Thursday - February 15, 2007

Banking Games

Republicans in Congress finally decided to go after Bank Of America for their new Illegal Alien Credit Card™ program ("Don’t leave su casa without it!") and guess who’s leading the charge? If you guessed Tom Tancredo (who pisses off Muslim Congressmen by smoking cigars in his office), then your’re right. All in favor of Tancredo for President in 2008, raise your hand!

For the record, I know why BOA is doing this ... greed, pure and simple. You see, I once had an account with the bastards and I closed it for various reasons: (1) they told me there would be no monthly checking fee - then, after I took a contract with a company that didn’t do direct deposit I found out about BOA’s fine print which says there is no monthly fee AS LONG AS YOUR PAY IS DEPOSITED ELECTRONICALLY, otherwise its’ $14 per month; (2) they offered me a Visa credit card that could be tied to my checking account to cover overdrafts - at 23.9% interest AND a $30 charge any time an overdraft was covered by the card; (3) any check that you deposit that is not from your local Bank Of America is automatically held for FIVE DAYS before your account is credited with it - I deposited a paycheck drawn on Bank Of America in Virginia, where my employer’s corporate offices were, into my Bank Of America account in St. Louis and even though it was another BOA branch they STILL held up crediting my account for nearly a week - DURING WHICH TIME THEY WERE DRAWING INTEREST ON THE MONEY. I finally told them to shove it, closed all my accounts and will never do business with them again. Period.

You see, in days gone by banks used to make a profit based on the difference between the interest they charged on loans and the interest they paid on savings. If they made a million in interest on loans and mortgages and paid out half a million in interest on savings accounts and CD’s then they made half a million profit. That wasn’t good enough - starting about 20 years ago they started raising monthly fees and overdraft charges, increased finance charges on credit cards, hidden charges here, there and everywhere as well as earning interest on delayed deposits. They have reached into every loophole on the books to increase profits, which all goes to the fat cats in charge at the top. Banks have always paid their help (tellers, bookkeepers, etc.) the lowest wages they could get away with - that hasn’t changed. Where does all this increased profit go? I’d like someone in Congress to look into that.

As for the Illegal Alien Credit Card program, you can bet there will be a $500 limit, which will probably have to be secured by a $500 deposit in a savings account which will pay 1.9% interest and the Mess-cans will be charged 28.9% interest plus various unspecified finance charges each month. In addition, BOA will move the statement date around and mail out statements only a few days before the due date to confuse the credit card user and cause late fees and other charges.

I know all their tricks. I’ve seen them used - on me and others. Bank Of America isn’t doing the illegal aliens any favors - which they will soon find out. My guess is BOA has to find a new market because most American citizens are on to their trickery and won’t do business with them. That means dropping profits - so it’s time to go scalp a few Mexicans. If Congress really wants to do something right (for a change) they need to kick out the lobbyists from the banking industry and open hearings into bank fraud in this country. Drag a few CEO’s in from Bank Of America, CitiBank, Bank One and a few others and rake them across the coals. If they did that, I might begin to think our Congresscritters are actually on our side - for a change.

GOP Lawmakers Peeved at New Bank of America Credit Card Program
_{WASHINGTON (FOX NEWS) - Thursday, February 15, 2007}

Lawmakers are lashing out at Bank of America Corp. over its new program to offer credit cards to customers without Social Security numbers, saying it creates a dangerous loophole for terrorists and illegal immigrants.

Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., called for a federal investigation of the program on Wednesday, sending Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff a letter requesting a review of the program.

“After September 11, we were told that money was the lifeblood of terrorists, and that we should do everything possible to block their access to financial resources,” Tancredo said in a statement. “Today we are hearing a far different message: Bank of America, it’s everywhere terrorists want to be.”

The program welcomes applicants without a Social Security number and credit history if they have held a checking account with the bank for three months without an overdraft, The Wall Street Journal first reported in Tuesday editions.

Another Republican lawmaker criticized the program, saying it should be stopped to avoid security risks with illegal immigrant members of the program. “If an individual wants to get a credit card, they can get that in their home country,” Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., told FOX News.

“This is something that is of deep concern to me, that Bank of America would choose to market to those that have chosen to break U.S. law to enter this country and then they would give credit to them,” Blackburn said.

Bank of America stands by its program, saying that it complies with all U.S. banking and anti-terrorism laws. Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., said a loophole in a Treasury regulation allows Bank of America to act within the law. The program was tested last year at five Bank of America branches in Los Angeles. It was expanded to 51 branches in Los Angeles County last week.

- More ...

Posted by The Skipper     on 02/15/2007 at 01:47 PM   
Filed Under: • Greed • Illegal-Aliens •  
• Comments (6) • Trackbacks (0) • Permalink •  

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