Source: Ron Lieber, New York Times ( Free Registration )

Just a few years ago, it was easy to write off the local community bank as a relic, a quaint reminder of an age when you actually needed to visit a branch to manage your money.

Who needed a local banker when a mortgage broker could easily connect you with financing from some faraway lender? Internet banks offered savings accounts with interest rates far superior to community banks’ pathetic payouts, and brokerage firms created fee-free checking accounts.

Like many of you, I suspect, I haven’t set foot in my bank since the 1990s. But in the last couple of weeks, as I’ve read about desperate people unable to find someone at their giant mortgage companies able to help them with their troubled mortgages and seen the photos of people lining up in front of IndyMac, I’ve started to wonder whether I have the whole thing backward.

Read Full Article: Honor your word, or this banker will call mom