Skip to main content

The Inexplicable

 


My daughter has been doing some work for her grandmother over the past year. Grandma pays in cash. For a long time none of us were going anywhere so that cash piled up in my daughter’s bedroom. Recently we decided it was high time we ventured to her bank to get it deposited.

To be honest, we couldn’t remember which branch was the one where she opened her account so we just headed for the one closest to the Mall. She went in, I waited.

And waited.

When she came out she was shaking her head.

“I can’t deposit my money,” she said.

“Why?”

“It’s a cashless branch.”

“A what?”

“The tellers’ windows are covered up by a big sign. A woman came out of her office and told me they are a cashless bank but I could use the ATM.”

We sat there in silence for a moment. A cashless bank. 

Then we consulted the Internet and chose another branch. She deposited her money.

Yes, we’ve gotten a few laughs telling the story of the cashless bank. “What’ll they think up next? Foodless restaurants? Bookless libraries?”

Some very basic digging shows that her bank is piloting the cashless bank as a response to customer behavior. Also to cut costs. Of course. Banks that deal in cash need more human beings to serve their patrons.

It’s true that I haven’t had a great need to go inside a bank in the recent past, which was good because the pandemic made it much more difficult. I can deposit most checks electronically. I can get cash from an ATM. 

Is the cashless bank the future of banking? Does that bother you? Or does it make perfect sense? 

 



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Getting Fresh

One of my favorite days in the Spring comes when this year’s list of Farmer’s Markets is released. That happened this week. New this year are markets in Old Ellicott City and the “Merriweather Market” which, according to the address, will be located here . I mistakenly thought at first glance that it was in the new-construction part of the Merriweather District. I find the name confusing considering its actual location. I’m going to guess that this market is an initiative of the Howard Hughes Corporation because the name seems chosen more for branding purposes than anything else.  Alas, the market in Maple Lawn is gone. The thread on the markets on the County Executive’s FB page will provide you with quite the education in who actually runs the Farmers Markets vs what people often think is going on. Short answer: they are not  chosen nor run by the county. Each market is an independent entity, sometimes started by community volunteers, other times supported by local businesses...

They Can Wait

This is not a typical Saturday post. That’s because, in my community, it’s not a typical Saturday.  Oakland Mills High School, after years of deferred repair, needs massive renovation. It’s pretty simple: when you don’t fix a problem it gets bigger. The school system itself said the the OMHS school building was  "no longer conducive to learning" back in 2018.  2018 .  But Thursday the Boad of Education voted to push it out of the lineup of important projects which will be given the go-ahead to proceed soonest.  In my opinion it’s a terrible decision and sets a dangerous precedent. To explain, here’s the advocacy letter I sent in support of Oakland Mills High School. I was rather proud of it. I am writing to ask you to proceed with needed renovation at Oakland Mills High School in the most timely and comprehensive manner humanly possible. I have read the letter sent to you by the Oakland Mills Community Association and I am in complete agreement. You are extremel...

What Kids Are Thinking

  It’s a Monday in February, and if you guessed that a lot of Howard County students have the new cell phone policy on their minds, you’d be right. It will mean big changes and it will be stressful, no matter how much good we hope it will do in the long run. But on this particular Monday cell phones might not be top of mind, as amazing as that seems. Some kids will go to school wondering if they or family members will be seized by ICE. Some will fear that their parents’ employment will be purged by the ongoing rampage of Elon Musk and his cronies through Federal Government. Some fear heightened and renewed racism as programs that supprted Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are vilified and destroyed.  Some worry that it soon won’t be safe for them to use the bathroom in school anymore. It goes without saying that some kids fear going to school every day because of the prevalence of school shootings.  And look! Here’s something new to fear. That old hate group, Libs of TikTo...