>>When was that, 2001? That's about the last time I heard of bounced check costing only $25 :).
>
>An example of how far off the beaten path we are out here in the Middle-Of-Nowhere..
>
>Our local bank will attempt to call you if you have an overdraft. If you can come in and square up the account by 3PM (there is some reason for 3PM), you're all set. I assume if you do this frequently they may handle things differently.
>
>Of course, the local bank was bought out by a bank in the next town over the summer. That may be an invalid policy now.

The whole point of becoming big and corporate is that not only you don't know your customers, you don't know your employees, and they also don't know the customers. The less they meet them, the less sympathetic they will be, and cheaper. The doctrine of joystick warfare applied to the bank counter: when you don't see the whites of their eyes, it's much easier to pull the trigger.

I never subscribed to the idea that computers are dehumanizing - actually, anything is better than waiting in a queue only to have your paperwork checked by a grumpy clerk and to be sent to another queue somewhere. If computers can relieve people from these queues, hurrah. But the banks have taken it to another extreme - they don't have too many people visiting the local branches anyway; I've never waited more than 15-20 minutes. All these clerks have computers at hand, you don't have to wait for them to go find a document or pull out a special form, they have all that onscreen. But then you see eye to eye, and you may have a human relationship there. Which is not in the bank's interest.

Wachovia actually tried to charge for visiting branches more than twice a month; Virginia's DMV now gives a $5 discount if you pay your tags online, charges regular for phone payment, and charges $5 if you come to pay. They obviously want to fire some people, or at least not to hire more.

As Italians say, "lontano da gli occhi, lontano dal' cuore" (far from the eyes, far from the heart).