Exploitation of the poor and desperate is the focus of a recent PBS documentary. I suspect that the only way they can get away with these documentaries is the fact that the number of viewers is low. I have personally seen the result of banking’s “credit card trap”. It ruins peoples’ lives, it breaks up marriages, and it damages the innocence of young children who are victims of these households. Do the banks care if they are the instruments of destruction? Apparently not. This is just another aspect of the coming Divine judgment of America.
I was in banking in the 1970’s and learned every aspect of banking as a result of conducting “systems and standards” studies. I would go into a department and work each job, observe each job, technology, and flow to determine what improvements were necessary to increase efficiency and effectiveness. I was on the team that installed the first debit card machine in Oklahoma around 1976. It was a Model NCR 770. During our testing, I was able to “hack” the code and empty the contents. As a good employee, I notified NCR and the programmers changed the software to close the backdoor. Once I saw how the process worked, I knew that I would never use a debit card. It would require substantial discipline and bookkeeping skills to keep your bank account in balance. Additionally, it exposes your cash to outsiders who would attempt to extract it by unsavory methods. Hence, to this very day I write checks, use credit cards, or pay with cash. If you cannot pay off your credit card, don’t use it for daily purchases. I use the bank’s money for up to 30 days, as a convenience. The system is making it more difficult for you to write a check. Why? It is inconvenient to them to process the paper versus processing an electronic signal. Online banking is not safe either. You are only as good as the weakest link in the electronic flow of your information. The best hackers will install a “keyboard ghosting” program on your PC and simply log the sites and your user-id and password. Then at some point, have it sent to an address, encrypted of course. I am somewhat surprised that this method has not become commonplace. Do you think the smart hackers are the ones who attempt to erase your disk drive? No, those are the immature but bright hackers who want their ego stroked. The banks are still required to “verify” your signature on a check before accepting it. However do to the volume, that verification rarely occurs. It is still your safeguard against someone else having unauthorized access to your money. In the 1970’s, bankers were hoping to be “paperless” in 20 years thereby eliminating this “inconvenience”.
If banks are concerned about making money, why have they increased the number of branches so that we are never more than 1 mile from a branch of some bank? Greed! Their exorbitant fees have allowed them to grow their geography resulting in greater market share and fatter bottom lines . When I was growing up in a suburb of about 40,000 people, we had about five banks in the suburb. It seemed to work out well then.
Check cashing companies and pawn shops are designed to exploit the desperate. Lawmakers look the other way when the conversation focuses on the sky high effective rates that lenders charge. It amazes me that the interviewees could keep a straight face when they talk about the prevailing attitude of banks to find loopholes in regulations that would allow them to charge unlimited interest rates. The Congressmen in the interview would lead us to believe that the banking industry is the one in charge, I suspect they are right.
“WOE to those who decree unrighteous decrees,
Who write misfortune,
Which they have prescribed
To rob the needy of justice,
And to take what is right from the poor of My people,
That widows may be their prey,
And that they may rob the fatherless.
What will you do in the day of punishment,
And in the desolation which will come from afar?
To whom will you flee for help?
And where will you leave your glory?
See: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/creditcards/view/