Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Once Again: Banks are the enemy

For those who missed the memo...
"Total Checking." "Value Checking." "MyAccess Checking." What do they all have in common? The word "free" is missing from the name.

You are likely painfully aware that big banks like Chase, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America have ended no-strings-attached free checking accounts. But if you had any questions about how restrictive -- or expensive -- those strings can be, consider Chase bank. Scarcely two years ago, we marveled at banks’ efforts to inch fees up to $3 per withdrawal. Chase bank is now test-piloting $5-per-withdrawal fees for non-customers in Illinois. That's in addition to fees the consumers' bank charges. Soon it may cost $10 to grab $20 in a pinch.

Once upon a time, consumers could expect to earn money by leaving their cash sitting in a bank. Today, consumers must worry about their bank slowly bleeding money out of the account. The change is happening swiftly. Chase says it's converted around 8 million free accounts -- many former customers of Washington Mutual -- into "follow-our-rules-or-pay-up-to-$144-annually" accounts.
Read the rest here.

Marx may have had a point. Banks are evil. I wonder if anyone has looked in the Chase Bank boardroom for that missing snake?

3 comments:

Anastasia Theodoridis said...

I found it interesting to note, in yesterday's news, that the supposedly rag-tag band of rebels in Libya has established a bank, call the the Bank of Libya.

Imagine what it takes to establsih a national bank!

And what for? Wh should that have any priority> For keeping all the foreign money pouring in to support the rebel cause?

???

Ed said...

Agreed John, banks are evil.

But I think you should see the following article for some potential clarification: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Why-Banks-Are-Suddenly-fool-4290984267.html?x=0&.v=3.

mjl said...

Here's a suggestion from your friendly neighbourhood localist: credit unions. I resisted the pressure from banks when they were giving away "free" ipads because I knew that there would ways they'd screw me in the end. Remember that banks, like everything else in this country, only has the power to do it because of consumers. That is unless the government gives them another bailout.