Excuse Me Mr. Bank, You Work For Me!

Ok, I am at my last wits end with the ENTIRE banking industry! No, I am not going to sit back anymore and take it while they get to commit fraud and theft! Perhaps you are surprised by my antics and not sure if you want to read anymore. Let me say first hand, if you have EVER had to pay an overdraft fee, and NSF fee or some other ridiculous charges, THAN YOU NEED TO KEEP READING!

What do you really know about banking? Do you really know how it all came to be? How banks were born? It would do you some good to research the book “The Creature from Jekyll Island” written by Edward G. Griffin and familiarize yourself with how money really works. How it is really only paper until someone approves an amount. How you are really broke until some senator on the other end tells the banks computer “credit it”.

Banks are in the business to make money! Sure, they offer some incentives for banking with them, customer loyalty and so on. Home loans, car loans, savings, and money markets. But at the end of the day or at the beginning of your bank relationship, you are simply a credit score or an account number; depending on the geography of the relationship. I would guess for many of us, me included, that I am now the thrown away ex-wife. The Prodigal Son, The wayward teen… The banking world has poisoned me and I need to warn others quickly!

I cannot stress enough that you need to read the fine print! Read all that paperwork they give you before you sign anything. For example, you go into a bank, they run you through their filtering system to make sure you are not a “bad check writer” or “owe money to any bank”. Scan and Check systems are their favorite vendors to use, but there are others. Then upon an approval, they continue to open the account, assuring you that you have made a good decision to use their bank. Next you make a deposit knowing you will have no access to that money except by counter withdraw, until your debit card and or checks arrive. So you then leave happily with your money in their bank, maybe a pen and the banker’s business card as your parting gift!

Two days later you find yourself out of town and realize you are in need of cash. You stop at one of your banks branch locations in a local town to withdraw some money only to find out “you don’t have an opened account”. You then panic and try to call the bank. No one answers and it is almost 5:00 pm. So you call the 800 number. You are then told by some girl who works for God knows who (many banks use call centers) that your account has been frozen due to a fraud/risk management issue. When you begin to argue the situation and that no one called you, are told by someone who thinks they have a PHD in banking, that you signed the waiver and the bank can close your account at any time for any reason and has 8-12 days to return your deposit. NO, you cannot go into the bank and withdraw it. Your money belongs to the bank now until THEY decide to give it back.

Another scenario, you have $78 in the bank. You wrote a check for school pictures for $10 leaving you $68 and now you need gas. So you pull into the gas station and use your debit card at the pump! OMGosh! NEVER, NEVER pay at the pump! Most gas stations now will hold up to $75 on your card. Some still hold $25 but very few and even fewer hold $1.00. So you pump $50 in gas, not knowing the bank held $75 and when you go to the mail box in a few days, the bank sends you an overdraft notice or worse yet, an NSF notice. What has happened? Well, your check for $10 came through while the merchant bank held $75 on your account. So the bank either paid your check using overdraft or returned it charging you fees. That fee is normally around $35! So you are basically now overdrawn and when the bank does get the charge for your gas, you’re going to be charged again! It’s a vicious cycle and one the bank loves for you to repeat! Hence, board members, bonuses, private planes!!!!

Banks really need us! We don’t need them! CAN YOU HEAR ME? We have given them entirely too much power, too much say so and NO ACCOUNTABILITY! They are like thugs running wild in expensive suits! It’s time people started to realize that. Banks are the reason our housing markets collapsed, the reason interest keeps the average person paying off credit their entire life and the very reason that NO ONE LIKES TO DISCLOSE “The Truth and Lending Statement.” Prepaid debit cards are on the raise! Any credit card that has a Visa or MasterCard logo is still a bank! Did you know that business owners have to pay a credit card company a percentage for the deposits they receive? I mean, my $6 latte just cost that coffee shop owner $.30-.47 cents. When are we going to take our economy back? When are we going to let the bank go back to work for us?

I have endless horror stories of banking practices that would make you cringe! Banks that would make you want to go back to dealing with Loan Sharks! At least in dealing with loan sharks you know upfront “the deal” and that you could end up with a broken arm if the business goes bad! Banks will screw you endlessly and in some cases, you will NEVER recover! Broken bones at least heal….

Take control of your money! Take control of who holds it! Go and research banks, research anything that pertains to your wallet! From investors, to stocks, to investments to your local bank! BUT understand the bank is not your friend… they work on a point spread and they are buddies with The Federal Reserve. By the way, the Federal Reserve is NOT the government nor is the IRS. The IRS is simply a collection agency. Hope you paid your taxes! You need to read the Creature from Jekyll Island!

Let’s put banks back to work for us! Let’s tell them what they can and cannot charge and if you don’t think you have the power to take down a BIG BANK, just revisit what happened with WAMU when everyone showed up to withdraw their money a few years back…. Where are they now?