I'm in the UK, why on earth does it matter about the branch? In the UK it's about the bank not the branch. The branches left generally are pretty small now doing the most basics of tasks.
Banking in the US had quite a few surprises for me. Often masked as 'for security' when it's anything but. A few examples spring to mind.
1) Chip and pin took the US forever to adopt. I've heard arguments that this is because chip and pin is 'insecure'. Insecure compared to a signature or magnetic stripe? Really?
2) SSL certificates. A lot of the retail banks use the cheapest grade SSL certificates. No extended validation. So you don't get that reassuring green padlock. No idea why. Something about compliance I read once. Bizarre.
3) ACH payments take three days to wire. Again, I've heard the argument for this is that it helps security as it gives you a chance to cancel the payment before it finally completes. More plausibly though, I think it helps the banks generate fees. Granted, it took legislative intervention in the EU to get this right, but clearly it's a net win for the economy.
A lot of people buy the arguments, too. Banking in the UK/EU is like living in the future when compared to the US.
EDIT: Oh, and I forgot about cheques (checks). The US still loves a check. The banking equivalent of the Penny Farthing.
> So you don't get that reassuring green padlock. No idea why. Something about compliance I read once. Bizarre.
All major browsers have removed the green padlock for EV certificates. It did not improve user security behaviour. There are some arguments that it had a detrimental effect.
You can still distinguish certificate types by clicking on the small padlock icon in the URL bar. But of course no one does that.
Consequently there is no current reason to pay (in cost and time) for an EV certificate.
