Re: last bank visit
"With ATMs and online banking, more or less the only thing you need to go to a branch for is to pay in cheques (they do still exist) and do more one-off things like mortgage and loan applications."
I'm finding their most essential use is when some goes wrong/non-standard and it isn't on the call centre script.
Most cashiers still retain a knowledge of how things really work and how to work the system when they don't. Face to face eyeball contact means you get attention and even compassion sometimes. Plus the truth (because it isn't being recorded for training purposes)