Standing Armies

Thomas Jefferson was right.

Banks are like standing armies.

Coffee in hand, I opened up my email last Friday morning, Dec. 28, to find a headline from my bank, Wells Fargo, saying we have revised your online agreement.

Uh, oh, here it comes, I thought. More fees, more legalese to bombard and baffle you into submission.

A naïve thought courses through my foggy brain: why are they charging me to store my money when they are still making money off of the daily float? Me and thousands of other suckers with this bank…Uh, financial institution.

A bunch of bean counters must have coaxed this little baby into existence. They must have thought – and rightly so – that more Americans are accessing their bank accounts online, so maybe we could make a few bucks from all these customers of ours.

The opening salvo says nothing about new fees. Instead, the notice talks about the agreement’s “new provisions and additional information about our service.”

And they make is so convenient for you. If you keep using your online account, you have accepted the agreement. “No action is required on your part,” the bank says.

Excuse me, Mr. Randy Thomas, Senior Vice President, Online Customer Service, the executive whose name is stamped on the email, I do have to take action. I have to read your agreement first and then if I decide you’re not charging additional or higher fees or setting higher standards, I might continue banking with you. Thank me later.  

To get inside the bowels of this agreement, which is disagreeable, you have to access the “See what has changed link.”

I did. Saw it. Cursed and almost spilled my coffee. The agreement is 48 pages in 23 sections. 

The next time you stop at a Wells Fargo branch, notice all the customer friendly tellers and beckoning notices and beautiful people on the brochures who have trusted their savings and checking and investments with this “financial institution.”

If you’re a Wells Fargo customer – at least for now – make sure you read the provisions under which the bank can terminate your access, Section 3.B.2, and how they intend to use your personal information, Section 17, (of course, your online access will “be governed by the provisions of the Wells Fargo Privacy Policy, including the Online Privacy Policy – but you have to access other Web pages to read these policies.)

Don’t forget fees. I counted 7 type of fees.

Fees for the expenses of arbitration

Fees for eligible accounts and online services

Fees for Bill Pay using your own financial management software

Fees for connecting to the online service through your financial management software

Fees for same day payments

Fees for eBills

Fees for BillPay

During the height of the financial crisis, Wells Fargo bought Wachovia, plagued by bad loans, for $15.1 billion.

Shrugging off debt, the bank, based in San Francisco, is now making money. The bank has reported 11 quarters of net income gains, according to a New York Times article.

In Oct. the bank posted a $4.9 billion profit for the third quarter, a 22 percent jump from the previous quarter, due in large part to consumers refinancing their mortgages. 

And I doubt if this will be the last time Wells Fargo, or any other national bank, will raise your fees and revise your agreement. 

Philip Newswanger

newspsn@gmail.com

Look for more news and commentary every day, beginning today. Here are some of the features I plan to post: Building Blocks: The Ear; Persons, Places and Things. Stay tuned.