I think it was when the big national bank lost my mother that I first began to realize I would be better off doing business with a small local bank. The recent blizzard of incompetence atop today's biggest banks has made me happier than ever to be doing my banking with people who live in the same town. For one thing, they have more civilized ways of bribing me as a customer. Oh, like the big banks, the people at my small local bank try to buy my affection. The big banks throw lavish Las Vegas parties for potential customers. The small local bank does something similar, though on a smaller scale. Several times a year, it gives cookies to me and to its other customers. And sometimes they have dishes of candy. If you don't take more than a couple of pieces they won't slap your fingers/Bill Hall, Lewiston Tribune. More here.

Question: Do you bank at a big institution or a local one? Does it make a difference?