> banks are known to be subject to regulation wrt. accounts, they can't just shut you out and pretend you were never there (in contrast to e.g. Google which ca

> banks are known to be subject to regulation wrt. accounts, they can't just shut you out and pretend you were never there (in contrast to e.g. Google which can, and does) Exactly. Banks are required to have what's called fiduciary responsibility. They have legal obligations to fix their mistakes. They can't provide their services "as is, with no warranty". A friend who runs a bank branch for a major bank says that about a quarter of her day is spent dealing with people who had some kind of error or scam problem. All routine transactions are automated, and there are only about two teller windows in a branch now. What bank branch staff actually do is sell loans, and customer support. That customer support is not optional. There are bank regulators who will punish banks if they don't do it.