Great banking... if you can get your money in

The british banking system has a lot of advantages over the American one:

• You can transfer money instantly and for free to any individual (in the US - unless you are at the same bank - this is never instant and always involves a paper check or third-party service like paypal)
• The credit and debit cards all use a pin instead of a signature (and have a smart chip in them, the value of which I am uncertain), which makes fraud more difficult (since you must know the pin) but, I suppose, also harder to detect (since if someone learned your pin and stole your card you cannot do handwriting recognition).
• Almost all ATMs are free, so you do not need to look for your bank or have a fee reimbursing debit card (though it also means they don't have fee reimbursing debit cards).

However, there are a few distinct disadvantages:

• The credit card rewards are awful compared to those in the states.  For example, if you are on an airline miles or membership rewards program you will get 1 point per pound instead of the exact same point per $.  The top cash back card has 1.5% if you spend a load of money each year, while it is relatively simple to find a 1.5% or even 2% cashback credit card in the US, some of which don't even charge foreign transaction fees.
• There are no checking accounts that waive all foreign exchange fees (though there are really only a few in the states that I know of).

and, most importantly:

It's really hard to deposit money.

One of my housemates called it the only banking system in the world where you walk into the bank with cash and emerge from the bank with cash.

The problem is that the only instant or easy way to deposit money is at the counter.  In the US, all banks that I've seen offer ATM deposits at the machine.  It can range from filling in a slip at the counter and putting your checks and cash in an envelope to needing no slip to needing no envelope at all, and having the checks scanned and cash instantly counted and credited.  Often you will get a credit of $100 or $200 for the envelope deposits and checks too.  When I visited my a branch of my bank in the UK (one of the largest retail banks) there was a massive line of people waiting for the counter, 10 "cash machines," which were withdrawal only, a single, unfunctioning deposit machine, and a drop box.  To add to the indignity of having only a single, unfuncitoning deposit machine, if it had been functioning I would have had to fill in a deposit slip and there was no instant credit, meaning that the drop box was identical in function.  So, since I had cash, I had to wait in a line to get it into the account (I wanted to sign up for a mobile plan, and so needed some funds in my bank account).

I wouldn't be so surprised if this had been a small regional bank, but it's one of the largest banks in the world!  The two largest banks in New York City, Chase and Bank of America both have machines that scan your checks, automatically recognize the dollar value written on them, and give you an instant credit for up to $100 or $200.  Their machines will also count bills and deposit them instantly to your account.

On my way back to the office I checked out every other bank branch I passed (which was about 7 different banks).  Two of the banks had the same style of deposit machine as mine, but one of them (which I am tempted to join) had what I really wanted: three instant cash counting and depositing machines (although this is still the only branch of that bank I have seen them at). 

I had always thought that the US banking system was way behind because in Hong Kong we had no-slip deposit machines and (a few) cash counting machines back in the late 90s, but I realize now that perhaps Hong Kong was just ahead of the time in that particular area (I still think the check scanning machines in the states are the best thing).  Not suprisingly, it was HSBC which had the cash counting machines here...