One of the only things I don’t like about my current bank is that they don’t have any ATM locations around town, except for the two ATMs (one drive-up, one walk-up) at their only Shelbyville office. I happen to know the bank president (we serve together on the Symphony at the Celebration steering committee) and when I went inside to do some banking this afternoon, I stopped by to see him and we chatted about the concert and what have you.

The bank changed hands a few months ago; our local branch, and a handful of others, were sold to a bank in west Tennessee so that their old parent company, which was in the midst of a merger, could comply with antitrust regulations. I asked the local president if he and the new owners planned to add any ATM locations. He said they didn’t have any such plans right now, but he followed up by asking me what checking plan I was using.

I told him I had the bare-minumum, no-interest, no-frills free checking plan. He then told me about one of their other checking plans, a relatively new option, which pays interest and which refunds you, at the end of each month, for any ATM charges you incurred during the month by using some other bank’s ATM. There’s no monthly fee and no minimum balance.

Sound too good to be true? There must be a catch.

Here’s the catch. In order to qualify, you have to have the following:

• 10 debit card transactions each month (not counting use of your debit card to access the ATM)
• One direct deposit per month
• One use of online banking per month
• You must agree to receive your monthly statement by e-mail instead of on paper. Actually, this one is theoretical: they haven’t started offering electronic statements yet but will do so in the near future.

I already use my debit card more than I write checks. I check online banking every day, forget about every month. I was already receiving my statement electronically back before the bank changed hands and was surprised when the new owners started sending me paper statements after the sale. And my employer encourages direct deposit of paychecks, so I already qualify there. I don’t have to change anything; this is a great deal for me, and I eagerly signed up.

I thought about the deal later, and realized that the bank is, in effect, trying to bribe its customers to do more of their banking electronically and less of it on paper. As I say, I’m already doing this. Maybe I should be more concerned about this — identity theft and what have you. But it’s probably inevitable, and at least I’m going to get some benefit out of it. My average balance is too small for the interest to be of any real concern, but now I can use any ATM in town.