MORE BRANCHS Too many branches would seem to be wrong for most trees. When many are added, the various, individual trees all begin to look like common bushes. When a field gets "bushy" we grub 'em out and start over once more.
Wouldn't you agree we should have about as many branch bank as we need? Certainly, by his time, every major bank in the nation has had its chance a cornering all the vast sums of money we pass around of printed, minted , electrified, or plasticized form.
The Direct Mail side of my information and edification concerning world banking tells me that more and more banks are seriously considering any new, truly innovative ways by which they can serve new customers or regain former ones.
Trends of recent years have become a bit worn largely from overuse by too many of them.
There was a time when Branch Banking made good sense. As our cities grew they spread out along the main highways in the shopping centers, Malls - both general and specific by occupational interests or of a special "way-of-life" mannerism. The public watched with approval as branch banks were opened between fast food spots or, even, next door to each other. Banks, it appears, do not follow the general rules other businesses need to remain viable. In a nearby city there is a block long assembly of such banks and it is easy to see just by watching the visitors lines that several are barely making expenses - if that. Yet none of them have closed. Two had name changes because of corporate shifts in ownership far, far away.
In our rural town, all of our banks are "branches". Our only locally owned and operated bank was absorbed by a large bank and then, in turn, they were absorbed by one in North Carolina. That, I suppose, made us the branch bank of a branch bank, and before too long they closed our location as one being too small afford a bank. Within a week or two we found we would have two new banks in our town plus a money-change machine which appear in the local, super-market food store the night after we were told we were too small to support even a small branch.
Some banks are said to be trying added on-line banking facilities to avoid expense of building and staffing branch h banks. Another reaction to current events is that robbers prefer branch banks.
Andrew McCaskey amccsr@adelphia.net 11-14-06 [c426wds]
