American banking stories always read as an '90 comedy to me, as a European.
Furthermore, once I visited Philadelphia, and I saw several people standing in queue. I asked what restaurant or place that was. My driver said it's where people wait in line to pay their rent. He did not laugh. That was not a joke. People do that for real in the USA.
I think it can vary greatly in Europe, though. I know my friend (in the 2010s) had a bit of a culture shock trying to deal with how old-fashioned banking was in Italy, having previously only lived in the UK.
And it goes both ways, there are things here that Americans would think are a bit backwards. Like if I'm ordering something online here in Czech Republic it's really common to allow payment via direct bank transfer - i.e. they'll give you a bank account number and a variabilní číslo ("variable number" - a way they can identify the payment on their end), you make the transfer using these values and they'll send out the order when they confirm they received the payment. Nowadays a QR code will often be generated for this and you'll just scan it in your banking app, but it could seem a little backwards if you're used to paying via debit/credit card.
In Venezuela, people pay their rent in the bank branch in cash, often from a bag hanging around the tenant's neck and spacious enough to accommodate the substantial inflation. Then a photo and fingerprints are taken from the depositor (every month!).
The capital Caracas has a tunnel, in which gangs often stop cars and shoot through the window (cost of bullet = $0.10) in order to collect any change the driver or other passengers may hold - if someone was on their way to pay the monthly rent at the bank it would be their lucky day, but if the driver had just $20 in their wallet, it's still a profit of $19.90 minus the cost of the assassin's time.
Good there are electronic standing orders in most countries.
However, most of that is probably explained by the cash crowd trying to avoid taxes. Of course, if income taxes were minimal, there would be less effort to avoid it.
Also, cash doesn't show up when doing welfare checks against your bank accounts. To receive food stamps, you can't have more than $2000 in your bank accounts combined at any point.
Furthermore, once I visited Philadelphia, and I saw several people standing in queue. I asked what restaurant or place that was. My driver said it's where people wait in line to pay their rent. He did not laugh. That was not a joke. People do that for real in the USA.