This is a pretty aggressive stance. The US is rather large and not particularly uniform. In my experience, small banks are better adapted for the needs of these different communities.
I used to bank with large national banks. Their fees were higher, account balance minimums were higher, loans were harder to get (often with higher rates), and their response to customer service issues were to raise their hands and say “sorry, it’s corporate policy.” Their big benefit was that branches were easier to access and they have ATMs everywhere.
I moved to a local credit union and have no interest in ever switching back. They invest in the community. It’s easier to get a loan. It’s easier to appeal to a human. And they simply work with you more. Nowadays they provide essentially everything larger banks do with better service. The only thing I can think where they lack are international wire transfers, where they need to route through a bigger bank. I think I’ve needed to do that once in the past decade.
Regional banks could possibly fill the role small banks do, but we used to have regional banks and they all consolidated throughout the 90s and 00s, presumably to be more profitable, or they sold off to larger banks. Small banks and credit unions do the job regional banks used to but without the mandate to increase profits year over year.
There are plenty examples of American exceptionalism. Providing more customer choices and better service by having more choices in banking is not a stellar example, IMHO. It may complicate rollout like of things like FedNow, but if that’s the cost of having access to a banking system that enhances their communities, I’ll live with the trade-off. On the other hand, I have friends in other countries that despise their bank but have maybe two other options, with essentially no difference between them, so they’re stuck with it.