Banking Same Fraternity

Banks tell us where to shop now, so that we can get ‘discounts’ for groceries or kitchen appliances. Is that legal? Banks cannot usurp the freedom to shop anywhere. Even in communist Russia, the government doesn’t tell Russians where to shop.

What can we do? Nothing. It’s almost impossible to change banks if you are mad at them. First of all, they punish you mercilessly with fines. Secondly, they are copycats. It’s a birds of the same feather scenario, because red banks are just as bad as those that trade under the blue colour.

Example. Discount on groceries. I don’t remember who came up with the idea first, blue or red banks. I only noticed when they both started running ads about accounts that give you a grocery discount. Not so fast. You can only get it in certain food chains. That’s the catch.

Banks are copycats, always trying to poach customers from each other. Maybe I’m wrong. It might be in the family, the banking fraternity, where they do lunch in oak paneled restaurant with red carpets. That is the nature of business and government. Information is divided into two: for public consumption and privileged consumption.

The grocery discount hook-up is a recruiting ploy, probably aimed at university students who left their countries to study in Canada. Whatever the target, remember how banks operate, all that glitters is not gold, which means all that looks like a grocery discount is actually bank fees.

By: Nonqaba waka Msimang.