Assignment

After reading the following scenario, respond to all of the following prompts:

Technology has allowed banks to conduct transactions over the internet, also known as eBanking, and to more easily merge into larger banks.Traditionally, bankers and their customers dealt in face-to-face transactions that allowed the assessment of trust on the basis of physically observed information.

While some banks have resisted change due to the traditional personal relationships they have had with customers, electronic commerce dramatically reduces transaction costs, use of paper, and the need for personnel to deal with customers face-to-face.The recent financial crisis in the banking industry required billions in government bailouts to banks considered "too big to fail." Some have argued that the loss of smaller banks with personal connections to customers and local business operations led to the crisis.

• Do you think that eBanking's efficiencies are worth the reduced personal contact with banks and work force reductions?

• Do you think that there is a connection between the demise of the local bank and the banking crisis? If so, what are the implications for the future?