Banks bar customers for small mistakes

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Maybe we need a discussion forum specifically for life skills here at WP. This is something people should be aware of, and I think also social justice issue. I would file this under the category, banks are not fair, do not want to work with you, please be careful.

Two sides to this.

1. The mean old, money-grubbing banks trying to keep good people down and maintain a wage-slave economy so that the bankers never have to get their hands dirty with manual labor.

2. The dirty, irresponsible wage-earners that can't count past 10 with their shoes on, and who are probably going to end up robbing the banks for drug and fast food money, anyway.

(Yeah, I'm an equal-opportunity bigot.)

Solution: Credit unions are more forgiving (in my experience), and seem more willing to take risks with people who've made a few accounting errors. They're run by people who usually volunteer their time, live in the local neighborhood, and who actually seem to care that their customers are happy with the services. The people who patronize such places are local wage-earners who really try to be responsible, and who seem to carefully handle their money. I have never been disappointed with my credit unions, or with any of the other people who use them.

(By the way ... I didn't mean any of those insulting words about wage-earners ... the bankers, yes ... the wage-earners, definitely not!)

I got news for you! The credit unions in my area are just as fee happy as the banks! It's to the point now you get hit with a hefty fee just to call your bank on the phone to check your balance.

Really? What city?

Any city, as far as I'm concerned. The big banks around here (RBS/Citizen's, M&T, Wells Fargo, Sovereign/Santander, PNC, Metrobank, Fulton, Susquehanna Bank, People's Bank of Glen Rock, Northwest Bank, and York Traditions all have similar fee structures and policies. The credit unions (First Captial, Heritage Valley and White Rose) are just as bad.

That explains it, then.

I'm in the Los Angeles / Anaheim area.

Banks and Credit Unions are competitors, and while the banks offer more services, they also charge more fees - checking fees, teller fees, consulting fees, parking fees ... and even a fee for closing all of your accounts!

The Credit Unions offer fewer services, but they also charge fewer (and lower) fees - such as free checking, free teller service, free financial consulting, and so forth.

My wife and I had switched from Bank Of America to Numerica Credit Union a while back, and couldn't be happier.

-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer

I have accounts with both a bank and a credit union. And I have to say that the credit union gets a whole lot more of my respect. I don't know how it is with american credit unions but we get a far better deal from ours. We don't get bank charges with the credit union, and the loan rates are so low that it really is a no brainer compared to the banks.

Our Credit union branch was robbed by armed raiders the other day, and I was so angry, and so upset for the staff. Probably because unlike the faceless and corrupt banks, the credit unions are there to help ordinary people with managing their money.

In the old days people could open a bank account with the post office. Many countries still provide that service.

I used to have a business account with a small bank in the UK when I lived there... until Santander took it over. Then they sent everyone a letter saying they were going to improve the services of the bank... by charging fees for cheques and monthly fees for keeping an account with them etc. So I closed my account with them and went elsewhere.

In Canada, they just charge an overdraft fee. If you have a SIN (social insurance number) , which is the same as a social security number in the US, and another form of ID proving you are a legal resident, you can open a bank account.

Canadian banks are all regulated by the government.