Reply #39: I will go out on a limb and say I expect the big banks to close all their branches anyway. [View All]

[RickFromMN]

I assume it's expensive having brick buildings and employees in those branches.

It's expensive having small checking and savings accounts.
They have to mail us our statements, for which they are now charging us.
They have to deal with us, and dealing with us is not a good return on investment.

The return on investment is much greater buying/selling those CDOs and other
instruments I can't begin to understand...but what I do understand...when
those things make money the banks take the gains in the name of capitalism
but give us, the taxpayers, the losses, by claiming they are too big to fail.

The big banks will focus on "big deposits" and "big loans" with large corporations.

As long as they can get their hands on our mortgages so they can package them
in those CDOs or whatever instruments they gamble with, they are happy.
They don't want to keep our mortgage loans.

The big banks only need a corporate headquarters in a taxhaven location.

They need a large branch in each world money center like London, New York,
Tokyo, Hong Kong. Maybe I'm wrong and they don't even need these branches.