(If you agree with the following conditions, please copy, save and print the following Proclamation. This is what you will bring to the bank with you when you withdraw your money.
Please note: If you do not bank with Bank of America you will need to change the five references to "Bank of America" [shown in italics] to the name of your bank in the first paragraph and last 2 paragraphs of this Proclamation.)
____________________________________________________________________
PROCLAMATION OF REQUIRED CHANGE
WE, the Depositors of Bank of America, proclaim that, in order for us to continue allowing the Bank the enjoyment of the use of our money, certain changes to the Bank’s policies MUST be made. No longer will we permit the Bank to use our property in a manner that is injurious to our own financial health and which steals from our own quality of life while making a select group of individuals within the corporation exceedingly wealthy.
Be it understood that as Depositors we have chosen to invest in and support the Bank. Too often the Bank has abused the privilege of borrowing our money, and because of these heinous practices we are now withdrawing our investment and support. The following changes to Bank procedure MUST be made before we will return our funds to the Bank.
ITEM #1: MINIMUM BALANCES
No longer will the Bank charge Depositors a Minimum Balance Fee when Depositors choose, for whatever reason, to not keep as much money in their account as the Bank would like. To penalize Depositors for the kindness of lending the Bank our money is an abusive action toward the Depositor and we will not subject ourselves to this abuse any longer.
If the Bank should like to have its Depositors maintain a minimum balance, the Bank may offer premiums to its Depositors as an incentive. Such premiums may include, and are not limited to, free checking, higher interest rates paid, lower interest rates on credit card balances, free or discounted rates on safety deposit boxes, free tax software, free traveler’s cheques, etc. Incentives must REWARD the Depositor for permitting the Bank to have access to his money, not punish him for lending the Bank less money than the Bank might like.
Premiums and incentives may be tailored to the AMOUNT of minimum balance the Bank would like from its Depositors, and a tiered schedule is acceptable.
ITEM #2: NSF FEES
No longer will the Bank charge blanket $35.00 fees for overdrafts. Instead, the Bank will only charge an amount equal to or less than the amount overdrawn. In other words, if an item creates an overdraft of $5.00, the penalty may only be $5.00 or less. By the same token, if the amount overdrawn is $135.00, the NSF fee may also be $135.00 or less. The Bank’s current structure of overdraft fees hurts the very people who can least afford them. This policy must come to an end immediately.
Furthermore, the Bank will extend its late repayment penalty from its current 5 day limit to 15 days to accommodate the needs of its customers. This extension will allow Depositors the needed time to receive their paychecks so that they may repay the delinquent amount. If, after 15 days the delinquent amount is not repaid, the Bank may then assess a fee of no greater than $35.00 in amount.
ITEM #3: INTEREST ON DEPOSITS
The Bank will, from now on, award Depositors interest on all savings account deposits, no higher than the Prime Lending Rate but no less than 4%. If the Prime Lending Rate should drop below 4%, the Bank will still maintain the rate of 4% on interest paid to Depositors.
Money deposited into the Bank is money ON LOAN to the Bank. Therefore, the Bank will pay an appropriate amount of interest on the loan made it by the Depositor for as long as the Bank shall borrow, hold, and freely use the Depositor’s money.
ITEM #4: PROCESS ALL CREDIT CARD PAYMENTS IN REAL TIME
The practice of charging a late fee on credit card payments made on a weekend is an abusive practice. Because payments are logged electronically there is no justification for this. The bank does this so that it may have an excuse to charge a higher interest rate on a customer's card.
The bank will now make sure that all credit card transactions and payments are processed in real time, in the order the transactions are made.
ITEM #5: PROCESS ALL DEPOSITS, DEBITS, AND ATM TRANSACTIONS IN REAL TIME
Again, as most of these transactions are handled electronically there is no reason whatsoever that they cannot be processed in real time in the order that they occur. As the Bank rearranges the order of transactions to try and generate a greater number of NSF fees, this practice is also abusive. There is no reason that transactions cannot be processed in the order that they are time-stamped and that real-time balance information cannot be made available.
We demand that the Bank exercise due diligence in the proper and timely handling of all transactions. No exceptions.
ITEM #6: CAP EXECUTIVE PAY
This bank is using its fee structure to force its Depositors to part with their hard-earned money so that the bank may redistribute the wealth to a select few of its executives. This is an abusive policy designed to bite the hands that feed it. Furthermore, executives receive gigantic bonuses regardless of whether the company does well or not.
As a person whose income is used to create extreme wealth for someone else, I demand that this bank cap its executive pay to a percentage of the Bank’s income (max. 0.00125%) and that all executive bonuses are also calculated based on actual annual profits (max. 0.00015%).
ITEM #7: GIVE BACK TO THE COMMUNITY
Nothing says ‘thank you’ to the people like giving something back to us as a way of showing gratitude for our assistance in helping you earn a profit.
We insist that the Bank shall return 3.5 percent of its annual net profit back into the community to help those in need. Education, food, and shelter are three of the most needed services toward which the Bank can direct its new Relief Fund. An additional 0.5%, and/or any funds left over from the 3.5%, may be used to support sporting games, plant trees, sponsor cultural events, and other less-essential causes.
As of today I have withdrawn my money from Bank of America. I am requiring that these seven demands must be met if the Bank is to again enjoy the use of my money.
I, _____________________________________________, and my fellow Depositors at Bank of America present the above demands as necessary changes on the part of the Bank if I/we are to continue a relationship with the Bank. These are not suggestions. These are CONDITIONS OF DEPOSIT. Bank of America will change its practices of greed into a policy and demonstration of GRATITUDE if it is interested in maintaining me/us as a customer.
IF THE ABOVEMENTIONED CHANGES ARE NOT IMPLEMENTED BY MONDAY, MAY 2nd, 2010, I/WE SHALL CEASE OUR PRACTICE OF LENDING BANK OF AMERICA OUR MONEY.
_________________________________________________ ____________________________
(signed) (dated)
_________________________________________________
(account number)
More information is available at http://wedemandchangenow.blogspot.com/
Showing posts with label fee. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fee. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
The First Step
The first step in overcoming victimhood at the hands of the banks is to redefine how you think of your money and the role that it plays in your life. Most Americans feel they work hard for their money. Certainly that's subjective, as everyone's definition of hard work is personal. But how do you think of your money? If you think of it as simply a thing which gets you something else when you spend it, you may not be giving it, or yourself, enough respect.
Your money is your property. Whether it's the paper bills in your wallet or the dollar amount printed on your paycheck, or simply an electronic figure on your bank statement, it's your property (whether or not you actually see it or touch it). You worked for it. Someone gave it to you as a reward for your work. It became yours to do with as you please - to save it, or exchange it for a different kind of property... clothing, electronics, automobiles, real estate, etc. You can also exchange it for less tangible items such as a vacation, a service, entertainment, and so on. But, until you exchange your money for something else, it is real property, with a specific actual value, which you own. This is very important to understand, for you will continue to be at the mercy of the bank until you come to accept that your money is first and foremost your property.
The next thing that you need to remember is that money in the bank is your property on loan to the bank. There is no law that says you are obligated to give your money/property to a bank. Nor is there any law that says how much of your property you must loan to the bank, nor a legal time limit on how long you must lend your property to them (unless you have bought something with a maturation period, like a government savings bond, with your property). When you open a bank account YOU CHOOSE to lend your property to that bank. YOU are the one in control of deciding how long you will permit the bank to use your property, and you need not provide them with a reason to remove your property from their institution when you decide you want your property returned to you. And if the bank is in any way disrespectful to you while they are borrowing your property you have every right and reason to remove your property from their possession, without penalty.
Of course if you have used credit to spend a greater amount of property than you own, you do have to replace that credited property to the bank that issued you the credit loan. And as we all know, the bank will charge you interest on the property they loan you. But as it's all monetary property, and the property all has the same value (a dollar is a dollar is a dollar), it is rather disrespectful of the bank to charge you interest to borrow someone else's property without paying you a reasonably equivalent sum for borrowing your property.
The bottom line here is that the bank really has no money of its own, except that which they can acquire by using your property. Or that which they can extort by charging you for borrowing your property - which is completely inappropriate and disrespectful. When it comes right down to it, all of the service fees, NSF fees, late fees, etc. might be justifiable IF the bank were paying you a commensurate interest rate on the property you lend it. But they don't. It therefore adds insult to injury when they write all of the rules to benefit themselves while sticking it good to you. And it's nothing less than a slap in your face to charge you a "minimum balance" fee for not lending them enough of your property. In the end, you get punished for doing them the favor of allowing them the use of your property. And that is entirely, morally wrong.
It is time that we change that.
It is time we take our property away from the banks if they are only going to use it against us. It is time that WE write the rules, because without us the banks cannot exist. They need our property and they need our business but they sure don't act as if they do. In fact, they act as though they are doing us the favor when it is the other way around.
Remember: Your money is your property. You are the sole owner of your property and you choose to allow the bank the opportunity to use it for only as long as you want them to. YOU have the legal right to exercise control over your property, not the bank. And YOU have every right to demand respect and a show of gratitude for your kindness in lending the bank your property.
Once you accept these truths you will be able to help return the proper balance to the relationship between the banks and the public.
~JQA
_________________________________________________________________
Here are two practices a bank performs against you which need to be discontinued:
Your money is your property. Whether it's the paper bills in your wallet or the dollar amount printed on your paycheck, or simply an electronic figure on your bank statement, it's your property (whether or not you actually see it or touch it). You worked for it. Someone gave it to you as a reward for your work. It became yours to do with as you please - to save it, or exchange it for a different kind of property... clothing, electronics, automobiles, real estate, etc. You can also exchange it for less tangible items such as a vacation, a service, entertainment, and so on. But, until you exchange your money for something else, it is real property, with a specific actual value, which you own. This is very important to understand, for you will continue to be at the mercy of the bank until you come to accept that your money is first and foremost your property.
The next thing that you need to remember is that money in the bank is your property on loan to the bank. There is no law that says you are obligated to give your money/property to a bank. Nor is there any law that says how much of your property you must loan to the bank, nor a legal time limit on how long you must lend your property to them (unless you have bought something with a maturation period, like a government savings bond, with your property). When you open a bank account YOU CHOOSE to lend your property to that bank. YOU are the one in control of deciding how long you will permit the bank to use your property, and you need not provide them with a reason to remove your property from their institution when you decide you want your property returned to you. And if the bank is in any way disrespectful to you while they are borrowing your property you have every right and reason to remove your property from their possession, without penalty.
Of course if you have used credit to spend a greater amount of property than you own, you do have to replace that credited property to the bank that issued you the credit loan. And as we all know, the bank will charge you interest on the property they loan you. But as it's all monetary property, and the property all has the same value (a dollar is a dollar is a dollar), it is rather disrespectful of the bank to charge you interest to borrow someone else's property without paying you a reasonably equivalent sum for borrowing your property.
The bottom line here is that the bank really has no money of its own, except that which they can acquire by using your property. Or that which they can extort by charging you for borrowing your property - which is completely inappropriate and disrespectful. When it comes right down to it, all of the service fees, NSF fees, late fees, etc. might be justifiable IF the bank were paying you a commensurate interest rate on the property you lend it. But they don't. It therefore adds insult to injury when they write all of the rules to benefit themselves while sticking it good to you. And it's nothing less than a slap in your face to charge you a "minimum balance" fee for not lending them enough of your property. In the end, you get punished for doing them the favor of allowing them the use of your property. And that is entirely, morally wrong.
It is time that we change that.
It is time we take our property away from the banks if they are only going to use it against us. It is time that WE write the rules, because without us the banks cannot exist. They need our property and they need our business but they sure don't act as if they do. In fact, they act as though they are doing us the favor when it is the other way around.
Remember: Your money is your property. You are the sole owner of your property and you choose to allow the bank the opportunity to use it for only as long as you want them to. YOU have the legal right to exercise control over your property, not the bank. And YOU have every right to demand respect and a show of gratitude for your kindness in lending the bank your property.
Once you accept these truths you will be able to help return the proper balance to the relationship between the banks and the public.
~JQA
_________________________________________________________________
Here are two practices a bank performs against you which need to be discontinued:
- Charging you a minimum balance fee on the money you lend the bank
- Paying you anything less than the prime lending rate for the money it borrows from you
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
