Tony, not having worked in a bank you're not really in a position to comment on the effectiveness of the procedures. Your entire premise is based solely on the inconvenience factor and moral issues with the request of the hat removal. Taym's position is the same/similar. In fact there are significant religious and cultural issues with this requirement besides the ones already mentioned, turbans.

Unless the banks in the US are drastically different, they too should be losing more money due to employee errors or employee malfeasance than to external robbery, at every level, from the lowly branch to the highest corporate. Hat removal is theater.

Please note that by "hat" I don't mean motorcycle helmet or balaclava. Seeing a customer's face is definitely a requirement for
some transactions. But even here there's wiggle room. Most banks here require the use of an ATM card at the teller, with PIN verification. IMO, teller stations could also be outfitted with secure cash dispensers, though that would definitely be pricy.

But if you want to score more than $1-2000, you won't be robbing a bank teller anyway.

And with regards to camera from above - we've all seen plenty of useless footage where a perpetrator was not wearing a hat of any kind, which doesn't make the video any more revealing. You can't identify someone from looking at the top of their head, except maybe to tell if they're an Orthodox Jew wearing a yarmulke.

But hey, I'm not arguing that you can't disagree.

I'll prefer to do business with places that don't treat its customers like would-be criminals.