End Times

Bank Tellers Are Being Replaced With Touch Screen Navigators As Technology Takes Over

When Wells Fargo opened its first high-tech branch three years ago in the District’s NoMa neighborhood, it did away with desks and replaced traditional counters with large touch-screen ATMs. Also gone from its new location: tellers.

Published

10 years ago

April 11, 2016

Geoffrey Grider

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Gone from the cutting-edge bank: Tellers

Instead, the 1,000-square-foot branch has a handful of tablet-toting employees to help customers navigate technology to deposit checks, apply for loans or open savings accounts.

The number of banks tellers in the region has dropped by nearly half in the past 10 years, from 10,980 in 2005 to 5,990 in 2015, outpacing a 17 percent drop nationally, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Overall employment in the Washington region rose 7.3 percent in the same period.

Bank of America ATM with Teller Assist:

Median annual pay for tellers, meanwhile, has risen 35 percent, to $32,250 as tellers are increasingly required to be well-versed in technology. A recent report by Citigroup estimates that an additional 30 percent of U.S. banking jobs could be eliminated by 2025 as financial firms shutter branches and invest more heavily in technology.

“There has been a tremendous change in the mix of bank employees, with a much greater reliance on tech workers,” said Bert Ely, a banking industry consultant in Alexandria. “Banks are cutting a lot of so-called back-office processing jobs — and that is something that will continue.”

Experts say the trend is likely to be magnified in the Washington area, where an influx of young professionals and tech-savvy customers has ushered in a number of high-tech branches that require few employees. Recent bank mergers and branch closings also have contributed to shrinkage in the pool of jobs.

“Traffic in branches is down dramatically,” said Ronald D. Paul, chief executive of Bethesda-based Eagle Bancorp, the region’s largest community bank. “You just don’t need that many branches anymore.”

As a result, the company has closed less-frequented branches and moving others into smaller spaces. It also is adding more high-tech workers, including computer programmers and commercial deposit officers who can help troubleshoot technology, to its ranks.

The number of bank branches in the Washington region has been steadily dropping in recent years. Last year, the area had 1,697 branches, 84 fewer than it did in 2010, according to data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

“It was the ATM that started this spiral 25 or 30 years ago,” said Stephen Fuller, an economist and senior adviser at George Mason University’s Center for Regional Analysis. “We’ve just about replaced the need to have people in those spaces.”

Indeed, nearly four in 10 Americans have not visited a bank or credit union branch in at least six months, according to a survey by Bankrate.com, a New York-based personal-finance information company. When customers do stop by the bank, it is generally for financial consultations or to open accounts, not routine transactions, the survey found.

“The bank as it is today is becoming more interactional and less transactional,” said David M. Glaser, a vice president at District-based National Capital Bank. “When people come in, it’s with a more complex question or to open an account. If they just need to deposit a check — well, they can do that at the ATM.”

At PNC, which has done away with tellers at a number of area branches, new hires are as likely to come from a tech company as from another bank, said Todd Barnhart, head of branch distribution.

“The way we think about recruiting has changed pretty significantly,” he said. “Five or 10 years ago, we might have looked at employees at the bank down the street. “Today we’re looking at people from the Apple store, AT&T store and other tech-centric retailers.”

The company’s “innovation branch” in Tenleytown, for example, has six employees, all of whom are trained to help customers with everything from deposits to loan applications. “We’re not building branches with teller lines but with places where customers and employees can have meaningful conversations,” he said.

Instead of having separate tellers and mortgage officers, “it’s one job, one person,” Barnhart said, adding that roughly half of the bank’s deposits now come through its mobile app or ATMs.

Among Americans with smartphones, 52 percent used mobile banking in 2014, according to a Federal Reserve survey. The vast majority of users — 94 percent — use mobile apps to check their account balances, while 61 percent use them to transfer money between their accounts and 51 percent to deposit checks. The median frequency of use was five times a month.

Meanwhile, national bank employment has been falling an average of 2 percent a year since the recession, according to the Citigroup report.

“The future of branches in banking is about focusing on advisory and consultation rather than transactions,” according to the Citigroup report. “Branches and associated staff costs make up about 65 percent of the total retail cost base of a larger bank and a lot of these costs can be removed via automation.” source

End Times

FUN FACT: It Is Alcohol That Is The Number #1 Cause Of Preventable Deaths Here In America Not Illegal Drugs Coming Over On Boats From Narcoterrorists

Published

2 months ago

December 4, 2025

Geoffrey Grider

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It is alcohol consumption and not illegal drug use that is the number #1 cause of preventable death that’s killing a massive number of Americans yearly

For decades we were told that the greatest threat to American life and liberty came from illegal drugs—cocaine, meth, fentanyl, heroin. And to be sure, those substances have destroyed countless lives. But as new national research continues to roll in, a shocking truth has emerged: the legal, government-sanctioned “social drink” is killing far more people than the substances our leaders claim to be waging war against. A message to President Trump – if you really want to stop the killing from drug use, ban the drug we call alcohol. Alcohol kills far more people than illegal drugs do.

“Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.” Proverbs 23:29-32 (KJB)

In this present Laodicean age, where pleasure is the new morality and self-indulgence is the national pastime, alcohol is quietly claiming lives at a rate that far surpasses illicit drug use. The world shrugs. The media yawns. And Christians—many of them—have learned to justify the very thing that is destroying their own households. So as far as I’m concerned, this whole national dialogue about Narcoterrorists killing Americans with illegal drugs doesn’t hold a candle to the millions of kids who are taught to become alcoholics at MLB and NFL stadiums.

A Legal Substance With Illegal-Level Destruction

Recent mortality data reveals that alcohol-related deaths have skyrocketed, overtaking illicit drugs as a major cause of preventable death in the United States. The numbers include liver disease, alcohol-induced organ failure, drunk-driving fatalities, alcohol-fueled violence, and deaths tied to long-term addiction. Yet unlike illegal drugs, alcohol enjoys full cultural acceptance, full government protection, and full corporate marketing power behind it. There is no stigma. No shame. No national warning campaign. Alcohol is celebrated in commercials, sports events, holidays, weddings, even in some so-called “church fellowships.” No Christian should ever drink it, and no preacher should ever stay silent about it.

Because the Bible is not silent. “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise” (Proverbs 20:1). In God’s preserved Book, alcohol is never neutral, never harmless, and never “safe in moderation.” Its end is always destruction. America used to know that when preachers like DL Moody and Billy Sunday stood in the pulpit.

NO ONE PREACHED HARDER AGAINST THE DANGERS OF ALCOHOL THAN BILLY SUNDAY, CLICK TO ORDER THIS AMAZING BOOK!!

Big Alcohol: A Multibillion-Dollar Industry Built on Broken Homes

If Big Pharma profits from addiction, Big Alcohol might be even worse. Billions of dollars flow through an industry whose survival depends on one thing: repeat customers. The light drinker is not their business. Their real money comes from people they’ve addicted who can’t stop.

And what do we get in return?

Tens of thousands of deaths every year
Millions of broken marriages
Abuse, violence, poverty, and imprisonment
Children raised in instability
Generational trauma that repeats itself like a curse

This is not an accident. This is the fruit of a system that has normalized what God has condemned. But we were warned: “At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.” (Proverbs 23:32)

Why Christians Are Losing the Battle Before It Even Starts

The saddest part is not what the world is doing with alcohol—it’s what the Church is doing. In this lukewarm Church Age, professing Christians defend alcohol more strongly than they defend the Bible! They insist that “Jesus made wine,” ignoring the scriptural distinctions between fermented and unfermented wine. They argue that drinking is fine “as long as I don’t get drunk,” as if voluntarily consuming a mind-altering substance is some kind of Christian liberty badge. It isn’t.

This is not liberty. It is bondage masquerading as freedom.

The apostle Paul writes, “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18). Notice the contrast: one spirit empties you of discernment; the Holy Spirit fills you with it. Alcohol reduces, diminishes, and destroys. The Spirit edifies, strengthens, and sanctifies. But you don’t know that because your pastor doesn’t preach that.

America isn’t merely drunk on alcohol. She is drunk on self-justification, convinced she can handle what is handling her.

When Noah emerged from the ark into a brand-new world, the very first recorded sin was drunkenness and alcohol-induced shame (Genesis 9:20-24). When God describes the fall of Babylon in Revelation 17–18, the imagery again involves intoxication—nations made drunk with spiritual fornication. Alcohol is not just a social issue; it is a spiritual picture of a people dulled, numbed, and desensitized right before judgment falls. America is not dying because of what is illegal, but because of what is celebrated. “But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.“1 Peter4:7 (KJB)

Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church

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“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB

Christian Persecution

Street Preacher In England Warned By Police Office That The John 3:16 Scripture On The Back Of His Van Could Be Considered ‘Hated Speech’ Crime

Published

3 months ago

November 8, 2025

Geoffrey Grider

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Street preacher Mick Fleming in England was recently warned by police over the John 3:16 Bible verse he placed on the back of his van that it could be considered ‘hate speech’

I was browsing my news feed this morning when I came across this article on a street preacher in England, Mick Fleming, who lives in a van and ministers through his Church On The Street ministry. I have never heard of this guy before, know almost nothing about him, but I got saved on John 3:16, so anytime I see an article about that verse it always catches my attention.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16 (KJB)

The world is changing rapidly, the spirit of Antichrist is rising, and this lost world is preparing itself from the coming 7-year kingdom. England is a nation that have embraced Socialism, Islam and the LGBTQ, kind of sounds like America, doesn’t it? Any nation who embraces those things inevitably will, at some point, turn again the Bible and the people who believe the Book. Don’t think it could happen here? That’s what every people group thinks right before it happens. Use what freedom you have left, Christian, while you still have it to use. That’s the memo.

Police officer warns Prince William’s vicar friend that John 3:16 Bible verse on his van ‘could be considered hate speech

FROM THE DAILY MAIL UK: Pastor Mick Fleming has been warned by a police officer that the bible verse on the back of his van ‘could be considered hate speech’. Speaking on his YouTube channel, Mick said: ‘I just thought “wow”. I just wondered what people watching this thought.

‘It’s not to argue but where have we moved to as a country where a bit of Christian scripture on the back of a van can be seen as hateful or spiteful? Maybe society is moving to a place where they don’t want faith-based people sat around a table in discussion with them… for me it’s an integral message of how real change is possible.’

The law says it could be considered hate speech if the wording is threatening or inciting hatred based on protected characteristics such as religion or sexual orientation.

Mick insisted that he has no plans to remove it as he asked his viewers to give their opinions on whether the scripture could be deemed as offensive.

He said: ‘I am not going to change it, I am going to leave it one but I thought it quite interesting about how it can be perceived. I have never thought about that being something spiteful or hateful in any shape or form. I wondered what you thought – do you think people would take offence to that, and if they did, why?’

Displaying bible verses publicly is generally lawful in the UK. But the law says it could be considered hate speech if the wording is threatening or inciting hatred based on protected characteristics such as religion or sexual orientation. After recently giving up all of his belongings, Mick now lives in a campervan which has the bible verse John 3:16 printed on the back.

The verse reads: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Now the priest has revealed he was approached by a police officer while at a petrol station in Lancashire, who told him ‘the writing could be seen as hate speech in the wrong context’. Despite being told he wasn’t there to arrest Mick, the officer said that ‘if someone reported it police would investigate, and he could end up in trouble’. READ MORE

Church on Wheels: Could this Bible verse be seen as hate speech?

Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church

HOW TO DONATE: Click here to view our WayGiver Funding page

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB

End Times

REVELATION WARNING: A 51-Foot Idol Of Lord Ram Rises Up Over Mississauga As Canadian Government Calls The Event A ‘Moment Of National Significance’

Published

6 months ago

August 6, 2025

Geoffrey Grider

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A 51-foot idol of Lord Ram in North America was unveiled on Sunday at the Hindu Heritage Centre in Mississauga in Canada.

The Bible is quite clear, in the last days after the Pretribulation Rapture of the Church, Antichrist will come on the scene and he will be a very religious entity. So much so that the people in that dispensation will be having a 7-year revival of Old Testament idolatry. Not content to wait, they are getting the party started a little early. That’s the memo.

“And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:” Revelation 9:20 (KJB)

The idol of the Hindu god Ram up in Canada stands at an impressive 51 feet high, but he has company. Down in Texas, a 90-foot idol is up in Sugar Land, a 25-foot idol is up in Hockessin, Delaware, with plans to install a massive 151-foot idol in Moncure, North Carolina. Kinda makes you think that someone has a plan to make idolatry great again here in America, doesn’t it?

North America’s tallest Ram god idol rises in Mississauga Canada

FROM THE HINDUSTAN TIMES: Thousands of devotees gathered for the inauguration, joined by prominent political leaders including Minister of Women and Gender Equality Rechie Valdez, President of the Treasury Board Shafqat Ali, and Minister of International Trade Maninder Sidhu. Leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons was also in attendance, marking the event as a moment of national significance.

Link

The unveiling of North America’s tallest Lord Ram statue in Mississauga sparked emotional reactions across social media. “From Ayodhya to Ontario, the name of Shri Ram echoes louder than borders. This is not just a statue, it’s a statement of faith and identity standing tall across the world,” wrote one user. Another noted, “Toronto, Canada: The tallest Murti of Bhagwan Shri Ram now stands tall in Mississauga — a proud moment for the global Hindu community In a land where Hindus have faced rising hostility from fringe Khalistani elements, this Murti is more than a symbol of faith — it’s a statement of resilience, peace, and presence. Sanatan stands tall.” Others chimed in with messages like, “Let’s make Canada great again,” and, “Grand and beautiful ❤️.”

“This is a spiritual gift to the community,” said Acharya Surinder Sharma Shastri, founder of the Hindu Heritage Centre. “The installation of this murti is not just a moment of pride, but also a reminder that righteousness must always be the guiding factor in our lives.” The statue’s location has made it an even more iconic symbol for new arrivals to Canada. As Sharma pointed out, planes landing at Toronto Pearson International Airport often fly over the temple. Now, among the first sights to greet passengers will be the majestic figure of Lord Ram — arms outstretched, a towering symbol of peace and resilience. READ MORE