'Mobile banking' means a bank on a truck in rural Germany

TSCHIRN, Germany - Bank manager Juergen Schaller never expected to end up getting a trucker's license and driving 20,000 kilometers per year.

But as brick-and-mortar branches vanish from the rolling Franconia region of northern Bavaria, the neatly dressed savings bank executive jumps behind the wheel four days a week to bring mobile services - including cash machine and consultation room - to tiny countryside villages.

The switch from desk to dashboard has enabled Schaller "to do something else while staying in touch with the customers", he told AFP.