Passbook Savings Accounts

It was on April 1st 1986 that the end of Federal regulation on passbook savings accounts allowed banks and savings and loans to pay whatever they wanted.

I remember my first savings account and the 5% interest it earned. I had to go into the imposing bank on Ridgewood Avenue and give them my money so they could then stamp my passbook. The bank is located in the left of the photo and is still there, though under another name. The interest they pay now is one of their own choosing, and likely much less than what I used to receive.

The transactions I recall occurred in the era when the term "Bankers' Hours" meant that your bank opened at 10 AM and closed at 3 PM Monday through Friday. This gave the bankers time to count the money and make sure they were able to greet the public with the self-confidence which the laws and our social customs required.

It really is a quaint idea to recall: the bankers were well-known and respected members of the community, who kept a tight rein on borrowing. They were, after all, the safeguards (literally) of the local money. Risky loans were discouraged and the people who were having trouble with making payments were counseled, and in some cases had their loans re-worked. It was Jimmy Stewart in "It's a Wonderful Life" that would represent this ideal picture in my mind in all its glory.

Now I would love to say, in order to strike a contrast between now and then, that we now have Lionel Barrymore's character, Mr Potter, in all his evil glory minding the money of our banks. Though this would be far from the truth. Nobody is actually counting the money these days or opening the doors to the public at 10 AM. Banking is now a non-stop affair conducted over the Internet and in bank branches open 7 days a week. The bankers are mostly unknowns in the community because there are so many branches and the people who work in them come and go like bus boys at a restaurant. Whether this is all progress is not for me to say. I can say that I like the interest they used to pay and the huge edifices they had to house our funds. When I see a bank like this today I known that it will either be made a landmark or sold to be used for something else like an upscale deli. I would personally love to have an office in such a structure, that or an old railroad station.