More UNITED than we realize!
Banks Are Businesses and Businesses Need Profit
I
finally feel like myself again. After putting four years into working
for a BANK, I finally found another job and moved on. I start tomorrow
at the new place which I am happy to say has nothing to do with banking.
When I first started at the bank, it was a fairly small corporation in the
grand scheme of the big banks that are all over the world. The bank I
worked for was purchased by a European bank in the beginning of 2009.
This changed the way the company does business. They had a mass of
layoffs right out of the gate that year. Then all I saw was a steady
decrease in our benefits and my own department was dissolved and I was
placed into the customer service department. In the customer service
department I was very surprised at what I saw on a daily basis. I think
the people working in those call centers truly have one of the worst
jobs. People are angry at banks in general right now, and who can blame
them? The people which we entrust with the care of our money -- the one
thing that drives everything else in this backwards monetary system --
are literally screwing us and then WE have to pay these bailouts? I defy
anyone to explain to me how that actually makes sense.
Anyway, I had to draw the line finally after allowing myself to be complacent and
stay there as long as I did. In the beginning of March the BANK decided
that it needed to give itself a leg up on a new regulation the
government had put into place (any federal savings bank has to adhere to
these regulations) in order to continue doing what it does best -- make
money. Let me give you a quick run down of what this regulation was put
into place for:
Many people probably didn't notice when this started happening, because with all things that would upset a person it
is implemented as gradually as possible to avoid suspicion of
wrongdoing. When the advent of the debit card began, many people were
sold on the convenience and ability to use a card which draws on the
cash they had in their bank account which allowed the flexibility to use
it where one would use a credit card instead of carrying cash or
writing checks. Before I go any further I wanted to say that based on my
experience in banking, I have been told that the banks generally don't
make all THAT much money directly from the card use. They pay for the
merchant services through one of the major credit card companies like
Master Card or Visa which provide the cards, and they don't really see a
lot of return from it. If you think back maybe ten to fifteen years ago
when everyone started using them, you'll remember they used to charge
an annual fee for them, and some would charge if you used it as credit
not debit, etc. Those fees were normally a few dollars, nothing too
painful especially for the convenience. If you remember that, then you
probably also remember that when you didn't have enough money left for a
purchase or taking out cash at the ATM, the card would get declined in
either case. So you were cut off when you didn't have anymore money,
good safe guard right?
At some point some incredibly brilliant person, a real sexy thinker came up with this wondrous idea and using
the bank's general practices with overdraft occurrences. Instead of
stopping your card when you don't have enough money, they decided they
should not provide that courtesy any longer. Obviously YOU are the
consumer and YOU are responsible to keep track of your balance, so the
BANK is not responsible for stopping your card when you don't have
anymore money. Knowing this would skyrocket their fee revenue, just by
simply doing some data analysis on how many cards get declined when the
person doesn't have enough money -- of course they keep track of that
data -- and jackpot for them. Now they didn't even have to charge the
annual fees, or per charge fees for credit/debit uses, now it was all up
to the overdrafts and the dependence on people not paying attention to
their finances. When you think back, you probably remember when the bank
down the road started saying they provided FREE debit card use, now
that they found a more efficient way of making their fee revenue. Please
don't kid yourselves into thinking the banks want to "help" you with
your money. They are businesses, and businesses exist to generate
profit, and when you're paying million dollar bonuses they're going to
need a whole lot of profit right?
This is all kind of background still so we all are on the same page. Now that the banks established the
new rules for processing debit card transactions regardless of the
balance under the guise of "convenience" for their customers to
essentially have access to a cash advance or the ability to purchase
something in exchange for this overdraft fee which at the time was $10
per transaction. Many of us noticed then that that fee amount CLIMBED
significantly. It's now roughly between $30-$40 as a per transaction
charge when you overdraft. In addition to this, you probably noticed all
the new products and services also now available to "help" you avoid
being overdrawn. They have lines of credit you have to apply for, most
of the have an annual fee and an outlandish interest rate up to around
20%, you can link your checking to your savings so that way it
practically eliminates your ability to save and "not touch" your savings
which defeats the purpose. On top of that they STILL charge you a
transfer fee to actually USE the overdraft protection, unless you have a
lot of money in the bank -- then they at least pretend to have respect
for your existence and figure you might be savvy enough to know you're
being swindled for these services so they cut you a little slack. So, it
makes sense for people who are barely getting by to have to pay MORE to
have overdraft protection, because if it is a line of credit, obviously
the bank expects you to pay this outstanding balance back on a monthly
basis too. So you can't even manage your weekly expenses to the point
you're becoming overdrawn, and we want to lend you more credit to pay us
back more on that too. Nobody thinks this sounds insane?
This was a lot of background to finally arrive at my point, but here it is. I
had to draw the line when the regulation was put in place that no
longer allows the bank to continue allowing your debit card purchases or
ATM withdrawals to go through if you don't have the money. Now this is
going to take effect automatically as of August 15 2010. Luckily, since
the banks generally run everything they've been given a loophole --
don't kid yourself into thinking it wasn't an intentional loophole
because you can bet the big banks were crying over their precious fee
revenues.
The banks are allowed to continue "business as usual" as long as they obtain your permission to do so. Now let's face it,
about 10 years of treating your bank account this way, and it can
absolutely become habit forming. Also, many people have NO problem
managing their balance regardless of how the bank processes their
transactions -- I can say this with a certainty because I took front
line customer service calls for a bank and I know a lot of people out
there have more than enough money and don't even think about money at
all. Unfortunately this is not the case for the majority. About 80% of
the calls I take about being overdrawn are stupid college kids with
their first account still depending on their parents to do everything
for them including provide money for them to spend with their debit card
in their hot little hands, people on a fixed income like social
security/disability, and people who lost their jobs recently and are
still unemployed despite their best efforts to keep things in good
standing. These people are the cash cows to the banks. Want to know how I
can say this with a certainty?
Well, as the bank I was employed with was gearing up for this big Opt In (choosing to allow them to keep
business as usual) I started seeing a little "flag/label" on the
customer profiles that indicated these customer were "OPT IN PRIORITY".
This bothered me and seemed a bit predatory, and when I looked at the
information on these customers they were habitually overdrawn multiple
multiple times a month. So my job was to now actively become part of the
problem that America has been conditioned to spend more than they have
because it is being allowed and encouraged in every facet of our lives. I
could not do it. Then they rearranged ALL of our goals and our ONLY
priority from the end of May to the very date of August 15th 2010 was to
ONLY focus on obtaining customer's OPT IN. The sickest part is the
people the banks are making the most money off of, now have to live
their lives this way because they depend on these short term cash
advances -- and believe me they are paying the price. These are the
majority of people who WANT to OPT IN and keep it the same, because at
this point they have no other options. To be fair, yes there is a choice
being provided to the consumer and that's something at least right?
Let's be honest with ourselves though, many of us take the easy way and
allow ourselves to be nudged into things we'd rather not expend effort
on learning more about first. Trust me, I have taken those calls from
people who could care less and don't want to be read anything or talk
about things that make them think. Let's get off the fluoride and
artificial sweeteners people, we all need to be fully active in this
game. Pay attention to what is happening!
I am extremely grateful that the opportunity presented itself for me to get out of banking. The
longer I stayed the more I felt like I was no longer myself. It was
because I was being forced to do something I just didn't agree with
morally, and ethically. I guess it was just something that finally
crossed the line for me, and I was no longer willing to accept it and
just keep on plugging so I could get my paycheck at the end of the week.
It's absolutely unacceptable. Take my advice, credit unions are the way
to go, because they do not function like a corporate bank.
finally feel like myself again. After putting four years into working
for a BANK, I finally found another job and moved on. I start tomorrow
at the new place which I am happy to say has nothing to do with banking.
When I first started at the bank, it was a fairly small corporation in the
grand scheme of the big banks that are all over the world. The bank I
worked for was purchased by a European bank in the beginning of 2009.
This changed the way the company does business. They had a mass of
layoffs right out of the gate that year. Then all I saw was a steady
decrease in our benefits and my own department was dissolved and I was
placed into the customer service department. In the customer service
department I was very surprised at what I saw on a daily basis. I think
the people working in those call centers truly have one of the worst
jobs. People are angry at banks in general right now, and who can blame
them? The people which we entrust with the care of our money -- the one
thing that drives everything else in this backwards monetary system --
are literally screwing us and then WE have to pay these bailouts? I defy
anyone to explain to me how that actually makes sense.
Anyway, I had to draw the line finally after allowing myself to be complacent and
stay there as long as I did. In the beginning of March the BANK decided
that it needed to give itself a leg up on a new regulation the
government had put into place (any federal savings bank has to adhere to
these regulations) in order to continue doing what it does best -- make
money. Let me give you a quick run down of what this regulation was put
into place for:
Many people probably didn't notice when this started happening, because with all things that would upset a person it
is implemented as gradually as possible to avoid suspicion of
wrongdoing. When the advent of the debit card began, many people were
sold on the convenience and ability to use a card which draws on the
cash they had in their bank account which allowed the flexibility to use
it where one would use a credit card instead of carrying cash or
writing checks. Before I go any further I wanted to say that based on my
experience in banking, I have been told that the banks generally don't
make all THAT much money directly from the card use. They pay for the
merchant services through one of the major credit card companies like
Master Card or Visa which provide the cards, and they don't really see a
lot of return from it. If you think back maybe ten to fifteen years ago
when everyone started using them, you'll remember they used to charge
an annual fee for them, and some would charge if you used it as credit
not debit, etc. Those fees were normally a few dollars, nothing too
painful especially for the convenience. If you remember that, then you
probably also remember that when you didn't have enough money left for a
purchase or taking out cash at the ATM, the card would get declined in
either case. So you were cut off when you didn't have anymore money,
good safe guard right?
At some point some incredibly brilliant person, a real sexy thinker came up with this wondrous idea and using
the bank's general practices with overdraft occurrences. Instead of
stopping your card when you don't have enough money, they decided they
should not provide that courtesy any longer. Obviously YOU are the
consumer and YOU are responsible to keep track of your balance, so the
BANK is not responsible for stopping your card when you don't have
anymore money. Knowing this would skyrocket their fee revenue, just by
simply doing some data analysis on how many cards get declined when the
person doesn't have enough money -- of course they keep track of that
data -- and jackpot for them. Now they didn't even have to charge the
annual fees, or per charge fees for credit/debit uses, now it was all up
to the overdrafts and the dependence on people not paying attention to
their finances. When you think back, you probably remember when the bank
down the road started saying they provided FREE debit card use, now
that they found a more efficient way of making their fee revenue. Please
don't kid yourselves into thinking the banks want to "help" you with
your money. They are businesses, and businesses exist to generate
profit, and when you're paying million dollar bonuses they're going to
need a whole lot of profit right?
This is all kind of background still so we all are on the same page. Now that the banks established the
new rules for processing debit card transactions regardless of the
balance under the guise of "convenience" for their customers to
essentially have access to a cash advance or the ability to purchase
something in exchange for this overdraft fee which at the time was $10
per transaction. Many of us noticed then that that fee amount CLIMBED
significantly. It's now roughly between $30-$40 as a per transaction
charge when you overdraft. In addition to this, you probably noticed all
the new products and services also now available to "help" you avoid
being overdrawn. They have lines of credit you have to apply for, most
of the have an annual fee and an outlandish interest rate up to around
20%, you can link your checking to your savings so that way it
practically eliminates your ability to save and "not touch" your savings
which defeats the purpose. On top of that they STILL charge you a
transfer fee to actually USE the overdraft protection, unless you have a
lot of money in the bank -- then they at least pretend to have respect
for your existence and figure you might be savvy enough to know you're
being swindled for these services so they cut you a little slack. So, it
makes sense for people who are barely getting by to have to pay MORE to
have overdraft protection, because if it is a line of credit, obviously
the bank expects you to pay this outstanding balance back on a monthly
basis too. So you can't even manage your weekly expenses to the point
you're becoming overdrawn, and we want to lend you more credit to pay us
back more on that too. Nobody thinks this sounds insane?
This was a lot of background to finally arrive at my point, but here it is. I
had to draw the line when the regulation was put in place that no
longer allows the bank to continue allowing your debit card purchases or
ATM withdrawals to go through if you don't have the money. Now this is
going to take effect automatically as of August 15 2010. Luckily, since
the banks generally run everything they've been given a loophole --
don't kid yourself into thinking it wasn't an intentional loophole
because you can bet the big banks were crying over their precious fee
revenues.
The banks are allowed to continue "business as usual" as long as they obtain your permission to do so. Now let's face it,
about 10 years of treating your bank account this way, and it can
absolutely become habit forming. Also, many people have NO problem
managing their balance regardless of how the bank processes their
transactions -- I can say this with a certainty because I took front
line customer service calls for a bank and I know a lot of people out
there have more than enough money and don't even think about money at
all. Unfortunately this is not the case for the majority. About 80% of
the calls I take about being overdrawn are stupid college kids with
their first account still depending on their parents to do everything
for them including provide money for them to spend with their debit card
in their hot little hands, people on a fixed income like social
security/disability, and people who lost their jobs recently and are
still unemployed despite their best efforts to keep things in good
standing. These people are the cash cows to the banks. Want to know how I
can say this with a certainty?
Well, as the bank I was employed with was gearing up for this big Opt In (choosing to allow them to keep
business as usual) I started seeing a little "flag/label" on the
customer profiles that indicated these customer were "OPT IN PRIORITY".
This bothered me and seemed a bit predatory, and when I looked at the
information on these customers they were habitually overdrawn multiple
multiple times a month. So my job was to now actively become part of the
problem that America has been conditioned to spend more than they have
because it is being allowed and encouraged in every facet of our lives. I
could not do it. Then they rearranged ALL of our goals and our ONLY
priority from the end of May to the very date of August 15th 2010 was to
ONLY focus on obtaining customer's OPT IN. The sickest part is the
people the banks are making the most money off of, now have to live
their lives this way because they depend on these short term cash
advances -- and believe me they are paying the price. These are the
majority of people who WANT to OPT IN and keep it the same, because at
this point they have no other options. To be fair, yes there is a choice
being provided to the consumer and that's something at least right?
Let's be honest with ourselves though, many of us take the easy way and
allow ourselves to be nudged into things we'd rather not expend effort
on learning more about first. Trust me, I have taken those calls from
people who could care less and don't want to be read anything or talk
about things that make them think. Let's get off the fluoride and
artificial sweeteners people, we all need to be fully active in this
game. Pay attention to what is happening!
I am extremely grateful that the opportunity presented itself for me to get out of banking. The
longer I stayed the more I felt like I was no longer myself. It was
because I was being forced to do something I just didn't agree with
morally, and ethically. I guess it was just something that finally
crossed the line for me, and I was no longer willing to accept it and
just keep on plugging so I could get my paycheck at the end of the week.
It's absolutely unacceptable. Take my advice, credit unions are the way
to go, because they do not function like a corporate bank.
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