Banks Aggressively Courting Poor Customers With High-Fee Products

The New York Times:

When David Wegner went looking for a checking account in January, he was peppered with offers for low-end financial products, including a prepaid debit card with numerous fees, a short-term emergency loan with steep charges, money wire services and check-cashing options.

Read the whole story at The New York Times

Comments

[mikefly562]

04:53 AM on 04/27/2012

Reading about this makes me like America less and less everyday. Definitely not proud to be an America, but instead I'm rather ashamed.

[J0E1]

02:59 PM on 04/26/2012

I'm glad we bailed them out.  Thanks Bush/Obama!

[mikehart]

02:39 PM on 04/26/2012

what was that about those poor old bankers have learned their lesson.........

yeah right

[invmartyc]

02:33 PM on 04/26/2012

Wells Fargo is a preditory lender and knew they were leading people to their financial ruin! Never ever deal with Wells Fargo!

[teatwerp]

02:28 PM on 04/26/2012

i happily ended my relationship with wells fargo.

[mediamarv]

02:02 PM on 04/26/2012

There used to be a company named Providian, based in SF and Pleasanton, Ca, which did exactly the same lending and made millions but then faced financial irregularities charges and lost it all... not sure if they are still in business or not.

[aalew06]

01:51 PM on 04/26/2012

They are "Options and Offers" in which anyone can turn down but if you need need it then you have to do it so what!

[kim moxie]

01:38 PM on 04/26/2012

Nope. Ain't buying sympathy or " that's just the way it is". Not until EDU 101 across every high school campus in the country includes a class on how to navigate greed without getting burned by it.

[J0E1]

03:01 PM on 04/26/2012

A mandatory basic one semester finance class that incorporated this among other things would do more good for this country than everything else they teach in high school combined.

[kim moxie]

08:21 AM on 04/27/2012

Couldn't agree more..

[mokando]

01:25 PM on 04/26/2012

This article is brought to you buy Russell Simmons(Occupy Backer) and Rush Card, who use the predatory credit pactices as well.

[MrStat1]

12:34 PM on 04/26/2012

Have the banks done something unlawful here? It's called good marketing. You learn that in marketing class from day 1.

[J0E1]

03:03 PM on 04/26/2012

They didn't do anything unlawful when they offered sub-prime mortgages to the same types of people either yet it was one of the biggest contributors to the recession.  Then we said "Fine, here is 1 trillion dollars.  Bail yourselves out and hopefully you learned your lesson."  This is them not learning their lesson.

"Taking advantage of people who can't pay by offering loans they can't afford at high interest rates" is only "good marketing" in a perfect world where those people continue to pay the minimum, including interest, every single month.  It completely falls apart when people start defaulting on loans and filing for bankruptcy.

[gmb007]

06:29 PM on 04/26/2012

Please. At one time, slavery, wife beating, animal abuse and child labor were all "lawful".

[haljett]

11:40 AM on 04/26/2012

Which is to say that nothing has changed in our economies. Banks are turning once again to predatory lending and banking. Our politicians, both sides of the aisles, have failed us. Pretty much because they are in on the fleecing of the sheeple.

[feelingdisposable]

11:40 AM on 04/26/2012

By all means, lets make the people who truly can't afford it pay through the nose. What is wrong with this picture? That attitude doesn't give people even the slightest hint of ever getting ahead, but I guess that's what the 1%ers are hoping for. They're all slugs.

[Wow Unbelievable]

03:35 PM on 04/26/2012

Just because someone is poor doesn't mean they are dumb. A poor person can say no thank you just as well as a rich person. Personal responsibility!!

[gmb007]

06:31 PM on 04/26/2012

It's easy to say no when you've got other options and financial resources, isn't it?

[winterpenny]

11:17 AM on 04/26/2012

Every time I buy something at a national retailer, they ask me if I want their credit card. Every time I go to a fast food restaurant, they ask if i want fries or a drink. They are trying to grow sales...Its what they do. I always so no. End of story. I'm not sure how this is a story. Banks can't sell you something without your permission and if they do, that is illegal and it would be a story. The person profiled in this story knew what he was buying. He got a short-term loan for $1,000, which will cost him $100. That equates to 10% interest rate...which isn't out of line. The only reason this story is out there is that it perpetuates the "Banks are Bad" message. Stupid article!

[blackranger]

12:11 PM on 04/26/2012

I believe the article stated that the 100 dollars was a loan "fee" which means the person was paying interest in addition to that amount. It also means that in reality the loan was for 900 dollars effectively raising their quoted interest fee by a sizable amount. It is astonishing to me how few Americans can now do the most basic figuring, how little they understand loans of any kind, and how easily they are duped into these games of usury. In a moral society, the loan would not be approved, but here we just charge everyone more to cover the banks lending to those who do not quality.

[Wow Unbelievable]

03:33 PM on 04/26/2012

Bingo!! So sad that no one believes in personal responsibility any more...

[benfish1]

10:41 AM on 04/27/2012

I know, if the banks were just a little more responsible in there lending practices we may not be in such dire economic times. Sad.

[nypapajoe]

11:13 AM on 04/26/2012

Why? These banks have committed the biggest hiest known to the civilized world but still they want more? Then these same Bankers go to congress and the senate and demand less over sight and regulations to continue their Crimes against the common people! They pay pennies on the dollar in taxes if at all and hide their profits in foreign banks to avoid letting the IRS know what they have! These are Billion dollar empires that obtains "Zero percent loans" from the Federal Banks then passing huge loan shark rates on the public! Hello! They arrest people for that but not the bankers it's legal to Rob the people in this country!

[blackranger]

12:12 PM on 04/26/2012

The GOP does not believe in oversite, they insist that the large financial institutions can regulate themselves, That is how we got in the mess and if we do not get rid of those in congress who insist that capitalism means every man for himself, we will end up with a country where a very very few have everything.

[wesx]

03:10 PM on 04/26/2012

ranger you need to youtube freddie and fannie hearings and watch oversite in action.

[nothingchanges]

11:05 AM on 04/26/2012

My local UPS shipper is also a "pay day" lender.

In Colorado lenders are required to post their interest rates.

The interest rate on a "payday" short term loan?

over 1000%

That's not a misprint.

Kinda makes ya wonder what usurious interest rates are don't it?

Just how high can they be, and still be legal?

"Experience demands that man is the only animal which devours his own kind, for I can apply no milder term to the general prey of the rich on the poor." Thomas Jefferson

nothing changes

[blackranger]

12:13 PM on 04/26/2012

In most states there is no usury law.