Stricter rules governing how much banks can charge for overdraft and credit card swipe fees have eaten into the profits of big banks, but they have an answer: raise the bank fees their customers pay.
Banks blame increased regulations that limit fees and other charges for wiping out an estimated $12 billion in yearly income. Now it costs banks between $200 and $300 a year to maintain a retail checking account, but they only take in about $85 to $115 in fees per account per year.
In fact, more than half of all checking accounts are unprofitable for banks, according to a study released in 2010 by consulting group Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc. (NYSE: MMC).
Banks also have lost money on cash they're holding due to few investing or lending options, depriving them of as much as $8 billion in income.
Banks have had to become more creative in finding ways to compensate for their lost income. Free checking is increasingly more difficult to find, and a slew of other bank fees have been added.
"Banks are closely examining what costs they can eliminate and where they might be able to charge, and what the market will bear and not drive customers away," Beth Robertson, director of payments research for Javelin Strategy & Research in California told Consumer Reports.
Avoiding these myriad new bank fees is difficult, if not impossible, for most consumers.
Fees are "rising across the board," Richard Barrington of MoneyRates.com told Marketplace Economy. "And the least you'll need to keep in your account to get free checking has jumped, on average, by more than 800 bucks."
Barrington said that in addition to the growing bank fees, the average balance requirement has jumped to $4,400 -- far more than most people keep in their checking accounts.
high fees
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Rising Bank Fees Pinching Customers to Fatten Bottom Lines
This is the Ultimate Liar's Club
Here's a little bit of advice you can use to make money.
There's big money in lying.
I'll show you how it has worked for people like Beth Jacobson, who fell off the Wells Fargo "stagecoach from hell" after making millions pushing subprime mortgages there.
And for Jamie Dimon, who I'd love to see get kicked off the JPMorgan gravy train, where he's been lying for years, while making himself hundreds of millions, to ING Bank, who lied about doing business with Iran and Cuba to make millions in fees.
Here's the thing.
When you know how the Matrix works, you can make money on the lies building up, and then make money on them being exposed for what they are.
First, let's get back to our liars, because there's a lot of humor in seeing them get caught in their lies...
One Woman's Liar Loans
So, I'm reading this piece yesterday in the Washington Post about Beth Jacobson.
As I said, she used to work for Wells Fargo, peddling a lot of subprime mortgages, and now she's calling them out on their "stagecoach from Hell" practices, ripping people off and everything.
And I'm flat-out laughing so hard that I actually start choking. I'm choking on the crap this woman is spewing, and on this garbage article that is so inane that it's embarrassing as a piece of journalism, or whatever it's supposed to be.
It makes me realize that, while I may be an annoying, in-your-face, no-holds-barred hammer at times, at least I take a stance for the truth.
There's big money in lying.
I'll show you how it has worked for people like Beth Jacobson, who fell off the Wells Fargo "stagecoach from hell" after making millions pushing subprime mortgages there.
And for Jamie Dimon, who I'd love to see get kicked off the JPMorgan gravy train, where he's been lying for years, while making himself hundreds of millions, to ING Bank, who lied about doing business with Iran and Cuba to make millions in fees.
Here's the thing.
When you know how the Matrix works, you can make money on the lies building up, and then make money on them being exposed for what they are.
First, let's get back to our liars, because there's a lot of humor in seeing them get caught in their lies...
One Woman's Liar Loans
So, I'm reading this piece yesterday in the Washington Post about Beth Jacobson.
As I said, she used to work for Wells Fargo, peddling a lot of subprime mortgages, and now she's calling them out on their "stagecoach from Hell" practices, ripping people off and everything.
And I'm flat-out laughing so hard that I actually start choking. I'm choking on the crap this woman is spewing, and on this garbage article that is so inane that it's embarrassing as a piece of journalism, or whatever it's supposed to be.
It makes me realize that, while I may be an annoying, in-your-face, no-holds-barred hammer at times, at least I take a stance for the truth.
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