Are Banks Evil?
I recently read an article that helped point out some truth about most banks that strengthens my personal belief that most banks are evil.
Think your bank is innocent? Test it against these ten measurements that the Wall Street Journal pointed out - see if their catching you with these crazy fees:
Crazy Bank Fee #1: Checking Accounts
Are they requiring a minimum account balance, monthly fee, or do they limit transactions you can make each month? Watch it - you’re getting slapped with silly fees!
Crazy Bank Fee #2: ATM
Look out, your bank probably charges you to use ATMs that aren’t theirs, and may also charge you to use theirs, etc, etc. How did King Benjamin say it? “I cannot tell you all the things whereby [banks] may commit sin; for there are divers ways and means, even so many that I cannot number them.”
Crazy Bank Fee #3: Overdraft
Spend money you don’t have? You’d think the bank wouldn’t let you - but they love to let you spend frivolously! Then they catch you with a $15 plus overdraft fee.
Crazy Bank Fee #4: Deposit Returned
No fun! Someone else bounces a check - and you pay for it!
Crazy Bank Fee #5: Tellers
I find this hard to believe (well, maybe not) but your bank might be charging you for excessive use of tellers. Banks hate personal interaction with real people.
Crazy Bank Fee #6: Inquiries
They don’t like questions, either. Don’t ask.
Crazy Bank Fee #7: Closing Accounts
They may not want to see you, but they hate to see you go. They might slap you with a fee to close your account.
Crazy Bank Fee #8: Currency Conversions
These are getting worse every year - watch out for it!
Crazy Bank Fee #9: Credit Cards
Think it’s bad now? New legislation from our government may help control unwanted sudden increases - but plan to see general fees increase and become more common as a result.
Crazy Bank Fee #10: Annual Membership
Okay, so I think the WSJ article’s author ran out of ideas and stretched #9 into #10 - but a lot of cards are charging an annual fee now. Just plain silly.
So? Feeling a little used by your bank? I promise, nobody is paying me to say this (although I wouldn’t mind it . . .) there’s a good chance you’re better off with a credit union!
August 28th, 2009 at 6:14 pm
It’s surprising that people still use banks after being treated this way. You would think everyone would get fed up and leave– which I would think would send a loud and clear message to the bank owners that they need to change their business practices.
Really! How do they get away with this?
http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/1989-10-16/
September 12th, 2009 at 10:29 am
I appreciate these points as I have wondered about some of the differences between a bank and a credit union. One thing that I am disappointed with is that my credit union does not offer a credit card with rewards. We recently got an American Express Card that accrues sky miles because we will be living across the country for school, and it does have an annual (bogus) fee.