Just another wonderful service provided by your local bank — motto: ‘We care.’

I wrote an Inspection a while back specifically about fees; especially one. When they charge to use an ATM and it’s not your bank, I understand, as long as the fee isn’t absurd. That ATM has to be maintained. But I travel the east coast, touring… I get checks from customers all over the place. These customers pay to have their checking accounts: one way or another, and to be able to use those checks to pay vendors like me. So if they charge me to cash their checks at their own branches they are ripping me and their customers off. It’s called double dipping.

I have a letter from the CEO of National City to use at his banks asking the tellers to cash those checks. When I wrote a scathing letter about the first time I ran into this practice he wrote back, “We’re doing this to encourage local customers to bank with us.” Oh, yeah, I can see how well that would work: I ask any bank first whether they do this now and tell them “no,” if they do.

This is one of many fees that are basically forms of rip offs and provide cover for cons like “free checking.” No one really offers “free checking.” It is paid for somehow.

I think credit ratings are downgraded intentionally. They make more money that way.

So much for the wonders of deregulation.

The thing is money flows. And now that computers have entered the picture the data of the money flow can be controlled. So if I deposit money it may take just a tad longer to regidter the deposit than my withdrawal. Sounds reasonable. Unless every month you wind up having problems because of a bank charge that sets you out of balance by a couple of bucks. Which if you get paid every two weeks could wind up costing you about a hundred, in late fees and penalties. These ridiculous balances can rack up so fast you can’t make enough money to pay them off and survive. It’s crazy. They won’t let you close an account so you don’t rack up fees and when you tell them you don’t want them to pay out any money you don’t have they won’t listen.

Why?

Because they make so much money with all of these late fees and charges and they have so much power to screw with you that unless you decide not to use them you will probably wind up paying an I need to use some of my money to pay my bills toll.

I stopped. I started figuring out what I owed for bills, purchased money orders and figured out how much money I could spend a week and then lived within my means. And surprise, no more problems. No more stress or headaches or begging and pleading for a banker to back off some of the fees because it took me ten days to get a notice in the mail that I was overdrawn on my debit card.

It’s so ridiculous. These policies ruin people’s credit ratings, frustrate people who are just trying to make a living and pay their bills and disheartens everyone who is stupid enough to think the banking system is their to take care of their money until they need it. No. It ain’t necessarily so.