Dissipate
Diamond Member
- Jan 17, 2004
- 6,815
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Economics aside, the bottom line is this: as a customer(depositor) of a bank, I have no vested interest whatsoever in that bank loaning out my money. What do I get? 'Free' checking? 'Free' checking is certainly not free because the dollars in my 'free' checking depreciate significantly over time.
But that's not all. Banks are also spies for the government with their "know your customer" policies. I go to a bank and withdraw over $10,000 in cash, the IRS is immediately notified. What kind of a f*ked up business intentionally spies on its customers for anyone, let alone the government?
Banks are essentially quasi private government bureaucracies. They are extremely slow, archaic and inimical to basic financial freedom. For instance, I have a credit card at my bank Washington Mutual that I use on a regular basis. I also have a checking account with Wamu. When I pay my credit card balance off using a transfer from my checking account it can take 3 to 4 days to process the payment and deduct the money from my checking account. Wamu can't even process transactions within it's own fing accounts within a reasonable amount of time!
If I transfer funds to my Sharebuilder.com brokerage account from my Wamu checking account, the funds are in the account the next day.
From a fundamental standpoint of service and efficiency banks get an F MINUS. They spy on you and they are bureaucratic and DOG slow from the top to the bottom.
I ask another question: what fundamental technical reason is there from consumer standpoint to use a traditional bank, when we have the Internet and the capability to transfer funds as fast as an email? Tradition? That's a non-reason. I can use the Internet to transfer funds instantaneously without a spying, lying, sleazy @ss bank.
In fact, right now most of my money is kept in my Sharebuilder brokerage account where I can keep it invested in gold & bond ETFs that earn income & interest. I can sell these ETFs immediately and transfer the funds to my checking account within a couple of days. I keep $1,500 max in my checking account. Right now my checking account is just a middleman, slowing down my financial life significantly.
VOIP and cell phones are replacing traditional phones
email has replaced traditional hand written letters
Online investment and payment services will replace banks
But that's not all. Banks are also spies for the government with their "know your customer" policies. I go to a bank and withdraw over $10,000 in cash, the IRS is immediately notified. What kind of a f*ked up business intentionally spies on its customers for anyone, let alone the government?
Banks are essentially quasi private government bureaucracies. They are extremely slow, archaic and inimical to basic financial freedom. For instance, I have a credit card at my bank Washington Mutual that I use on a regular basis. I also have a checking account with Wamu. When I pay my credit card balance off using a transfer from my checking account it can take 3 to 4 days to process the payment and deduct the money from my checking account. Wamu can't even process transactions within it's own fing accounts within a reasonable amount of time!
If I transfer funds to my Sharebuilder.com brokerage account from my Wamu checking account, the funds are in the account the next day.
From a fundamental standpoint of service and efficiency banks get an F MINUS. They spy on you and they are bureaucratic and DOG slow from the top to the bottom.
I ask another question: what fundamental technical reason is there from consumer standpoint to use a traditional bank, when we have the Internet and the capability to transfer funds as fast as an email? Tradition? That's a non-reason. I can use the Internet to transfer funds instantaneously without a spying, lying, sleazy @ss bank.
In fact, right now most of my money is kept in my Sharebuilder brokerage account where I can keep it invested in gold & bond ETFs that earn income & interest. I can sell these ETFs immediately and transfer the funds to my checking account within a couple of days. I keep $1,500 max in my checking account. Right now my checking account is just a middleman, slowing down my financial life significantly.
VOIP and cell phones are replacing traditional phones
email has replaced traditional hand written letters
Online investment and payment services will replace banks