> * No chip and pin. You still sign credit card slips.
Well, there's "just PIN," but yeah.
> * You have to interact with the branch where you set up your account for a bewildering array of things.
I opened my last two bank (checking and savings) accounts entirely online, one with an online-focused bank (USAA) and one as brick and mortar (technically, a credit union, but same basic concept), no visit necessary.
> * Sending a wire transfer overseas involves sitting in a branch and filling in reams of paper work.
Chase let me send a wire transfer internationally (to a foreign government, no less) entirely through their online banking system. The "privilege" cost me $40 (damn) but it did work.
> * Bank account numbers are treated as secret information - they are starred out in the online banking interface! Apparently, it I know your bank account number I can take your money?
Yep, unfortunately. That goes along with:
> * No obvious equivalent to the UK direct debit system for automatic bill payments.
I can give my routing number and bank account number to a biller and they can cheerfully slurp as much money as they like from my account. Hopefully it's the correct amount. If it isn't, there's a regulation that allows me to fix it but it takes a few days and phone calls.
> * People still use cheques for things! Which you have to pay extra for (you actually buy cheques from your bank). And "electronic banking" incorporates mobile apps that scan cheques.
I buy checks from Checks-in-the-Mail, a third-party reseller, for a few bucks every couple of years because...
> * As a general rule, paying someone some money (for rent, for example) is fraught with difficulty, especially if you hold a non-US bank account.
I write checks for my rent. My apartment building has an online payment system but charges $4.95 for the "privilege" of paying electronically or $39.95 (holy cow) to pay by debit or credit card. Sadly, paying by sliding a check under the door of the management office is still free, so I do that.