It's odd - we don't even need robots for these jobs, they are simply pointless. Perhaps they are made possible by large-scale underemployment due to automation in other areas.
"Not surprisingly, many corporate executives oppose extending employment protections to 65. Komatsu, the world’s second-biggest construction equipment maker, rehires 90 percent of its retirees with a 40 percent pay cut. 'I’m happy to keep workers on after 65, but I don’t think many are physically capable,' says Chief Executive Officer Kunio Noji, who is 65. Yasuchika Hasegawa, the CEO of Asia’s preeminent drugmaker, Takeda Pharmaceutical, and chairman of the Japan Association of Corporate Executives, says employers shouldn’t be forced by law to retain older workers. He is 66."
http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2012-08-30/in-japan-ret...
Yeah, ATMs closing during the evenings and holidays! This kind of things has pissed me off more than once, but it's getting slightly better nowadays.
The office situation is pretty much like you described, and faxes are still very much in use everywhere. Stuck in the 70s.
More likely is that it's to save money - if there is a cost incurred in supplying money for other banks or keeping the machine filled with cash, perhaps reducing hours is simply a cost saving measure.
I renewed a mortgage recently. I was told: you don't have to come in to sign anything. Just print the PDF's that we will send you, scan them, sign and e-mail them back.
That is basically faxing --- only significantly less convenient.