How stupid do financial institutions believe people are?

in #cryptocurrency8 years ago

It is no secret that banks and financial institutions will probably be influenced by Crypto Currency and the underlying Blockchain technology.

If any crypto currency is accepted as the norm for payments, there will literally be no reason for banks to assist at all as your Crypto Wallet is the store of your value in a secure fashion.

This post is a bit of a rant, as I just had a look at my bank statements for the first tie in a very long while. I noticed what ridiculous amount of money I am paying for "Banking Charges"


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Why does Banks charge so much for so little value?

I believe that most people in the world, especially those which not have been bitten by the Crypto bug, live in a dream world, where the norm is just accepted. I was driving to a meeting this morning, listening to our local radio station and an advert of one of our local banks came up making the statement that they can offer a 10% interest rate on your money. That is 10% per annum. How ridiculous did that sound?

I have started to play around on the crypto exchanges and investing some money in various alt coins. Now I am a novice figuring everything out as I go along, and where I am now, after just more than a month of trading, is that it will be very difficult to believe that an expert trader cannot make less than 1% per day. And I believe this is a very conservative number. I actually think that a trader with some experience, which is not me by the way, should make at least 10% on a weekly basis.

Sure, there are risk involved, but in my mind 300% to 400% per annum is a very conservative percentage to make on your initial investment.

In South Africa, bank charges can go up to around R1000 ($80) per month (easily even more), if you add the various charges, which includes, Admin Fee (Which is charged for the privilege to bank with the specific bank), Cash Deposit Fees, Cash Withdrawal Fees, Fees for this, Fees for that Etc., Etc.

And you do not dare using an ATM, from a different bank when you bank with a specific bank. These fees can go up to $1 for every $10 you withdraw from the other banks ATM.

So why do they charge all these fees? Because they can, that is the accepted norm in our country.


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Banks in other Countries

I am not sure what the bank charges are in other countries, but if I remember correctly when I lived in the United Kingdom, I did not have an admin fee for my bank account. The bank I banked with, made their revenue from interest on the various loans they provide.


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Should the bank not see having you as a client as a privilege and not the other way round? In my opinion, our banking system are archaic and what we need is a real financial revolution to straighten the curve appropriately.

Happy Steeming!


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The question is.... are the people not more stupid? lol

The majority of people would rather stick with a broken system that exploits them than totally abandon it and create something new.

I'm trying hard to make more of my friends and family aware of this situation but at times it is really hard work!

Capitalism in a TRUE FREE MARKET ECONOMY could work properly. Only issue today is that we couldn't be further away from a free market economy across the world. Literally the price of every commodity and currency is manipulated.

When will the majority of the people wake up to this fact?

private courts lmao

most autistic thing I have ever seen

you might like this one lmao

Some good points. So what's the utopian solution then?

https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/peter-gelderloos-anarchy-works

how about this economic and political system called anarchy that has been proven to work?

Looks good, don't have time now but will have a read later. Do you think that blockchain technology would enable this type of society to function much easier across the world?

Blockchain? Yes. Remember blockchains came around a long time before cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrency? As much of a hindrance as a help in many places. I would say transitional at best.

its not capitalism. its corporatism. We haven't had true capitalism in generations.

Hey guys, there's something BIG around the corner with Gold and Silver, please read this:
https://steemit.com/money/@contrarianinvest/4vvyfu-the-hong-kong-golden-dragon-that-kills-comex
Protect yourself with some Gold and Silver! China may also launch a Gold backed cryptocurrency!

You are correct @grahamcolley, it is hard work and like @cryptowizard said in his comment below unfortunately most people will never change ... the masses will do as they are told

Maybe we can all create a new crypto elite then and lead the masses into a better world?

I believe we are already busy creating the elite :)

I know, what an amazing period of history to be alive in!

I try to do the same thing. I write financial articles at crushthestreet.com to try and keep people informed. I post them here or there. Follow me if interested. Thank you!

I mean what do banks really create? And do we really need them anymore?

@automaton, in my mind the only thing that banks are creating is more expenses for us :)

And the illusion of wealth/value creation. Truth is the people are the ones who create value.

Sure and in the new financial world people should be in control of their own destiny

Authority and we don't need capitalism any more so why keep banks

Every major bank has either a secret or a public project where they play to implement blockchain technology. So they will have it ready in 1-2 years from now. BUT the technology will only benefit them.

honestly its not a bad idea to have a verity of types of coins to work with. For example some coins can be made to allow the creator to collect data on transactions with knowledge of the identity of the user. As long as other options still exist within that same market then its not a super bad thing.

The problem is, will anyone trust such a coin to actually hold value in a free market?They would be forced to provide unique features like theft insurance and things like that. Its not super awful if they can keep things tight.

Too late. Bitcoin/alt coin system is ready now.

I used to manage the corporate bank accounts for a very large corporation. It's amazing how the fees get waived when the banks are afraid you'll take your money elsewhere. Taught me that "rules" are meant to be broken and that if you don't ask for something, you'll never get it.

Fully agree with that statement. Another amazing point is that if they have the ability to waive the fees it measn that they are making massive profits.

They definitely are. Just the spread on a $100M trade would easily net them $10,000. Flow trading, they get both sides of the action, earn double the money and do very little work other than matching.

Which is probably why quite a few of the traders on the desks i used to call have been made redundant.

Indeed UK banks now charge like crazy. I have a business account with a bank who don't charge, but that is rare, and it's an old account. I too am playing with crypto as that is the way it's going to go. Music went digital, and now money will go digital. How stupid do banks think we are? Very !! :)

I must say the UK banks was a breath of fresh air for me :) but now they are following the global trend. And i agree banks and investment companies think we are very stupid. Do you really think that your life insurance policy should only grow with around 12-15%?

My optimist view: People aren't that stupid, the system is set up in such a way that it doesn't give the average person the time to really see whats going on.

My pessimistic view: 99% are that stupid, and even if they weren't, they are too lethargic to do anything about it

Thanks for a brilliant comment @bullionaire. Followed :)

Reality check, we are all stupid because we know were being screwed everyday and do nothing to stop it. When in reality we could fix it tomorrow by not participating in a rigged game and do nothing.

Nice post
Upvoted and followed
Thanks for sharing

nothing will change, the masses will do as they are told

I fully agree with you :)

Great post. Do everything you can to adopt cryptocurrency in your life and educate others to do the same. Hopefully we can make them irrelevent.

Thanks for a great comment @gladbhoy