Frontline on PBS... « Columbus Underground Messageboard

Columbus Underground Messageboard » General Columbus Discussion » Everyday Chit Chat

Frontline on PBS...

[20 posts] [12 contributors]

Topic Rating:

(Total Ratings: )
Rate this topic:

Started 2 years ago by Bristol Bar
Latest reply from Bristol Bar

Tags:

No tags yet. Add them below.

Bristol Bar

Login to Send PM

Not sure if anyone watches this, but I do regularly and just finished one called "The Card Game". It discusses how banks and credit card companies have been without new regulation for so many years (25+) that taking away fee's on checking accounts and/or high interest rates on credit card accounts are like removing a drug addict from its crack.

I believe this is going to cause a slow shift to a cash (not debit card) but a real cash currency transaction society. Maybe not such a bad thing, but it will rock the foundation of the financial sector.

What are your thoughts?

Posted 2 years ago #
agtw31
columbus
Login to Send PM

i have heard this,also.

banks are considerring ending free checking and ATM withdrawals as well.

not a very smart move

Posted 2 years ago #
howatzer

Login to Send PM

I think people need stop treating their credit cards as bottomless ATM machines and only buy what they can afford. I'm all for better standards of up-front disclosure for fees and rates, but beyond that, we need to have some expectation for personal responsibility. But I guess this idea is dead in our debt-tolerant culture.

BTW- I don't think I've ever had a basic checking account with a fee, that is unless you get bells and whistles like overdraft protection and keep some minimum balance. These are services, so why should they be provided for free?

Posted 2 years ago #
agtw31
columbus
Login to Send PM

howatzer wrote >>
These are services, so why should they be provided for free?

ask the banks,they are the ones that offer it.

Posted 2 years ago #
Bristol Bar

Login to Send PM

I totally agree with you in regards to responsible credit card use; what I found to be interesting was when the interviewer was speaking to the head of the lobbyist group in DC. He (the interviewer) asked why banks have programs that take the largest transaction pending first out of someone account and the subsequent ones after. For example, you have on your debit card/auto withdrawal, $2 coffee, $10 pizza, $1000 mortgage, $100 insurance and $5 lunch all pending that day and only $1100 in you checking account. By going from largest to smallest transaction, you would have 3 overdraft fees; the opposite way, only 1 overdraft fee.

He pushed him as to why and his only response was "Upon listening to customers...." Now, we all know this is to raise profit from fees and some ranging from $30-$40 per transaction, you my friend just got a $42 cup of coffee. What would the APR be on that?

Now, I'm not saying that people shouldn't be responsible and know their own account balance, but why not just decline the charge? The lobbyist' only excuse was it would cause embarrassment.

That being said, people are starting to carry more cash and banks/credit card processors will lose in the end. As a business, we pay an incredible amount every month just so someone can put it on their debit card. And who knows, maybe double dipping on the customers account too.

More oversight needed for sure.

Posted 2 years ago #
agtw31
columbus
Login to Send PM

Bristol Bar wrote >> As a business, we pay an incredible amount every month just so someone can put it on their debit card. /blockquote>

is that the reason why you sell $.25 worth of bottom shelf vodka and tomato juice for $5?

Posted 2 years ago #
groundrules

Login to Send PM

howatzer wrote >>
These are services, so why should they be provided for free?

They're services much like stocking grocery store shelves is a service. They're both about giving the consumer easy access to a product- in this case money. If the product is not easy to get at, customers go elsewhere. A bank's primary source of income hasn't traditionally been nickle and dime-ing small checking transactions.

Posted 2 years ago #
pedex

Login to Send PM

so blow them off and use cash, we are in a depression afterall, the last thing anyone should be doing is helping a bank by paying it to do anything besides cash checks and you can do that for free

the big banks and regional banks, I'd get your money out of them and use a community bank or credit union minimally

the bigger banks borrow at 0%, why pay them?

banking is a parasitic business, do not encourage it especially considering how much influence and corruption there is in govt---see the ongoing Paulson-Geitner saga just to name one

Posted 2 years ago #
Mercurius
First Avenue
Login to Send PM

http://www.columbusunderground.com/forums/topic/house-sucks-watch-frontline

Posted 2 years ago #
Lakee911
Clintonville (South)
Login to Send PM

I saw this on PBS the other night. Good show. I think that credit card rates are going to kill our economy.

Regarding the thing about the order in which they come out, I see where they're coming from. Personally, I would rather bounce something for pizza and a movie and coffee (three times) than my mortgage payment. Having worked in a bank myself, I know that this is to increase the fee, but it can benefit someone sometimes. For me though, I just try to keep a handle on my finances and be responsible with credit. (I know that some can't and some won't).

I will say, in this age of electronic this and electronic that and no need to wait in line at the bank, I tell people to go to the bank anyways. Establish a repetoire with the teller and/or manager. When you need something, if they know you, they will be there for you. People don't listen though....

Posted 2 years ago #
catnfiddle
Giant Corncob District
Login to Send PM

Citibank jacked my rate up to 30%. SO GLAD I'm paying it off and closing it. Best birthday present ever. Thanks, Mom and Dad!

Posted 2 years ago #
Lakee911
Clintonville (South)
Login to Send PM

agtw31 wrote >>

Bristol Bar wrote >> As a business, we pay an incredible amount every month just so someone can put it on their debit card. /blockquote>
is that the reason why you sell $.25 worth of bottom shelf vodka and tomato juice for $5?

Hahahahaha! $5? Must be on sale! :)

Posted 2 years ago #
agtw31
columbus
Login to Send PM

the manager at my branch helped me a few times,but i know he's not there for me.

a girl from business services called me for 3 months non stop trying to get me to set up a merchant account.

sorry,paypal is fine with me.

Posted 2 years ago #
sugarplumclarey

Login to Send PM

We stopped using credit cards a few years back and it is the most liberating feeling in the world. It keeps our expenses down overall, and we realized that we didn't need about 75% of what we had been buying. Now if we really want something, we have to save for it. By the time we have the money, we've usually realized that we didn't need it in the first place :)

Posted 2 years ago #
SJT

Login to Send PM

sugarplumclarey wrote >>
We stopped using credit cards a few years back and it is the most liberating feeling in the world. It keeps our expenses down overall, and we realized that we didn't need about 75% of what we had been buying. Now if we really want something, we have to save for it. By the time we have the money, we've usually realized that we didn't need it in the first place :)

Kudos! I love this line of thinking& way of life. The stuff we own/buy weighs our lives down more than we realize. Before you know it, most people are burried by the things they thought they could not live without. I never want to live that way either. Nor do I ever want to owe a bank a dime again.

Posted 2 years ago #
howatzer

Login to Send PM

You know, you CAN use your credit card and pay off the balance every month .... I do this and benefit from the airline miles and/or cash, back incentives, fraud protection, extended warranties, travel services, etc.....

I also am quite happy with my mortgage, my checking account, my 401k, my investment services, the financing for all the businesses I love in Columbus, the fact that if I lost my wallet/got mugged anywhere in the world I could cancel my cards and get new ones sent to me within hours, etc... viva la banks!

But that's just me.

Posted 2 years ago #
SJT

Login to Send PM

Paying a credit card off every month is one thing. I do that too sometimes. I am talking about what has become the American way of life which is living in debt& beyond your means. Love the banks all you want, but trust me they don't give a shit about you.

Posted 2 years ago #
dru
IV
Login to Send PM

howatzer wrote >>
You know, you CAN use your credit card and pay off the balance every month .... I do this and benefit from the airline miles and/or cash, back incentives, fraud protection, extended warranties, travel services, etc.....
I also am quite happy with my mortgage, my checking account, my 401k, my investment services, the financing for all the businesses I love in Columbus, the fact that if I lost my wallet/got mugged anywhere in the world I could cancel my cards and get new ones sent to me within hours, etc... viva la banks!
But that's just me.

i also like that other people's inability to pay off their credit appropriately allows me to finance large purchases interest free across multiple months. i don't encourage people to go this route if they do not currently have the full payment saved away. but if the money for the purchase is there up front, why not spread the pain of a large purchase out over a few months.

and i'll also add that 5-years ago our wedding caterer/venue went under overnight with all of our deposits. ours were on credit and already paid off, but in one call the card company posted a full credit to our account and went after the party in bankruptcy. i don't know what the final resolution was for those who paid in cash and check, but i know months later they still had not seen a dime.

all of this is not to promote living in debt or above ones means or to go hug a banker. currently we only have the mortgage and will probably add a car in the near future. but credit used wisely does have its place and its advantages.

Posted 2 years ago #
coolbuckeye
South Clintonville
Login to Send PM

I've started an account at a local credit union that gives me a way better interest rate than my big bank. I have a portion of my direct deposit go to the local credit union and the rest to the bank. This allows me to unconsciously save a bunch of money and budget with the rest. I donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t even feel it.

Posted 2 years ago #
Bristol Bar

Login to Send PM

@Sugar - We do the same; identify what you want to do, save for it, and cut a check. Done and done; few other things can be as liberating.

I totally agree with going to the branch and forming a relationship with the teller and/or branch manager. I've been out of town sometimes and that relationship can be invaluable when trying to get something accomplished rather than calling the 800 number to BFE.

I've often thought about talking to a credit union and moving things over there. Anyone had any luck? Cheaper? Better service?

The problem with this is that moving bank accounts is probably the item most people would least like to do. With us, everything is tied together; Merchant Accounts, Business Accounts, Direct Deposit. It would really have to be worth it; mostly on the relationship side for me.

Posted 2 years ago #