Banking
This toon was inspired by my own bank. Since they BECAME my bank (they bought the bank I signed up with), they have upped my checking account fee twice by putting ridiculous “if you don’ts” in place. If you don’t direct deposit 20, ooo dollars a month, we’ll charge you this much for having your money in our bank.
People… how can I direct deposit if… I’M SELF EMPLOYED!!!????!
hate them. time for new bank.
Maybe Ryan should put a. . . SOCK IN IT!
HA HA HA HA HA oh dear my entire digestive system seems to have vacated my body in disgust.
It seems that banks are the same, no matter what country you’re in.
Back in 2005, it would always amuse me to hear on the BBC R4 news that banks announce record profits – and their share prices would invariably drop…
I can’t believe we still allow banks to take three days to “process” electronic funds transfers. The bank’s got your money for three days, so they’re getting the interest. When people do it, it’s called “penny shaving” or “salami slicing” – when banks do it, nobody bats an eyelid.
And don’t get me started on how cellphone companies rip people off in the USA…
Oops, sorry, the veins in my forehead are throbbing. I’d better stop there…
Dave… Hey, how come I didn’t think of that one? hee hee.
Astragali: Yeah… I am most annoyed with banking practices. Glad to see that our sleazy banks aren’t the only evil ones… Shareholders are the real winners in all this.
I take my lessons from Mary Poppins… feed the birds!
Keep the veins in your head, though… I will address these injustices in my cartoon… think kittens… kittens.
From what I read on my bank statements, my bank has almost no interest in my money.
We’ve gone from “Free” checking to “Fee” checking.
Not all banks are bad. My bank is AWESOME. But you’ve gotta be in the military or a spouse/child of someone in the military to join. Once you’re in, you’re in. USAA rocks! 🙂
You know what? They ARE awesome! I AM a member of USAA (my dad was a Marine)… and gosh darn, I would do more banking with them… but I’d like to have a branch to GO to (I don’t have one near me).
Over the years, I’ve had three or four banks bought out from under me, but each was kind enough to “grandfather in” the free checking we had originally. But it always rankled me when they sent that annual condescending letter telling me that they were again waiving their checking fee while giving us the great privilege and convenience of using their bank. I always responded with a scathing parody of their letter, mentioning the convenience of having people actually bring their money to hold for them, the interest the banks make on that money and the massive profits they make, cited from their own web sites. Funny, I never got any answers to those letters…
I think my bank is the only one left in the world that doesn’t charge outrageous fess for absolutely everything under the sun…..
/they’re all gonna collapse before the decade is over, count on it
And by “fess”, of course, I mean fees.
Savings or credit unions tend to be better, I find.
Although up here in Canada, I use PC Financial, which means I can use CIBC machines and many major grocery stores. Fee-free checking is nice. I have ING for my savings account.
Yeah. I got the same notice. I loved that bank before they were bought out. Now they’ve gotten too big for their britches.
I’m switching to Union Bank.
Wow, funny how comics makers often synch up their current rants and raves.
Another favorite of mine, Pearls Before Swine has been doing the same thing the past couple days. Check out today, Sunday’s, it’s a hoot.
http://comics.com/pearls_before_swine/
You know, there is a reason why rich depositers get great services for free and poor folks get charged for a lot less service. If you plant a lot of green at a bank, the bank can then loan out that money for houses, cars, boats, credit card purchases and charge a lot for it. So someone with 100 grand sitting in a bank account, with the bank charging lenders 15% on it, is creating 15 grand for the bank and the bank wants to keep that money there, ego, keep the depositer happy. Kind of like why Vegas casinos give lots of nice freebies to their “whales.”
Meanwhile, someone with little in a deposit-based account is likely to pull much of it out on a pretty constant basis. This is costing your bank plenty of coin and pretty much pissing them off. So they charge. Oh, and then are the overdrafts, or floats which I’m fairly confident really works them up. Why do they wait to deposit the full amount of a check for three days? Some will deposit worthless checks, cash them out right away, and make equally worthless checks out to another account to balance those that came from there.
Like all things, unless you’re in a really nice preferred class, you gotta contend with folks in your party lousing things up for everyone. Reminds me of the adage: It’s hard to soar with the eagles when you’ve got to work with the turkeys.
Nice thing about government on a Federal level here is that they can always keep borrowing more money once what they’ve got is used up. Well, nice for them, lousy for all the interest payments we need to make for them. Real life is not so convenient and most butts are not so nicely covered.
Oh. Wells Fargo. Been there forever. Like them.
Stick: Unless things have changed since I left Blighty, English banks don’t pull off half the… stuff that US banks do. Admittedly, they nickel and dime you in other ways (they take 5p and 10p pieces for a start 😉 ), but they don’t charge you a fee to use other banks’ ATMs, and they sure as heck don’t charge you if you have less than a minimum balance.
Like with pay-as-you-go cellphones: UK cellphone carriers don’t charge you for incoming calls or texts, and your minutes don’t expire.
Astra:
Point taken.
Did you give the Sunday “Pearls” strip, I gave a link to, a look?
Okay… so evil banking has struck a cord.
As far as Pearls Before Swine goes (thanks for the link… I don’t read Pearls much), we must both be very dissatisfied with our services. It was not planned at all to coincide. If you belong to the National Cartoonist’s Society, their members often have a topic for a certain day whereby you can participate if you wish. But I am not a member.
Wells Fargo charges you to use their online banking… which I think is stupid. Otherwise, they seem to be nice people.
*sigh*
i miss the days of s and l’s. i remember back when i saved with monterey savings and loan, they (and jusat about all other savings and loan associations) would give you an interest rate of 5.25% percent interest on your savings account. to compete, banks would give you 4.75% interest on your savings account, plus give you a checking account (for a small fee) as long as you maintained a minimum 5 dollar balance in your savings account.
after the dissolution of the savings and loans (and the fslic) the banks found themselves in the felicitous situation where they no longer had to compete with the s and l’s for your investments and could do whatever they wanted to your accounts.
it was a very black day when the savings and loans shut down.
Stick: I took a look at the PBS strip – loved it!
I’ve got Wells Fargo and online stuff… with no fees. Am I just lucky?
*heh* This reminds me of the Prairie Home Companion “sponsor”, Bob’s Bank: Save at the sign of the big white sock.
http://prairiehome.publicradio.org/programs/2010/10/02/
The advert is in Segment 5, time marker 1:49:50, though I have advert’s for Bob’s Bank that go back to the 80s.
It’s sad but true that the more you have, the better the discount on doing business. Bank of America went the longest without charging fees, focusing on the (legal) immigrants and working class of California as far back as the early 20th Century. But like the 20th Century, free checking is lost to the past.
Another option for your money is a credit union. I’ve been using a credit union since I started in the work force way back in (fgasp!) 1977, and have never looked back. yeah, the interest reates aren’t great right now, but my checking is still “free” — I have to buy the checks, but there are no per-transaction fees.
Check it out! If you have a credit union in your local area, it is a very viable alternative to the rapacious monster banks.
Yes, over the top hilarious! Ha,ha,ha!
Move to a credit union. They’re member-owned, and not-for-profit, and generally give better rates and more freebies to those who aren’t in the highest tax bracket. Credit unions are regional, but many participate in the Credit Union Service Center system, where you can bank with a local credit union, even if you’re away from home:
http://www.cuservicecenter.com/
My CU has free checking, no minimum balance requirements, no per transaction fees, no fees for checks or withdrawals. If I maintain electronic statements and direct deposit, I get a bunch of other perks, as well. And my CU will waive the DD requirement if a member submits proof that they are self-employed, or that their employer does not offer DD. They’re fair.
You know those commercials with those “morning talk show duo” talking about America’s Most Convienent Bank? I always laugh. Convienence costs money. You want an ATM on every corner and branches that are open 24 hours a day on Sunday? It’ll cost you, and dearly. Deal with some inconvienence, plan ahead, make a bulk withdrawal when you’re near your ATM, not ten withdrawals of 10.00, and get out from under the fees.
They can only charge you if you let them!
That’s right! They can’t charge you if you dump their booger-headed butts! And so I am! And thanks for the info!