Banks Richer Than OPEC

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Banks are shopkeepers. They sell things. That is why they should tell us upfront how much. They are always peddling one product or the other and the sales pitch is the same: they want to help YOU the customer.

Don’t let ads fool you. They want to help themselves. The competition is so fierce, they poach customers from each other. You’ve seen ads that entice you to leave the blue bank for the red bank. What do they call it? Consolidation. Don’t try it. The blue bank will be so mad, you’ll leave many dollars short, punishment charges if you ask me.

Banks are shopkeepers. They must keep their shops open at all costs. Delete that. The must keep making a profit. That is why they constantly waylay us with new ‘products.’ There’s no place to hide because they have our emails.


COVID-19 is one example. Credit cards are mainly for travel, buy tickets, catch cabs to the airport, rent cars and pay for things in foreign currency. Banks also have travel insurance built in. The pandemic brought pandemonium. Flights canceled. Trips interrupted. Credit card holders activated travel insurance benefits, not 20 but thousands of travelers.

What was supposed to be a goldmine for banks, turned into a liability, so what did shopkeepers do? They have canceled travel insurance.

That is why banks should answer the question how much, before they sell anything. It should not be in fine print at the end of three paragraphs extolling virtues of the ‘product.’

By: Nonqaba waka Msimang.

 

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