The banking industry of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s is often described as operating according to a 3-6-3 rule: Bankers gathered deposits at 3 percent, lent them at 6 percent, and were on the golf course by 3 o'clock in the afternoon. The implication was that the banking industry was less...

The 1980 enactment of legislation extending authority to offer interest-bearing checking instruments to all depository institutions has brought intensified competition for consumers' transaction balances