Posted by Mike Smith :: July 26, 2007 @ 8:26 am

Not too long ago, it was a weekly ritual to wait in line at the bank for 40 minutes on a Friday afternoon to cash my paycheck. Nowadays, I tend to limit my trips to the bank to making deposits at the ATM in the lobby. For one reason or another, I made a mistake recently that I hope to learn from and avoid repeating: I walked through the lobby and into my bank’s branch office.

While the line at the bank was limited to just one customer ahead of me, even that seemed like a major inconvenience. After all, I could have received immediate attention at the bank’s website. My regret over entering the bank grew with every passing moment. My dissatisfaction continued when my turn finally arrived.

We have become a society where mundane information, once at the forefront of our minds, is now relegated to our electronic alter-egos. How many people know their friends’ telephone numbers anymore? Why would you clutter your mind with such a tidbit of information, when your phone is more than happy to remember it for you?

My bank account number, in a similar vein, resides on documents stored in a secure location – on my computer, but no longer in my mind. As such, I was forced to wait some more while account number was retrieved. After swiping my ATM card, punching in my pin number, and showing my license, the bank teller was finally able to locate my account and was satisfied that I was their customer.

Speaking my name and discussing my account, with other customers within earshot, seemed strange to me. I have grown accustomed to security through online banking and such public actions seemed counterintuitive. Although I’m sure the bank hires trustworthy employees as well, I still felt uneasy providing my license and discussing my account with a stranger.

I’m not suggesting that an ATM or online banking is necessarily safer, but I know of the safeguards in place in those cases. The human factor, while socially beneficial but potentially fickle as well, has been removed. ATMs and websites never become disgruntled, but employees often do.

I was able to take care of all of my business at the bank, but it took considerably longer than if I had done it online or at the ATM. As a result of my latest experience, I now intend to avoid the bank completely, unless I have a truly compelling reason to enter – such as needing to use their restroom.