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You've seen them. The strangely dressed if at all low level characters that if one did a who query on a major city, would see armies of these type of alternate characters, seemingly just sitting around. No I am not referring to the alts that gold sellers make to kill and make those 'pretty' signs out of bodies; I'm referring to bank alts.
In World of Warcraft these type of characters used to be a status symbol. They were a sign to others that you earn so much gold, and have so many items that you had to make an alt taking up a character screen slot just to contain your items. Many raiders in Vanilla World of Warcraft did this exact thing as guild banks did not at one time exist. When the guild banks did come into creation, creating them became an almost in game documentation of proof when one would get hacked.
But now a days anyone on the cheap can make a sporty bank alt in World of Warcraft. Just a bit of time drumming up initial help, and some spiffing up and you'll have a fun toy character that can handle the nitty gritty of city life.
A Cheap Bank/Mule
There was once the cheap way of storing items between characters by sending mail between them, and letting the items sit they only being sent back to the delivering character before they expired. As cheap an idea this was, sometimes one would forget items sitting on an alt and have them either lost or sent back en mass cluttering up the senders box. Now adays it's easier to simply created a dedicated bank alt.
First off, a bank alt character isn't that hard to establish. Simply make a level one character of any race; then run said character from their starting area to their nearest major city. Parking them nearest the local Auction House (preferably by a mailbox and bank) will be of greatest convenience.
Now you may be wondering, why all this trouble when each character has their own bank with bag slots? Well ever since World of Warcraft introduced guild banks, bank alts suddenly became more than junk storage.
Having friends (or paying off random strangers to sign a guild character with your bank alt as the Guild Master (and then promptly kicking them all out) opens up not only that characters bank for your main(s) but a whole bank system that allows for multiple tabs and has the added security of documenting each contribution.
Have some of your more 'worldly' characters kick some cash to open up some of the bank tabs; then fill in unused mats, farmed items, and generally things you don't need at the moment (or even jointly used items between characters) to free up those character's bank spaces.
This is great for raiders as they generally have their banks full as it is between different gear sets, raid consumables and necessities. Also for you spend thrifts out there, using the bank alt as a personal piggy bank and only allowing a certain amount on each character lessens the temptation to buy random things. This helps especially when trying to save up for a very big purchase like a rare mount!
AH Representative and Trade Voice
Having a bank alt can save you from having to drag your main characters to town every time you need items from the Auction House or in trade. Say your in trade on the alt and hear a great deal on an item your main needs or someone who needs a thing crafted (that your main can do). You can beat out others who may want the item for sale by being right there to but it, or beat out others with a similar trade by offering your main's services. Underhanded but it works!
Also the bank alt can list items from other characters without having to force said character to fly or port all the way to a main city. Just mailing back and forth is loads faster as items immediately send. Note money does not; so if you send a large amount of money between alts expect an hour's wait time!
The bank alt can be the one that buys the mats for next day's raid and can basically play manager saving time and hassle as they are always in town and also can deal with the constant influx of mail from AH and sent items between alts.
Role Playing Character/Fashion Plate
Bank alts aside from being very convenient can be walking fashion plates; it's always fun to run around Org with a level 1 troll with a sword enchanted with firey and a dress for every season. I had an outfit for each major in-game holiday including both red and green Xmas outfits and even a Halloween get up for my bank alt - they don't have to be stark naked!
Bank alts are also great for in-game role playing and private conversations. On your main you may get tells from guilds for events, tells from random people for grouping or favors, or just generally are swamped with tells. A bank alt being of such low level will generally be ignored leaving one free to chat without a swarm of tells, or can simply role play (depending on the server) without having the immersion interrupted by a slew of 'we need you here!' tells.