I bank at a small Japanese bank in the middle of nowhere. One day, I visited a small hospital, also in the middle of nowhere. As it happened, I did not have cash on me to pay the fee. I told the nurse to please wait for a moment while I went next door to use the ATM.

Next door is a gambling establishment, with an ATM outside of it. I tried getting cash and the ATM refused my card.

So I ended up walking three blocks (small town, luckily) and found myself a bank branch, which took my card. I returned to the hospital, paid the bill, and went on with my day.

Some time later I mentioned to my bank manager "By the way, I think my card is bugged -- it got rejected by a reader the other day." And I told him the circumstances.

"Sir, do you remember when we gave you your credit card that you promised not to gamble with it?"

"Yes, of course. I don't gamble, ever."

"We appreciate that, sir. Neither does the bank. Nor will we permit our customers to hurt themselves by gambling. Accordingly, we do not site any of our ATMs by gambling establishments."

"Oh, I can respect that. Of course, your competitors do, and that makes them money."

"Our real competitors do not. We have an understanding with them on this issue: no honorable bank in $SMALL_TOWN_JAPAN will countenance our customers losing their livelihoods while our eyes are still white. [Japanese idiom, means "while we still draw breath"]"

"But there really is an ATM in front of it?"

"It is from a Tokyo bank, and a disreputable Tokyo bank at that. And let them put an ATM there. They have no branch in this town, nor will they ever."

"But they don't need a branch, do they?"

"No. Bank A, Bank B, Bank C, and ourselves have enough branches to have 98% share of deposit accounts in this town. A, B, and C share our understanding of the importance of protecting this community."

"Wait, so NOBODY can use that ATM?"

"Maybe they can soak some tourists. wry smile Its a free market, you know."

I've got to say, the capitalist in me thinks "Oh crikey, cartelization". The rest of me really, really likes my bank.

[Edit: I just looked in my dictionary and it says that the actual idiom is "While my eyes are still black". I guess that means my memory is faulty. Wouldn't be the first time. Take note, students of the language.]