Like It Is

And this time, who better to do it than a sleazy politician who simply loves to engage in point scoring. This time it is Jack Layton of the New Democrats, who is accusing the banks of “gouging customers with the fees they charge to withdraw and deposit cash at ATMs” (Automatic Tellers, or Cash Points if you’re a UK reader).

Mr Layton, in an election style street corner rant, said that for a bank to charge a customer who wants $40 or $60 of their money out from an ATM is unfair. And that the $19 billion profits Canadian banks made last year should be enough to waive ATM convenience fees.

Yes, of course we all hate banks making money. We have no problem shelling out over inflated payments to buy a gas guzzling new car that drops a third of its value as soon as you drive it from the showroom, or taking out a mortgage of several thousand dollars to buy our dream home. We are happy to pay $1.75 for a plain tea, several times a day, $3.00 for our latte every morning, and probably a couple of times a day, $2.00 for our tiny bottle of”mineral” water. But heaven help a bank if it dares to charge a fee or - shock, horror -  be profitable. And if a bank fails to guard our assets? The repercussions are unimaginable. And don’t we all know that those bankers are lazy so-and-so’s who only exist to snatch our money? Yeah, we hate banks!

For the record, I work very hard. I work for a bank. I also pay no banking fees for withdrawals, and this has been the case for most of my life.

That’s a side issue, however. Anyone who uses a bank ATM or a bank period, knows that if you withdraw cash from your own bank you are not charged a fee. If you are too lazy to go to your own bank ATM then frankly, you deserve to be charged. Get your act together, get organised and you won’t pay a bean. Mr Layton conveniently leaves this fact out of his argument. He also omits the fact that when withdrawing money you are asked if you wish to accept the charge. You can say no. No charge. What’s the problem?

In all the years I’ve used banks, both in England when fees were charged, and in Canada, where fees are charged, I always look for and use my own bank network. I will go out of my way to find a branch of my own bank so that I do not pay a fee. I know it’s only a $1.50. But I don’t want to pay a fee. There have been a couple of exceptions to this, when I have used another bank’s branch – in Canada about twice. In each case I knew there was a fee and had no problem paying it. In England, (before the fees were scrapped) again, I always looked for my bank and I used their cash points. When we travel to England we do the same thing and we don’t pay fees. I still use just my own bank’s cash-points and it’s never been a problem. I don’t pay for withdrawals.

News! You are not forced to use ATM’s. You can go right into your branch and withdraw what you want and you won’t be charged a penny. If you must use an ATM, then instead of withdrawing piddling amounts like $40 and $60, make the withdrawals higher and the frequency lower. Or move to a no-fee bank. Or get a banking package where you can make as many withdrawals as you like.Or use your debit card in stores, instead of cash. Your options are unlimited, but frankly, not if you’re too lazy to find out what they are. And there is always the ultimate consumer choice.. you can refuse to use a bank.

Mysteriously, Mr Layton did not include the non-bank ATMs, those extortionate machines in (convenience) stores that can and do charge almost whatever they like, sometimes up to $5.00. Neither does he appear to have a beef about politicians who recently gave themselves a 15%-25% pay rise. Nor the airport security tax which hits the ordinary consumer even more – and is not a cost of doing business, just an additional tax. And if you want extortionate, how about those Money Mart operations that charge the lowest income earners unbelievably high interest rates to borrow money or cash cheques? Are these not issues more worthy of attention?

Oh, how remiss of me, I forgot… why waste an opportunity to bash the banks?

The NDP leader also seems to ignore the fact (or perhaps he is simply ignorant and failed to do his research properly) that there is a cost of providing a service, and maintaining that service. There is no free lunch. There never has been. It is a more expensive process to use another branch network to take out money than your own.

All in all Jack Layton, once again, shows himself to be a fool and the NDP to be a joke. and it’s no wonder people don’t take him seriously.

Time to hit the road, Jack. Find another cause.

Original story from the Globe and Mail/Canadian Press