Hate to disagree with Lucky, but.... At 11:05 PM 7/30/95, Lucky Green wrote:

Six years ago, you could walk into a Bank, show them your driver license, and open an account. Today, you need several pieces of ID.

I've cashed checks at Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Comerica (whatever _that_ is), etc., without having an account at these banks, and without having to pay any fee, and without any more ID than a driver's license. (I have no accounts at California banks, so all checks sent to me are, perforce, not checks drawn at "my" bank...and yet I've never had to pay a dime to cash a check. The times I've gotten out of state checks, I've of course not expected third parties to cash them for free for me...usually I just deposit them by mail.)

Three years ago, you could withdraw money from your own account without having your checkbook on you. Today, they make you pay for a "counter check".

Hasn't happened to me.

One year ago, you could walk into a bank an cash a check drawn onto an account at the very same bank. Today (Coast Federal), they make you pay a $10 check cashing fee.

Hasn't happened to me. I walk into banks, present the checks drawn on their own bank, ask to have it cashed, and all they want is to make sure I'm the person to whom the check is drawn. No fees, no refusals to cash.

The US banking industry has gone to the dogs. The day a non-US bank offers an account that can be accessed over the net will be the day I close my US accounts.

Maybe I have the magic touch. I find U.S. banks to be marvels of efficiency. (But then I can remember running out of cash on a Saturday and having no way to get any more cash except by borrowing from friends...the ATM revolutionized things around 1980.) I'm not speaking of "interesting" banking applications, which, I fear, are not permitted by current U.S. banking laws. --Tim May .......................................................................... Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay@sensemedia.net | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero 408-728-0152 | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Corralitos, CA | black markets, collapse of governments. Higher Power: 2^756839 | Public Key: PGP and MailSafe available. "National borders are just speed bumps on the information superhighway."