For many clients of international banks, a trip to a branch has become a thing of the past, as an increasing variety of services have become available online. Some institutions, such as Dutch lender ING Direct, have gone so far as to do away with branches completely. ING’s United States director, Arkadi Kulhmann, has said that the inspiration for the branch-less banking system came from enterprises in other industries such as Swiss furniture giant IKEA and the US’s Southwest airlines, both of whom choose product selection and low cost over aesthetics and frills. Lebanon, however, has no discount airline, no IKEA, and face-to-face interaction with a bank teller is seen as a non-negotiable necessity, especially to the older generation. The result has been that, until recently, the country’s banks have kept their online service offerings to a minimum; most banks first offered online services five years ago, but these were
