I've been getting cheap banking for years from other people's stupidity. I liked it that way.Recently enacted federal banking regulations restrict previously profitable practices by banks such as big overdraft fees and jacking up credit card interest rates for customers who are late on a payment. And earlier this summer, efforts by the banking industry to block a cap on debit card swipe fees failed. The fees banks charge grocery stores, restaurants, big box stores and other businesses every time they swipe a customer’s debit card will drop from about 45 cents a swipe to 12 cent swipes. That change, set to go into effect on Oct. 1, adds up to a loss of revenue of billions of dollars for the nation’s banks.The banks’ loss is your loss. The banks need to make up that loss of revenue somewhere and many banks have plans to recover it up by hitting you with new fees: checking account maintenance fees, ATM fees, debit card use fees.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Stupid
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2 comments:
"Other people's stupidity"? Try exploitation of the poor's inability to manage their money. As has been documented extensively, the reason poor people go to check-cashing firms that gouge them is because at least it's all above the counter. Big banks have been taking advantage of the poor and their inability to read or understand the fine print for years. They are the ones who live paycheck to paycheck and get hit with the overdraft fees, late payment fees, etc.
It's not the stupid people you and I have been benefiting from, it's the poor. I hope those aren't the same thing to you...
Whether you are rich or poor, paying high interest on money you spend is a stupid move. The US treasury is way over it's head in borrowing. So are people who get hit with overdraft fees. I understand what it is to live close to the bone, paycheck to paycheck. It is tough. I went to grad school, worked overqualified, underpaid jobs. But I avoided balances on my credit cards and buying things I couldn't afford. You can't say the same for many homeowners who are now under water and many other people who were much "better off" financially than me.
I would bet that most people who aren't stupid with their money, spend less than they make, buy things like insurance, etc, and work at a living wage, don't end up being poor for long.
I would also be stupid people who overleverage themselves and spend more than they make don't end up being rich for long.
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