Banks, Credit Unions, and Fees: Oh my!

[ScoobyDoo]

Re: Banks, Credit Unions, and Fees: Oh my!

The only thing that will keep banks honest is more banks... which is why I'm **** glad we have credit unions in this world.

Want to hurt evil anti-christ bank... lobby for things which will lead to more banks and more competition.

New banks are like little minnows being thrown into shark infested waters. Ain't going to happen. The age we live in now is all about Mergers and Acquisitions.

[Bob Gray]

Re: Banks, Credit Unions, and Fees: Oh my!

The only thing that will keep banks honest is more banks... which is why I'm **** glad we have credit unions in this world.

Want to hurt evil anti-christ bank... lobby for things which will lead to more banks and more competition.

Yup. Which is one of the reasons why banks regularly campaign against credit unions in various ways. Of course there's still loads of people who don't think about that they could be at a credit union and not pay all the nonsense fees banks charge. So the big banks really don't have that much to worry about.

Not that credit unions are entirely exempt from doing stuff like banks. We were at a given credit union here in Arizona, and suddenly they started charging $5 a month on our checking account. I called and talked to them, and the only ways to avoid the charge were either to maintain a sizable balance or to make a certain number of purchases every month with our debit card, which we don't normally use. So, we took our business to another credit union who isn't doing that, made it clear to them that we appreciate that they aren't adding nonsense charges, and they tell us people had been coming over in droves from the credit union that started charging for a checking account. Bad decision by credit union number one. But, maybe they'll be happy to be smaller but have folks they can charge for the checking account.

[Transplanted Tiger Fan]

Re: Banks, Credit Unions, and Fees: Oh my!

This may be off-topic a bit, but a question for the economic whizzes out there in light of the "99%'er" movement that is getting a lot of press these days...

Knowing the power of “social media” (see Egypt), what would be the outcome of an organized popular revolt on the banking industry? For example, it won’t be long before someone in the "99%" movement figures-out that tie-dyed shirts, cardboard signs, and face paint isn’t getting the job done, and determines that a potentially-effective way to hurt the "Big Bad Bankers" is to disrupt their assets. A significant portion of a bank’s assets consists of the money deposited by their Customers... us.

If, by way of “social media”, a coordinated and targeted ‘run’ on a given bank’s assets were to be deployed (such as a mass-withdrawal), what would the result be on the economy? Would (could?) the targeted bank react by calling-in loans to make-up for the lost assets? Would such a coordinated tactic even be effective in attempting to hurt the "Big Bad Banker"?

Disclaimer: I am in no way suggesting nor encouraging a tactic such as this to be implemented against the "Big Bad Bankers", but I also acknowledge that I cannot be the only person with this thought. An individual with ethics that differ from mine may actually attempt to act on such a thought. I just want to be sure my 401k is properly allocated ahead of time!

[MinnFan]

Re: Banks, Credit Unions, and Fees: Oh my!

This may be off-topic a bit, but a question for the economic whizzes out there in light of the "99%'er" movement that is getting a lot of press these days...

Knowing the power of “social media” (see Egypt), what would be the outcome of an organized popular revolt on the banking industry? For example, it won’t be long before someone in the "99%" movement figures-out that tie-dyed shirts, cardboard signs, and face paint isn’t getting the job done, and determines that a potentially-effective way to hurt the "Big Bad Bankers" is to disrupt their assets. A significant portion of a bank’s assets consists of the money deposited by their Customers... us.

If, by way of “social media”, a coordinated and targeted ‘run’ on a given bank’s assets were to be deployed (such as a mass-withdrawal), what would the result be on the economy? Would (could?) the targeted bank react by calling-in loans to make-up for the lost assets? Would such a coordinated tactic even be effective in attempting to hurt the "Big Bad Banker"?

Disclaimer: I am in no way suggesting nor encouraging a tactic such as this to be implemented against the "Big Bad Bankers", but I also acknowledge that I cannot be the only person with this thought. An individual with ethics that differ from mine may actually attempt to act on such a thought. I just want to be sure my 401k is properly allocated ahead of time!

I can't find the article right now, but one of the sponsor groups for the protest threatened to hack into a couple firms and distrupt them that way.

[Bob Gray]

Re: Banks, Credit Unions, and Fees: Oh my!

I think for the most part the folks with large amounts of assets with the big banks aren't going to be the people protesting down on Wall Street, so I don't think they'd have that much of an impact even if all of them moved their money out of the big banks.

[unofan]

Re: Banks, Credit Unions, and Fees: Oh my!

This may be off-topic a bit, but a question for the economic whizzes out there in light of the "99%'er" movement that is getting a lot of press these days...

Knowing the power of “social media” (see Egypt), what would be the outcome of an organized popular revolt on the banking industry? For example, it won’t be long before someone in the "99%" movement figures-out that tie-dyed shirts, cardboard signs, and face paint isn’t getting the job done, and determines that a potentially-effective way to hurt the "Big Bad Bankers" is to disrupt their assets. A significant portion of a bank’s assets consists of the money deposited by their Customers... us.

If, by way of “social media”, a coordinated and targeted ‘run’ on a given bank’s assets were to be deployed (such as a mass-withdrawal), what would the result be on the economy? Would (could?) the targeted bank react by calling-in loans to make-up for the lost assets? Would such a coordinated tactic even be effective in attempting to hurt the "Big Bad Banker"?

Disclaimer: I am in no way suggesting nor encouraging a tactic such as this to be implemented against the "Big Bad Bankers", but I also acknowledge that I cannot be the only person with this thought. An individual with ethics that differ from mine may actually attempt to act on such a thought. I just want to be sure my 401k is properly allocated ahead of time!

demand deposits (most checking and savings accounts) are actually liabilities for banks, not assets, since they are due in full "on demand."

That technicality aside, it'd cause some short term pain but probably not any long term destruction unless you get the corporate accounts or big money accounts to go with them. In the short term, the Fed would step in with emergency loans to cover the run, which the bank would then pay back as loans came due. There'd be some holdings-to-loan ratio issues to deal with too, but those that survive might actually end up better off as they now have fewer low value accounts to deal with.

[CLS]

Re: Banks, Credit Unions, and Fees: Oh my!

. . . Not that credit unions are entirely exempt from doing stuff like banks. We were at a given credit union here in Arizona, and suddenly they started charging $5 a month on our checking account. I called and talked to them, and the only ways to avoid the charge were either to maintain a sizable balance or to make a certain number of purchases every month with our debit card, which we don't normally use. So, we took our business to another credit union who isn't doing that, made it clear to them that we appreciate that they aren't adding nonsense charges, and they tell us people had been coming over in droves from the credit union that started charging for a checking account. Bad decision by credit union number one. But, maybe they'll be happy to be smaller but have folks they can charge for the checking account.

Beware especially when the CU starts to get big. When my CU was small and member oriented, banking was easy. I had all my banking, my mortgage, and my car loan at the CU. Making the monthly payments was easy.

When my CU decided that being big was better than being good and giving mediocre service to lots of people was better than giving great service to a few people, things started to change. When I bought my car, I financed with a bank that had an arrangement with the dealer, confident that I could refinance with my CU. When I looked into that, it turned out that I had already gotten a rate a few percent better than my CU could do. When mortgage rates dropped and I refinanced, I got a rate through a mortgage broker that was significantly better than my CU could do.

I still have my checking at the CU because it’s still free with no minimums, but banking is a lot less convenient these days.

[Priceless]

Re: Banks, Credit Unions, and Fees: Oh my!

I can't find the article right now, but one of the sponsor groups for the protest threatened to hack into a couple firms and distrupt them that way.

I haven't heard anything about the sponsor groups, but have seen a lot of chatter on Twitter from liberals complaining that Anonymous is trying to butt in on their act and threatened to hack into banking and trading firms and cause chaos. The worry is that the protesters will get blamed even though they aren't the ones behind it.

[joecct]

Re: Banks, Credit Unions, and Fees: Oh my!

Costco's going to raise membership fees. Went there today and no protests.

[pirate]

Re: Banks, Credit Unions, and Fees: Oh my!

The only thing that will keep banks honest is smart citizens that make educated decisions that benefit them the most. So long as there are sheeple, these banks will continue to nickel and dime them. Once they start to lose dollars by nickel and dime-ing, they'll revert.

none of us like paying fees but nothing is free... not checking, not love and not wifi at Starbucks...it may be that you don't directly pay for it in that one instance but somebody is paying for it.

[ScottM]

Re: Banks, Credit Unions, and Fees: Oh my!

Right. Because Potter's Bank was the hero and Bailey's Savings and Loan was the villain in It's a Wonderful Life, right?

The ability of society to repeat its mistakes never ceases to amaze me.

Actually, Bailey was the subprime lender who lent money to anybody with a pulse and had poor internal controls. Potter was the strait-laced banker who was left to clean up the mess after Bailey's customers defaulted, and went into foreclosure.

[Patman]

Re: Banks, Credit Unions, and Fees: Oh my!

Costco's going to raise membership fees. Went there today and no protests.

Big difference... most people who shop at costco don't maintain a 10 point manifesto which is filled with incredibly unattainable demands based upon what one feels like would occur in a fair and moral society.

I've always been awestruck by those who want to flip society thinking it'll all be roses when it happens... but if only we were more moral. Things may not be good, they may even be bad, but its a hell of a lot better than being stupid. It is particularly stupid to think we'd have a grand moral well-served society but not for the moral failings of those who have money.

[Priceless]

Re: Banks, Credit Unions, and Fees: Oh my!

Actually, Bailey was the subprime lender who lent money to anybody with a pulse and had poor internal controls. Potter was the strait-laced banker who was left to clean up the mess after Bailey's customers defaulted, and went into foreclosure.

Like Goldman-Sachs.

[bigblue_dl]

Re: Banks, Credit Unions, and Fees: Oh my!

I have accounts at Wells Fargo and the local bank that I grew up with. I got the Wells Fargo accounts so it was easier to do my banking when I was at school, since the local bank was 7 hours away. I still maintain the Wells Fargo accounts only because there are Wells Fargo ATM's all over the place so I can get cash without paying ATM fees. For every paycheck I get about 75% goes into my local bank account and 25% into Wells Fargo.

I have the Wells Fargo debit card, but I rarely use it for purchases, it is mostly for getting cash. If they start these fees I'd probably just use it exclusively for cash and avoid the fees.

I try to pay for as much as possible with my American Express card, so I get Delta Skymiles. Otherwise I have a Visa that I use also.

[FlagDUDE08]

Re: Banks, Credit Unions, and Fees: Oh my!

none of us like paying fees but nothing is free... not checking, not love and not wifi at Starbucks...it may be that you don't directly pay for it in that one instance but somebody is paying for it.

If we're talking about debit surcharges, not only use cash, but reward the companies that offer cash discounts (or offer lower prices by disallowing credit cards) with your business. If we're talking checking and ATM fees, some are free, you just have to know where to look. Figure out what is important to you, reward the companies that satisfy this importance, and do not reward those that do not. It's simple.