Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!bbn!ileaf!io!mintz
From: mintz@io.UUCP (Richard Mintz)
Newsgroups: comp.society.futures
Subject: Re: Electronic Banking
Message-ID: <1066@io.UUCP>
Date: 9 May 89 18:18:15 GMT
References: <8905011336.AA23777@lll-crg.llnl.gov>
Reply-To: eddie.mit.edu!ileaf!mintz (Richard Mintz)
Organization: Interleaf, Cambridge, MA
Lines: 27

Just a note from a 23-year-old curmudgeon, to observe that not all
electronic banking "advances" are necessarily beneficial to the
customer. Having just done bank shopping to prepare for a long-distance
move, I note that many banks--including Bank of America, one of
California's largest--are now by default \not/ returning cancelled
checks with monthly statements. B of A is willing to do so for an
extra $1/month fee. For any customer, of course, they'll supply you
with a photocopy of a microfilmed copy of a cancelled check --
for $2 a pop or so.

Obviously they save a lot of money by offering this "service". 
However, I depend on those checks as my receipts, and don't want to 
have to spend time and an extra $30/year to get copies. In general
I'm not against paying a premium for services that matter to me;
but as long as B of A has competitors willing to provide the same
service for free, B of A won't get my business. You can bet I made
free check-return an absolute must when choosing a bank -- and I
let the new bank know why I chose them, too.

[My housemate took advantage of a B of A promotion (no-fee checking 
for 3 years on accounts opened on May 6). He asked to have his
checks returned to him with his monthly statement. The salesperson
spent several minutes trying to sell him on the "convenience" of 
not having to store his checks. Eventually she gave up and granted
his request.]

Rich	eddie.mit.edu!ileaf!mintz