Do banks only provide for the wealthy?

[Bruce Wayne]

UK banks stand accused of making money from well-off Britons, while ignoring their responsibilities to the most vulnerable members of society.

Do you think banks are increasingly cherry picking the wealthiest members of society and obstructing the poorest from basic financial services?

[PrincessPerky]

What basic service? around here you can get a no fee no frill account for a buck in it, I think you can spend more on buying paper checks than you open the checking account with!

[Fern]

No, i think banks want to take everyone's money! And anyone with real wealth is not going to stick much of it in a bank account.

[Snoopy2645]

I agree I think they all just want your money!!

[Firefly]

I doubt it. You can open most accounts with $5 minimum in them.

[baselle]

Originally Posted by Bruce Wayne

UK banks stand accused of making money from well-off Britons, while ignoring their responsibilities to the most vulnerable members of society.

Do you think banks are increasingly cherry picking the wealthiest members of society and obstructing the poorest from basic financial services?

I think a number of brick and mortar banks are cherry picking the wealthiest, but not for basic services. The best CD interest rates that a brick and mortar bank can give you are based on the size of your deposit. A number of investment vehicles (hedge funds, stock equities) can only be gotten into if you have a certain amount.

I also think banks have discovered that the poor and disorganized are a virtual gold mine in fees - bounced check fees, ATM fees, loan fees. The fees make it all worth the risk.

[MrsChambers]

oh hell yeah they don't wanna do business with poor people...

ever heard of microcredit?

go over to the PBS website and checkout thier little documentary that they did on microcredit...

very interesting indeed....

[PRICEPLUS]

The banks will do business that is profitable, period! Service and product varies from bank to bank. A small local or regional bank might be more apt to pursue smaller accounts than larger ones. Service is better, IMHO, at smaller banks.

well said Priceplus


it's a business, you aren't "entitled" and they aren't "obligated" to deal with anyone they don't want to.

if I own a bank and everything I see tells me there is a high probability I'm not going to get back the money I give you, you ain't gettin' it! either that or you are going to pay for my risk.

now how about some venom for the leeches that intentionally pray off the "poor", these pay day loan operations? everytime I see one of those places it makes me sick.

[CRFSaver]

Where do you think the pay day loan companies get their money to lend out? I will give you three guesses...

and I bet the banks get paid back too


doesn't make the payday loan companies any less scum or the banks anymore obligated to lend money to people with questionable means of paying it back


not seeing your point

[CRFSaver]

Originally Posted by rexdart

now how about some venom for the leeches that intentionally pray off the "poor", these pay day loan operations? everytime I see one of those places it makes me sick.

These companies would not exist if they werent able to get funding from actual banks. The banks are just as much to blame for their being pay day lenders as the pay day lenders themselfs. Their hands are just not as dirty...

the whole point of this sub-argument with which I so inconsiderately hijacked this thread (sorry about that) is banks aren't obligated to operate from a "moral" standpoint (i.e. make risky loans to people with questionable means of paying it back just because someone feels they "should").

do many of them exercise morality in their practice? I'm sure they do but there's nothing forcing them and nothing should. ethics yes, morality no.

payday loan companies are legal businesses (until our state governments start doing something about them) so banks are perfectly welcome to lend them money if they determine the risk/reward to be acceptable.

do I wish the banking industry would run them out by "cutting" them off? sure! but it's not going to happen. an organized attempt to cut off payday loan companies would end up in court so fast the banks wouldn't know what hit them.

I was objecting to people coming down on the banks because they don't lend to certain people. if the bank doesn't want to loan you money, they don't have to (provided obvious protections such as race and religion are honored of course), brokeness ain't a color and doesn't have a god....it's not a word either but that never stopped me before.

payday loan companies are intentionally praying on the financially vulnerable with their little schemes to hook people who have not adequately been taught money skills by our society (not the bank's job.)

yes you may think that by loaning them money the banks are complicit, but quite frankly, I'd just assume the banks stick to numbers and the law and let society work out the morality part - if the payday loan companies are bad, which I think they are, our lawmakers should get rid of them under the aegis of protecting the citizens they represent.

or they should just have pie and forget about it.