© 1996 Ethan A. Winning, All Rights Reserved
Social psychology tells us that all people look for "equilibrium" in their lives. This sense of balance used to be provided by being surrounded with the presumed permanence of institutions and relationships.
Thirty some years ago, I had a conversation with my dad which accented this fact. I had told him that my brother, who had moved to California three years prior, was well-established. "What makes you think that," he asked? "Well," I replied, "he found a barber, a mechanic, an insurance agent, and a bank."
These were the outward signs of stability. For more than forty years, my father had gone to the same barber, dealt with the same insurance agent, and used the same bank. In fact, for more than twenty years, he went to the same gas station. Sure, in a town like New Bedford, Massachusetts, choices were more limited than they are today. These were the roots we recognized before Kunta Kinte changed our definition of roots.
So, here we are in the 90s. Stability's shot. None of these relationships is stable. Marriages break up; friends move far away; we get screwed by our mechanics; insurance is a mess; barbers metamorphosed into "hair stylists" and charge $15.00 per hair. It is becoming more apparent that relationships are no more than short-term affiliations: having wrung us out, our institutions simply go on to their next victims.
As a supreme idealist I was hoping against hope that our once venerated institution, the bank, would be a last bastion of concern for the average citizen. After all, most were purposely built of granite, and what could be more solid than a granite bank?
For years, even when one had to deny a customer a loan, the bank was apologetic, if not downright sorry. "The Customer comes first!" reads a framed poster at one of our local financial institutions.
But, in the mid-80s some of the BIG banks came to a new philosophy. They existed for three reasons: to make money, to make more money, and to get blood from customers, often known as "turnips" in the industry.
Anyway, although my money and my wife's money is my wife's money, I have my own checking account. This arrangement worked well for the past twenty years: put $20 in, write a check for $20, and repeat the process. Then, the banks decided to start adding fees for services. First, there was a charge for each check written. That was changed to a fixed monthly charge for any number of checks written. Later, the charge went up, but you could save money if you didn't want your checks back. And, more recently, a charge was added just for banking with BIG bank.
It was no wonder then that I finally overdrew my account, not because of writing checks, but because of service fees. It was difficult to understand the process, so I called my bank.
Me: "I just got my statement, and I've been charged $10 for an overdraft. I had enough at the beginning of the month, and didn't write any checks."
Bank: "What is your Average Daily Balance?"
Me: "Where do I find that?"
Bank: "Upper right hand corner, center of the page, fourth line down, page two of your statement."
Me: "Ah, here it is. Average Daily Balance was $3.00."
Bank: "Well, there's your problem. If you had an ADB of $25,000, you wouldn't be charged for your checks. Since you can't seem to maintain a decent balance, you're charged $10.00 a month for the use of your account."
Me: "But I had $20.00 in the account, and it says here that I get a 'Check Storage Discount' of $2.50."
Bank: "Did you ask to see any of your checks during the month?"
Me: "Well, I did need one to prove I had paid off my Visa." Bank: "Then you lost your discount. So, you're down to $10.00 right away."
Me: "But I called the '24-Hour Complimentary Customer Hotline' and explained that your credit card company required the check."
Bank: "Oh, well that's another $5.00. That call is only complimentary for customers with a balance of $10,000 or more."
Me: "Wait a second! That should still leave me with $15.00. I deposited another $10.00 in the ATM just the other morning."
Bank: "Sorry sir, but using the ATM is $10.00 per transaction. Of course, we don't charge our customers who keep a respectable balance of $5,000 or more."
Me: "Okay, but then I should still have $5.00."
Bank: "Did you use your ATM card for any other purpose?"
Me: "Sure, I bought $2.00 worth of gas."
Bank: "That explains it: there's a $5.00 'Interlink' charge for using the card at a gas station."
Me: "But, at the bottom of my statement, it says, 'Use your ATM card at any one of the following...'"
Bank: "Yes, but we charge for using it. It didn't say you had to use it, it just says you could. Now, if your Average Daily Balance was $12,000..."
Me: "Never mind. I'm coming down to the bank to straighten this out."
Bank: "Okay, but if you want to talk to a Customer Service Representative, a $10.00 charge will be assessed..."
Me: "Hey, first you force me to use an ATM..."
Bank: "per minute."