Banking is something that helps you keep track of your money. If you get a savings account at a bank, they hold on to money that you don’t want to use at the time. You can also get a checking account. A checking account allows you to write checks instead of paying cash. The bank then takes the money from your account. You also have the choice to pull money from an ATM machine, which stands for Automatic Teller Machine. This allows you to get cash when you need it. The money that you took is then subtracted from your checking or savings account. You can also get loans to help you pay for something. At a later time, you pay back your loans.

In the early years of banking, they didn’t have the technology of today. They didn’t have calculators or computers. They had to figure on paper and had to write in any transactions. They also had to count money by hand. This could take hours if someone brought a large amount of money and if they made a mistake, they would have to start all over.

During the middle years, they still didn’t have the technology of today, but they had a few advantages from before. They now had adding machines. They also had more people who worked in the banks. In earlier years, they had five or less people in the banks. They still had to write transactions in books, and had to figure on paper but it was good enough to have some advances.

Some recent changes in banking have been things like the calculator. Now people don’t have to worry about them. Computers allow the banks to have any transactions on discs so they don’t have to worry about them. Computers also allow you to clear up mistakes in writing unlike the earlier years when they just had to cross it out. They also have machines that will count money without having to actually talk to one of the bankers.

Banking in communities is a good thing because it is more personal. Most of the time, you’ll know the banker you’re talking to. Knowing the person makes it easier for you to talk to them and it makes them feel better knowing who they’re helping. You also get questions answered unlike if you call a big bank it might just be a computer message. Being personal is good because if people like actually talking to the bankers, they’ll tell their friends and the friends will go to that bank. That is good for the bank because they get more customers.

I think banking in the future will be run with robots and computers or something like that. That means it will be less personal and you won’t get much information about loans and stuff like that. It is a good thing that we make advances in technology, but we need to make sure robots don’t take the place of people.

By Brent Yotty,

7th Grade

Mid-Prairie Middle School