums of cash and any cash I do get I usually just spend (thus avoiding having even to visit an atm to get more cash as I commonly have to). The end result is that I haven't been inside a bank in at least 5 years.