As the nation's financial system experiences the jitters right now in the wake of the Silicon Valley Bank collapse, it is tempting to seek solace in the Amish, thinking that they don’t use banks. Which brings us back to the question of: do the Amish use banks?
Well, first of all, there’s no sweeping generalization and answer that I can give about the Amish and banks. Yes, there will be some ultra-conservative Amish, especially old timers, that still operate on an all-cash and barter basis. But the days of most Amish stuffing their money in their mattress or in cookie jars are pretty much gone. Most Amish embrace banks in some form.
But even in some of the most conservative Amish communities, the Amish generally use banks.
A better way to answer the question of whether the Amish use banks is to ask how they use banks. It is the extent to which Amish people use banks that varies the most more than whether they use them. I’d say the majority use banks for bare-bones checking and savings accounts. You’re not going to find many Amish people using online banking, they’re instead going to balance their checkbook, the old-fashioned way with paper and ledger.
The industry publication, Banking Dive, describes the relationship of banks in Amish country to their customers like this: Banking some of Pennsylvania’s most conservative people means forging creative solutions around mobile banking, photo IDs, flood insurance and even picnic-table business deals.
Now, as smartphones begin to proliferate, especially among Amish young people, you will see online banking being embraced by some. But this is, for now, still the exception rather than the rule. Here's a brief primer on other banking services the Amish may or may not use.
💳 The Amish and Credit Cards
Overall, the use of credit cards among the Amish is not common, and most communities prefer to use traditional forms of payment that align with their values and beliefs. Some Amish business owners may use credit cards as a cash flow tool, but that is the rarity rather than the rule.
Amish businesses generally don't accept credit cards, but that is changing slowly. Some New Order Amish businesses and Old Order businesses in heavily touristed areas do now accept cards.
🏦The Amish and Bank Loans
There was a time when many Amish would buy family farms with cash and simply pay one generation to another. But as farming has declined and land transactions have become more complicated more and more Amish do use a bank's mortgage products. The CEO of Bird-in-Hand bank, which caters to a largely Amish clientele describes their loans to Banking Dive: "It’s a hard-working market — a people-that-pay-their-bills market,” he said, adding that historically, the Amish are known for their frugality, which translates to few write-offs on loans.
💰 The Amish and Debit Cards
Debit cards that are linked to a checking account are now commonplace among the Amish. It saves a trip into town to get cash and is safer than traveling by buggy with a pile of cash under the seat or in one's wallet.
The debit cards can also be used at ATMs to get cash, something that is increasingly common.
💸 The Amish and Paper Checks
The Amish, as a general rule, still write a lot of paper checks and the Amish still accept paper checks, despite many non-Amish businesses gradually phasing out their acceptance.
Fountain Acre Foods, an Amish-owned business in Indiana, has a "wall of shame", where customers who write bad checks have their names and addresses posted. That is a social shaming. deterrent to writing them there.
Other Amish do occasionally get burned by accepting checks.
An Amish farmer in Pennsylvania recounted to CNN how future New York Congressman George Santos paid him for puppies with a check that bounced:
“I told him I don’t take checks. All I can take is cash. And he said, ‘You expect me to carry that much cash to buy a bunch of puppies on a trip like this? I do not have cash. The only thing I can give you is a check,” the farmer recounted. “I thought to myself, it looks like I am done!”
As he expected, the check bounced – leaving the farmer on the hook for a bank fee. He was never repaid.
Traditional Branch Banking Still Popular
Among the Amish cash is still king. Most Amish prefer that and prefer the convenience of community banking. So much so that Bird-in-Band bank, as detailed in Banking Dive, has mobile units (resembling library bookmobile) that go out in the small Amish countryside communities so that customers can save themselves a long horse and buggy ride to the main branches in town. The bank describes them as:
The buses go to 16 locations in the county, Monday through Friday, and serve as an extension of the bank’s three bricks-and-mortar branches. The buses provide ATMs, a walk-up customer-service window and the ability to open accounts and conduct transactions in areas where Amish people live and do business.
The Amish, in general, are still leery of other financial products like insurance and investments, but for bare bones banking, they are coveted customers.
🙋 FAQ about the Amish and Banking Practices
Many banks find creative ways to safeguard their Amish customers, from reaching out to the local bishop for ID verification of church members, to using certified Amish directories, and using other items as an ID such as a land title document or tax forms.
Yes, the Amish income taxes, state taxes, federal taxes, all taxes. The Amish are in no way exempt from paying taxes and most happily do so. Self-employed Amish are exempt from paying into social security, but that is the only major exemption.
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