What Are The Major Ways In Which Banking Has Changed In The Last 50 Years?

Do you remember when cash was king? People used to have piggy banks, and they used to proudly walk into the bank with rolled change. If you do that nowadays, you might get a weird look from a teller. That’s even if there is a teller at the bank. Oh yes, banking has changed so much in the past 50 years.

While many new banking instruments have been introduced, each one does have its own way of sticking around. Debit cards and ATM cards have been around for decades, but they are still widely used. They have just changed over the years. Online banking has been a mainstay for quite some time, too, but it has also changed drastically in recent years.

Cash is not an artifact just yet, but who knows how long people will be carrying paper money and coins. There have already been moves to eradicate the penny, but it’s still around. The fact of the matter is that it costs more to make the pennies than they are worth. That has been a fact for quite some time, but they are still here.

Banks as we once knew them are going out of business. That is happening slowly, however, so don’t panic. Plus, they are just being replaced by online banking systems. Many of the same companies that have been around for years like Chase, Wells Fargo and Bank of America have plans in place to stay relevant.

They also have plenty of money. I do believe it’s Wells Fargo that is the bank that is actually opening new branches vs closing down branches. All other banks are phasing out physical banking institutions a little at a time. This doesn’t mean that they will cease to exist completely; after all they do serve purpose and are used often by many people. Banks will continue to buy atm shell units so that customer can use the ATM machine for cash or other quick transactions. Yet while there are those types of changes, there are also many positive aspects to modern banking.

Using an app for banking is really convenient. You can deposit checks and do so much more. How often do you write a check? Speaking of that, you can even send a check using a mobile banking app. On top of old banks staying relevant, there are also new players in the industry.

It’s going to be interesting to see which companies emerge as industry leaders as banking continues to change. And then there are credit cards. There are so many credit card companies and options with each that it’s almost impossible to count them. That is making the credit card companies have to compete even more for your business, and so they are offering all kinds of rewards these days.

Over the last 50 years, much has changed with banking. Yet pretty much everything that was around at the start of that time period is still around now. It makes you wonder if that will actually change. You would think it has to at some point, but then again, there are plenty of people who enjoy having cash in hand vs a card. Do you like all the modern banking concepts, or are there some aspects of online and digital banking that you don’t care for?