As a mortgage banker, I realize these protesters will one day be buying the homes that I finance. We need to be more aggressive in getting our message out on how banks make lives better.
Banks are ideally positioned to use their data on consumers' purchase histories and merchant relationships to send targeted daily-deal offers to customers. Groupon's random solicitations wouldn't stand a chance.
The Bank of America $5 debit use fee had nothing to do with any new law passed by Congress, it was just the inexorable march of the biggest banks finding new ways to exact more fees from consumers.
When I'm asked "How do we get bank customers back into the branch?" my answer is simple. How would you get them back into a Borders or Blockbuster store?
With millions of American homeowners living under a Sword of Damocles otherwise known as foreclosure, expect to see more protestors turning out to block evictions and sheriff's sales.
Recall that retailers told Congress that if these "swipe fees" were reduced, they would pass the savings along to consumers. Yet, there's no evidence that the merchant community is following through on its promise.
When banks attempt to mark up the transaction involving a dollar, the fee for the service is stark. It stands out in a manner that makes it both obvious and occasionally controversial.
Banks are already in the thrall of a new business model even worse than the utility one: the industry is frozen solid in fear both of relentless credit risk and remorseless regulatory requirements.
Investors don't require a government credit guarantee for other asset classes, have never requested it for mortgage securities, and have never explicitly gotten it.
