An average day with the bank
Every now and then, I do a check in with my bank. The convenience of the internet makes it so much easier these days. I had to request a replacement card because it had worn out. Yeah, I've definitely used my credit card a lot more since the whole pandemic ordeal. The wear and tear had finally gotten to it.
While I was at it, I thought it made sense to see what my bank is offering these days. For the record, I am a customer of US Bank.
The different checking accounts aren't anything too spectacular. In fact, they want you to take out loans from them if you want "higher tier" services.
Well, that's not 100% accurate as you can gain access to their higher tier services if you invest through them. It's the thought that someone with credit balances could count towards that criteria. I guess I'm doing myself no favors by paying off everything every time.
It's sort of funny how a 0.01% interest is "competitive" these days. Even Coinbase pays better, especially with their upcoming 4% APY for USDC. With the way inflation is going, your bank account might as well be on negative interest.
Not to mention, US Bank is forcing everyone to use Zelle in August. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's the banks' version of Paypal/Venmo. US Bancorp, my bank's parent company, happens to be one of the owners along with Wells Fargo, etc.
In short, the people I send money to right now would have to either sign up for Zelle, or use alternatives. It makes me wonder if that will push more people to use Paypal and Venmo instead.
Despite my discontent with the banking system, my bank has been kinder than most. In fact, US Bank seems to be eager to get into the crypto space. I've never had any issues transferring money to or from crypto exchanges and whatnot. We often read about the horror stories of how people's bank accounts got rekt when their banks found out. I guess I've been fortunate since 2012 when I started using Coinbase with the same bank.
They even published an entire post about their outlook about digital assets a few months ago:
Of course, all that means is that they want to jump on the ship of providing custodial services. Believe what you want about crypto, but I'm pretty sure there always be "banks". It's only a matter of what form they take going forward. If history is any indicator, drivers didn't disappear because cars replaced carriages. They used cars instead of horse-drawn carriages.
Given who own the biggest shares of US Bancorp, I'm sure the main driving force is still profit. Control might be another, but that's not something I want to think about today. You'll see the same groups each owning 8-10% of every publicly traded companies.
While I was still on the phone with a representative, I asked them about limits on my existing accounts. That's important because I don't want to get stonewalled when I try to move money from exchanges. Last time I checked, it's still easier to purchase land and real estates via fiat.
Some food for thought.
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Dont say that, we have that negative rate here in Europe xD
If you have more than 15842.05 usd in the bank you will pay -0,60% xD
Well, soon to be DOUBLE negative interest!
Properly! I dont have that kinda of cash just sitting around, so I am too bothered by it :D
Most is invested at this point :D
Same here really. Got my rainy day fund in the bank and the rest are all invested into something.
Excatly! Same here
Banks need like to get crypto experts and foster them. But banks are to conservative to risk that.
US Bank is currently the 5th largest banking entity in the country.
I think that alone is enough motivation for them to try anything to usurp competition.
Reason I recently opened an account with them.
I've been with them since 2007. Turned out to be a solid choice over time.
My fear so far is how inflation is hitting hard on world economies, tear down the value.of fiat money and now negative interest will be shared across board.
The earlier crypto is accepted, understood and applied the better.
I think you are happier because you followed history and understand the concept of cryptocurrency.
The sad part is, the inflation will probably hurt the less developed nation first before then.
The sad part is that less-developed nations are currently on 33% inflation rate. Hunger is beating the people hard.
Yikes.
Just got my monthly paycheck that's been long overdue for months. I would have just put it on local stocks last year but at the beginning of this year I just wanted it put more into crypto because this is where the cool kids are at. Looking ahead at the impending inflation that will eventually creep up my country's economy as it has been reliant on the USD too, it's not looking too bright and even more dim as legislators are far behind making crypto a norm. Even play money here gives me more kickback than the dividends I get quarterly. Fuck it, more resources to crypto because it's just being dumb not to get into it.
Dang, that does sound really bad. I hope HIVE is not the only thing in your portfolio.
Mixing it still with traditional stocks, land, and BTC. Id like to start a business if it can be helped. Hive is still play money but I'm optimistic to scope up more of it when it's down. XD
It says a lot when even HIVE has a better prospect.
Very interesting! I know what you mean about using your credit card more! I have also started using Google Pay because it puts less wear and tear on my card. Internet banking has definitely changed the way a lot of us interact with our banks.
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I still haven’t used Google Pay or Apple Pay on my phone.
It is pretty slick. The card company does all of the stuff in the background, so it keeps your card secure too. At least with GPay.
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I should try that out one of these days.
We are already in negative thanks to the inflation rate but do we have any choice?
Not much of a choice, but try to hedge some.
That is the problem. The banks aren't competitive and the FinTech companies are eating their lunch. I don't really like the small amount of interest you get right now.
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The funny thing is that I used to think 0.3% was low interest. Look at where we are now.
Wells Fargo has it's own seedy reputation, "...nothing pays better profits than a banking Monopoly."
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I stayed away from them for a reason.
Curious as to why you don't use a credit union? Especially since most of them are networked together now giving you lots of ATM access.
Never used a credit union before and I never had the need to use ATMs. lol
There are so many options out there that you don't have to pay for a checking account in fact many will pay you a sign up fee. Seems you need a new bank.
I've never really tried to look for an alternative before. Now is probably a good time.
I would say so.
New bank please. It’s not that you live in Timbuktu :)
I'll put it on my to-do list.