Unfortunately, I have a couple of bank accounts with one of the nasty US banksters, in this case, Bankster of America.
I have two accounts. A checking account. And a business checking account. I went in to check on the business checking account the other day and automagically, it had been transformed into a “debit card account.” I don’t want a debit card and never did want one. Apparently, if you want a business account, you get a debit card account, whether you want one or not. Well, fair enough.
But there’s a new twist to the debit card game. All of a sudden, if I don’t use my debit card at least once a month to buy something at a store, the bank will ding me a $16 penalty for not using my debit card! Crazy or what? This is a new policy. I was never informed of it to my knowledge. The banks are ripping us off more and more all the time, with no end in sight. Every year, they come up with all sorts of funny new penalty fees for this and that. And the fees go up all the time.
Consumer rights organizations periodically call for the banksters to be reigned in, but every time, the banks scream that if they are forced to treat consumers properly, they will just raise their rates and screw us even more.
If you’re a Libertarian asshole, you would say to take your bank business elsewhere. Problem is that banks are like credit cards. There’s no competition anymore. There aren’t any banks or credit card companies that are competing with the others by treating the consumer better. It’s the same rotten, raw deal all around.
It would be nice if one could figure out a way to somehow get around these banks. Are credit unions any better? Are there any banks that are not out to fuck the consumer anymore?
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The movement is still far too young to replace your bank account, but look into Bitcoin. It could be the new idea which finally (years from now) kills the need for banks.