http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/fuck-you-big-banks/Content?oid=10316458 Comments On: Fuck You, Big Banks by Anna Minard, Christopher Frizzelle, Goldy and Bethany Jean Clement en-us Copyright 2013 The Stranger. All rights reserved. This RSS file is offered to individuals, The Stranger readers, and non-commercial organizations only. Any commercial websites wishing to use this RSS file, please contact The Stranger. webmaster@thestranger.com (The Stranger Webmaster) Tue, 21 May 2013 00:00:01 -0700 Tue, 21 May 2013 18:45:00 -0700 Foundation http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss www.fuckbanks.net
Posted by mickie3]]> Tue, 05 Jun 2012 02:53:33 -0700 The Stranger Posted by mickie3]]> Tue, 05 Jun 2012 02:47:14 -0700 The Stranger If you go to BECU.com and put "Switch Accounts to BECU" in the search engine it will give you a page helping you figure out the steps you should take to switch over.
Posted by katfbcml]]> Tue, 13 Mar 2012 07:32:35 -0700 The Stranger Posted by medgarden420]]> Mon, 07 Nov 2011 08:27:20 -0800 The Stranger Posted by My story]]> Tue, 01 Nov 2011 08:00:55 -0700 The Stranger Posted by stillahippie]]> Wed, 26 Oct 2011 15:22:10 -0700 The Stranger Financial institutions that do that should be closed down!

Seriously, how the fuck are today's students, undergraduates earning BAs, master's degree candidates, Ph.D's, etc. getting through school anymore?

Holy crap, and my parents freaked out over $13,420.00 (although it seems like a drop in the bucket now) in student loans that I stupidly agreed to pay back, which included interest compounded DAILY---back in 1995!
Everybody read the fine print! If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Posted by auntie grizelda]]> Tue, 25 Oct 2011 23:53:38 -0700 The Stranger Posted by Evil Princess]]> Tue, 25 Oct 2011 16:26:37 -0700 The Stranger I 'm not talking about overdraft charges, which I agree, are legitimate. I mean really stupid fees, like for actually conducting a banking transaction with a living, breathing teller!
p.s. I like your new icon!

@103 Crash: I've been big bank-less for 10 years now; hopefully I've learned not to make the same mistakes again, God forbid.
Posted by auntie grizelda]]> Tue, 25 Oct 2011 01:11:52 -0700 The Stranger Posted by Crash]]> Sat, 22 Oct 2011 13:49:15 -0700 The Stranger
For those who are with BofA, you know what I'm talking about, serious crackdown on card fraud (protecting the account holder), upgrades to their banking system and ATMs (making life easier for the account holder), and better training for customer service reps (friendlier people for the account holder) .... the tech upgrades in the last few years alone would cost a fortune, especially if the government was doing the upgrades ($200 for a computer mouse ... sheesh). So yeah, most of us are happy with our bank of choice, they lured us with insanely great accounts (MyAccess FTW!) and protected our money when it was there, fees and such are our problems, we incur them. They tell us about all of them up front, we know what we're getting into when we open the account. There is no excuse blaming them for fees like overdraft, you knew about them when you signed up unless you are illiterate or a complete retard.
Posted by KittenKoder]]> Sat, 22 Oct 2011 00:44:00 -0700 The Stranger Didn't take too long to find out just what he was talking about.
Yeah... Lotta people don't have much food on the table... but they got a lotta forks... and knives...
And they gotta cut something."

Just quoting Dylan. Banks oughta be happy that Americans hold up signs to get their attention.
Are the banks smart enough for you to trust them? Hey, Wells Fargo customers, they fucked up your statements too, didn't they?
Posted by Former Customer]]> Fri, 21 Oct 2011 13:14:19 -0700 The Stranger
WF's projected yearly "loss" from Durbin: $813MM[1]
# WF debit-cart accts: ~40 million[2]
WF card-fee revenue (40MM * $3 * 12): $1.44Bn/yr[3]
--------------------------------------------
WF PROFIT from Durbin: $587MM/year

It seems Wells Fargo will actually profit by $.5 billion/year from of the new card fees. They're using the letter of a "consumer friendly" law to defy the spirit of the law. And then they're just blatantly lying--actually, saying the opposite of the truth--about how that profit is a loss. How can I do business with a bank that embraces such an ethos?

Also, I'm just sick of WF and the whole big-bank obscenity. WF was jut fined $85 million for pushing subprime mortgages that, in the aughts, made the bank billions and later netted it another $36 billion in bailout funds[4].). So...when big banks pursue abusive practices, they profit And when the government attempts to correct for these abuses, banks profit. It just sucks.

Sources:

1. http://www.mybanktracker.com/bank-news/2…
2. http://www.digitaltransactions.net/news/…
3. Currently, WF's fees are being test-marketed in five states. Test marketing indicates the strategy is optional. If it goes well, they'll roll out fees nationwide. If not, there are other options. WF is _choosing_ to offload fees onto all customers, disproportionate to account balances.
4. http://www.seiu.org/a/profilewells.php
Posted by diorist]]> Fri, 21 Oct 2011 12:51:05 -0700 The Stranger Posted by Richard Wells]]> Fri, 21 Oct 2011 12:09:41 -0700 The Stranger Some will rob you with a six-gun, and some with a fountain pen."
- Woody Guthrie "Pretty Boy Floyd" 1939
Posted by mdl1066]]> Fri, 21 Oct 2011 11:37:49 -0700 The Stranger -Woody Guthrie "Pretty Boy Floyd" 1939

Posted by mdl1066]]> Fri, 21 Oct 2011 11:23:03 -0700 The Stranger http://expresscu.org/
Posted by slackerina]]> Fri, 21 Oct 2011 10:14:27 -0700 The Stranger
As for switching from B of A to a credit union, that was so, like, 1997. Way to get on the bandwagon now. Of course, the readers that only had a piggy bank in 1995 have an excuse. :)
Posted by mydisplaynametoday]]> Thu, 20 Oct 2011 23:43:38 -0700 The Stranger
At $20 a pop for overdraft fees, this would average out to about 8 overdrafts a year over the 12 years. Maybe greedy out-of-state banks are only part of the problem here? I've met many otherwise intelligent people with no financial sense at all.
Posted by balance your checkbook]]> Thu, 20 Oct 2011 23:25:15 -0700 The Stranger
How do you think BECU is going to pay for the physical and personal infrastructure needed to handle 10k new accounts in 1 month? I'll give you exactly 1 guess.
Posted by Swearengen]]> Thu, 20 Oct 2011 16:13:09 -0700 The Stranger But Bank of America has been really good to me. It sounds like the writer who complained about B of A is actually saying that THOUSANDS were taken from their account, and they waited over 30 days to report it. What's wrong with you? Do you not check your balance? That's YOUR fault, honey. And then what happened? You went into the branch, got on the phone (aww, I'm so sorry you had to wait an hour) and the bank gave you your money back. I've had my debit card physically stolen, and when I reported it right away, I got not only the charges they made covered, but a few of my own. :) They've been great - $5 debit card fee, oh well.
The B of A customer is irresponsible. In fact, even the poor girl: irresponsible. Why would you spend the last $10 you have in your account? That's just stupid. Go to your parent's house and get some cereal.

Posted by SaraJean]]> Wed, 19 Oct 2011 11:22:15 -0700 The Stranger Posted by UNPAID COMMENTER]]> Tue, 18 Oct 2011 22:56:21 -0700 The Stranger
I haven't seen anyone make that point here yet, but it's a good one.
Posted by Rosss]]> Tue, 18 Oct 2011 16:54:35 -0700 The Stranger
"YOU CANT JUST SWITCH BANKS LIKE THAT! Do you know how many accounts and deposits and automatic things I have set up? Do you think this stuff just magically appears? How do you expect the money to get transferred from your fund now? None of that is set up with the credit union. There are payments pending! God Dammit I wish you would think about these things before you just DO them. Our accountant is-LISTEN TO ME! our accountant is pissed off, sherry. What is wrong with you?"

I laughed my goddamned ass off.
Posted by sonder]]> Tue, 18 Oct 2011 14:01:40 -0700 The Stranger
That said, money isn't THAT hard to deal with. If your account is so low all the time that you MIGHT be overdrafting without notice, try spending less money on things you can live without (skip the bar for a few week, bring your lunch) and save up a cushion so that won't happen. An extra $100 in the bank means those lunches out won't overdraft you. Stop spending more than you make, and everything will work out fine.

To the people complaining about credit reports: all money things are tied to you. That's how it should be. I don't want to have to pay higher interest rates because you default on a bunch of loans. Again, stop spending more than you make, and everything will work out fine.
Posted by thatjoeguy]]> Tue, 18 Oct 2011 09:56:57 -0700 The Stranger