The first drive-in banking service opened in 1946.

The Exchange National Bank of Chicago opened ten drive-in teller windows on this day in 1946. The windows, the first of their kind, were protected by bulletproof glass, and money and paperwork were exchanged through sliding drawers. Over the next decade, drive-through and drive-in services of all kinds, including restaurants, banks and movies, became increasingly prevalent throughout America. A thriving economy in the post-World War II era, new post-war car models and cheap gas prices combined to make drive-throughs popular. Another innovation in convenience banking, the ATM, was developed in the late 1960s. Today, both drive-in banking windows and drive-up ATM machines exist at most American banks.

EconEdLink
Students learn about banking in Banks, Bankers, Banking (3-5). In the lesson, students demonstrate understanding of the processes associated with banking by role-playing as customers, tellers and guards.

In Banking is INTEREST-ing! (3-5), students identify a bank as one place where people save money and discuss the concept of interest and how they can earn it by saving their money in a bank.

This Little Piggybank Went to Market (K-2) helps students understand that work is a source of income. They then identify banks as places in which money can be saved and recognize that banks serve the vital function of keeping money safe.

In the lesson Big Banks, Piggy Banks (K-5), students learn that there are many places where people can keep their money. They identify the advantages and disadvantages of saving at home or saving in a bank. They choose the appropriate place to save money so that it is easily available, earns interest and is safe.

Students explore how bank tellers could make or break the banking world in The Role of a Bank Teller (9-12).

You Can BANK on This! Part 3: Saving (3-5), the third lesson of a four-part series on finance, introduces students to the importance of saving money and the role banks play in that process.