Come Back Captain Mainwaring, All Is Forgiven...

[poliphilo]

We're in the process of moving our money from a bank that has turned evil to another that has been evil all along. This morning we were at a meeting with a member of staff at which all we had  to do was sign our names twice but which he managed to stretch to an hour and a quarter- mainly so he could try to sell us financial services we had no intention of buying...

Like I said, evil....

Comments

[wyrmwwd.livejournal.com]

Isn't that horrible? This is why, even though I trained as a financial planner, I quit immediately afterwards. I found out that this was going to be my lot in life, and I just couldn't do it.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

It's tiresome.

We're already giving them our money to "look after". That's all we want of them- and it should be enough.

[wyrmwwd.livejournal.com]

It isn't, and it never will be. That guy's job depends on "growth". He has to, consistently, bring in more money that he brought in the year before. It's a horrible system.

As a minister, I have to meet the financial demands of the congregation. If I can achieve some growth... woohoo! But, if I don't do that every single year, I won't get fired.

I HATE the financial industry. It is evil incarnate.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Trouble is, there's no alternative to dealing with these people. We used to be with a bank that claimed to be ethical- only then it got greedy- made spectacular losses and is now owned by a hedge fund.

[wyrmwwd.livejournal.com]

Yup. It is the same everywhere.

[davesmusictank.livejournal.com]

And we know who they are without naming names!

[sorenr.livejournal.com]

That's why I'm with a branch half-way across the country... My entire communication with my bank is by e-mail, including when I changed my mortgage. I've never seen my personal banker in person, and I rather like that.

They provide services, I use them. And yes, they make money on it, but at least that's all there is in it.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

There's no point, because as far as I can see there's no such thing as "ethical banking".

Banks are bad. We changed for two reasons- firstly because we were afraid our old bank was going down the plughole and secondly because it was convenient in several ways.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

We used to have that sort of relationship with out bank but then it shot itself in the foot and we began to worry whether our money was safe...

[sorenr.livejournal.com]

In Denmark personal deposits up to £75,000 are guaranteed by the mandatory mutual bank insurance scheme, and my deposits are nowhere near that... (And I'm with the largest Danish bank, so the Danish national economy can't afford to let that fail; it would be bailed out no matter what.)

And with online banking and mobile apps etc. I can't say when I last set foot in a bank. (It helps that my bank has one of the best online and mobile platforms in the world; SO user-friendly and simple that even my grandmother aged 91 checks her balance on her iPad app.)