Statistics, Facts, & Such

Casinos are reported to be the "institutions of choice" as the place to pass counterfeit currency.

An average check goes through the hands of about 17 people before it goes into a statement to be returned to a customer, according to the American Bankers Association. Using that estimate, if you write ten checks a month, your checks are touched, seen (and can be copied) by 2,040 people in a year's time.

International Banking Technology (IBT) estimates there are a potential 5,000 sites for in-store branches. More than half (2,833) are already in use by financial institutions. 328 opened in the first six months of 1995.

A 400 square foot in-store branch costs between $150,000 to $200,000 to build.

The average Visa retail credit card sale is $69.

During the first nine days following Thanksgiving, Visa reported its total number of retail transactions went up over 25%. During the first week after Thanksgiving, Visa alone had more than $7 billion in retail sales.

Deposits make up 60% of branch transactions, but only 15% of ATM transactions.

11% of U.S. households are using bill paying services, according to Microbanker,-about half of them using bill payment providers instead of a bank.

Fed says we now process more than 61 billion checks every year.

The ACH generates about two billion payments annually.

If it was a private corporation, the Postal Service would be the 12th largest business in the U.S.-and it has only shown a profit 17 out of the past 25 years.

Copyright © 1996 Bankers' Hotline. Originally appeared in Bankers' Hotline, Vol. 6, No. 3, 1/96