My (unfriendly) neighborhood bank
Filed under: Banks
A few days ago, I was valiantly trying to convince a teller at my bank to put a check into my account as instant cash instead of having to wait until the next morning. I knew a rogue check I had written to my daughter's preschool was somewhere -- out there -- and if it went through that night, the consequences would be ugly. The bank would process the check, pummel me with $35 charges for not having funds to cover it -- and then they would deposit the money. Money, of course, that they had been holding onto for hours.And so goes another typical day in the not-so glamorous life of a freelance writer.
I realize when it comes to complaining about the bank's tactics, I'm on shaky ground. As sinister as I think it is, I get it. Banks have rules; I didn't follow them. But I am wondering how we got to this point. Maybe I have a naive view of banks, shaped from how I've seen George Bailey run his savings and loan in about 467 airings of the classic 1946 film It's a Wonderful Life. But it does seem like bank policies have positioned these institutions to act more as a foe than friend. In fact, when bemoaning the city's foreclosures, the mayor of Cleveland recently likened banks to "organized crime."And then recently David Enrich of the Wall Street Journal reported, in a story making the rounds in newspapers around the country, that penalties are rising for having insufficient funds in an account-along with fees going up to $3, for using an ATM that doesn't belong to your bank. And Enrich had this to say: "Unless there is an unexpectedly fast rebound from the current woes, additional fee increases are on the way, analysts predict."
I'm not surprised. As my bank teller informed me that she couldn't put my check in as cash, sounding as sympathetic as a loan shark who says he doesn't want to break your arm and then does so anyway, I kept staring at a poster. It was promoting the practice of cashing out your home equity loan. The advertisement gave lip service to pragmatic choices if you're going to cash it out, like paying off debts or paying for a college education, but what struck me was that it also suggested using the money from a home equity loan to go on a vacation or even to buy a plasma TV. My very own bank was advising me to do what any financial expert insists is exactly the wrong thing to do. In other words, my bank has subtly decided not to even pretend that they have my best interests at heart. It made me kind of sad, until I popped in my DVD of It's a Wonderful Life, and I could start believing in my neighborhood financial institution again. No, it's not a great way to deal with reality, but I think it's better than what my bank is offering.
Geoff Williams is a freelance business journalist, primarily for Entrepreneur magazine, and the author of C.C. Pyle's Amazing Foot Race: The True Story of the 1928 Coast-to-Coast Run Across America.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-06-2008 @ 1:01PM
William Dollar said...
Geoff has been spending too much time behind his keyboard. Banks are risk adverse, and only want to help you when you don't really need them. Keep large deposits in your checking account and they will love you!
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2-06-2008 @ 4:38PM
Geoff Williams said...
Ricky, you're absolutely right, but my thinking is that a bank shouldn't want their customers to do financially stupid things, like use their home equity for a plasma TV, because eventually, if everyone did that, in theory, we'd all go broke from our bad financial decisions, and we'd have no more money to put in a bank. It seems like it's right along the lines of banks offering up subprime loans and then wondering why people can't pay them back. But you are right, and so is William, though I could argue that I haven't spent enough time behind my keyboard--the more I write, the more I get paid, and the more I get paid, the more money I have in my bank.
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2-06-2008 @ 4:39PM
Ricky said...
First of all, your issue with the teller and not getting your check as cash is nothing to complain about. Aside from the fact that the teller probably doesn't have the authority to give a check immediate credit (try sweet talking the branch manager), you can't just expect a bank to credit you money on a check they haven't cleared yet on good faith just because you need it.
And what's wrong with banks letting people know they can pull cash out of a HELOC for things they'll financially regret? You know there are a ton of people out there with maxed out credit cards just looking for another way to spend money they don't have. It's a service the bank offers for people that have a need/want for it.
Of course banks don't have our best interest at heart. The gas station in the corner doesn't have my best interest at heart. If they did they'd just give me free money and gas. Businesses (banks included) have their own interest at heart. Turning a profit is priority one. This is how a free market system works.
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2-07-2008 @ 9:09AM
JackD70 said...
Ricky you should have cashed the check then deposited the proceeds into your account. Problem solved.
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2-07-2008 @ 10:23AM
Linda said...
JackD79
That is all well and good but some places charge $11.00 to cash a check and other places charge you more, depending upon how much the check is to be cashed for. So where is the justice. It seems almost Everyone has their hand out and they do not care how little or how much you make.
2-07-2008 @ 3:22PM
Daphne said...
I deal with a very nice local bank. However, recently I requested a written balance since I was away from my online computer...she was not too happy to do this little "extra" even though she is normally nice.
At that point, I decided to become my own banker, and save more money at home, due to the upcoming "R" & "D". {Recession & Depression}. Yes, the Baby Boomers are in for a surprise...City & Subdivision persons with debt will have a rough time...Country persons out of debt with property can do diverse operations, like grow food & run a farm - even though they have been working in the corporate world.
Save & Get out of Debt now- will be a good idea - sell that oversized home that you are not even using 40 hours a week -while you spend most of your time at work. Be reasonable and sweetly survive with your senses - cruise easy!
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2-07-2008 @ 6:22PM
Jim said...
Perhaps the banking lobbyists have "a bit" too much influence.
Banks that I am familiar with hold local checks for three business days, even though they are deducted from the originating account in ONE business day. Twenty-five years ago I routinely cashed checks in the Middle East and had them clear my local Ohio bank in four business days. It is ridiculous that they "need" three days for local checks....oh, and don't get me started on the ATM fees.
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2-09-2008 @ 8:31PM
William said...
Banks have become like phone companies..greedy and creative in thinking up ways to increase profits.
They use terms like "customer service", "convenience", and "courtesy"...while charging for each of these so-called benefits...which used to be free.
Unfortunately...customer service, convenience, and courtesy are accompanied by fees, taxes, service costs, surcharges, penalties, and misc. costs..which are dreamed up by some committee at headquarters to capture every nickel and dime.
For the use of MY MONEY during the year...I get a shamefully small interest rate...adding further insult to the modern banking experience.
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2-11-2008 @ 8:50PM
daro said...
yep, it's all about the money. their money. there's no such thing as customer service any more, and if you believe there is then you probably still believe in the tooth fairy too. corporations don't have to put the customer first to make money any more, so they don't; in many cases you can't take your business elsewhere (cable, telephone, utilities), so they have the average consumer right where they want him and they take full advantage of it. they can think up as many fees as they like and raise their prices due to whatever reason they think up that week, and there's nothing anyone can do about it but bend over and take it like a man.
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