We get regular HN threads about "company X auto-terminated my account and there's no way to get a human involved". Is that really a better way to run society?

Maybe local bank managers having connections to the local community, and actually knowing their customers, rather than sitting behind opaque algorithms and data brokers, wasn't entirely a bad thing after all.

Historically, the "human" way could certainly bad thing for you if your skin color, religion, etc. didn't match the local bank manager... As I understand it, that's why the government pressured banks to move away from that system.

No they haven't. Rent an apartment. You need paystubs to prove your income. You need two references to vouch for your moral character or whatever references are supposed to do for a landlord. You have to throw down a security deposit equal to x months rent. Then you also get that credit check hit. The credit check is saving you from none of that crap, it is just more crap on top of all that other crap that hasn't gone anywhere.