Cashless society, forced banking, and the War on Cash

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In many regions people are being forced patronize banks. This community is for that discussion regardless of which side of the war on cash you are on.

The war on cash is war on privacy.

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activistPnk

Are credit unions better than big banks? [5 min] (youtu.be)

submitted 3 months ago by solo to c/cash

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[–] activistPnk 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I wish Lemmy servers were smarter in how they handle youtube links. As a text-based medium it would be useful to have transcripts for those on limited connections and also for quoting. Anyway, here it is:

the transcript:

0:03 Ever notice how TV commercials for big banks go really hard on the shmaltz?
0:13 Loving families, cute babies, sweet old retired people, micropigs on leashes.
0:18 It’s almost as if they’re trying to distract us from something…
0:22 Oh, you mean like how in 2016 Wells Fargo admitted to creating 3.5 million fake accounts
0:29 for customers to collect extra fees, and charged over 570,000 people for auto insurance they
0:35 didn’t need, resulting in over 20,000 customers going into defaults?
Big banks
0:41 And then there’s the now infamous practices of Citibank, Lehman Bros, AIG and other Wall
0:45 Street giants of bundling toxic “junk” assets and repackaging them as AAA super-safe
0:51 investments, which led to a near collapse of the international money system that ordinary
0:56 people are still hurting from.
0:57 And most Americans feel that big banks are rewarded rather than punished for risky and
1:02 predatory behavior.
1:03 Bank of America received tens of billions in bail-out funds in 2009, only to turn around
1:09 the very next year and pay $35 billion in executive bonuses!
1:14 Not surprisingly, our trust in these institutions is low.
1:17 A recent gallup poll showed that only 27% of Americans have confidence in banks.
1:22 But this is not a new phenomenon.14th-century poet Dante placed money-lenders in the 7th
1:28 circle of hell, below violent murderers and blasphemers!.
1:31 So, being suspicious of big banks is nothing new, but what can you do?
1:35 You’ve got to stash your cash somewhere, and who can get through life without ever
1:40 taking out a loan or using a credit card?
1:42 Thankfully, you do have options.
1:45 Alternatives to big banks have been around for a long time, and if you haven’t looked
1:47 into them yet, it might be time.
Alternative banks
1:58 One good alternative is a local community bank.
2:01 Their fees and charges can be lower than national chains, and you can be pretty sure they won’t
2:05 use your money for risky bets or Wall Street gambles.
2:08 Community banks also tend to make investments in the immediate region, helping to develop
2:13 projects and businesses that create jobs and improve spaces in your hometown.
2:18 There are over 52,000 community bank locations nationwide and you can find ones in your area
2:24 by checking out the ICBA’s website.
2:26 Then there are banks that have no physical location whatsoever: Online-based banks like
2:30 SIMPLE and CHIME usually have lower fees partly due to having no brick-and-mortar expenses.
2:35 They also tend to have no account minimums, don’t charge overdraft fees, and ATMs are
2:40 fee-free at over 30,000 locations.
2:43 Both local banks and online-based banks still typically offer FDIC protection on up to $250,000
2:49 worth of deposits per person and account type.
2:53 So for most people, they are just as secure as the big national chains.
2:57 You could also choose to ditch banks all together, and open up an account at a credit union.
3:03 Credit unions allow you to make deposits and withdrawals, take out loans and credit cards,
3:08 and enjoy most other services you might expect from a bank.
3:10 But unlike banks, credit unions are all non-profit entities.
3:15 Any profits made by the credit union are returned to you in the form of reduced fees, higher
3:20 savings rates, and better loan terms.
3:22 This is because credit unions technically don’t have “customers”--they have “members”.
3:27 Everyone who keeps their money at a credit union is seen as a part owner of the institution.
3:33 And they usually all share a common bond - perhaps they all live in a particular geographic location,
3:39 work in the same industry, or are all alumni of the same university.
3:43 One member’s deposits end up becoming an auto or business loan for another member.
3:48 Teamwork!
3:49 Credit unions offer FDIC-like protection through the NCUSIF, and most credit unions are part
3:54 of a national shared-branch network which allows you to bank at thousands of other credit
3:59 unions just like they were your own.
4:01 So depending on your credit union, you could have access to even more ATMs and branches
4:06 than with a big national bank.
4:08 Maybe this all sounds great to you, and you’re ready to say sayonara to your big bank, but
4:13 there are a few drawbacks to consider before making the switch.
4:17 Because of their size and scope, big banks are better at international banking and lending.
4:22 Making a withdrawal from abroad or getting a loan in another country can be a tall order
4:26 for many local banks and credit unions.
4:28 So if you do a lot of travelling or have a cross-border business, sticking with a big
4:32 bank can make your life easier.
4:34 Also, smaller banks and credit unions usually can’t compete with the big banks’ digital
4:39 offerings.
4:40 So if things like banking apps, budgeting software and online accounting tools are important
4:44 to you, be sure to inquire about the technological support they offer.
4:49 Even though these advantages come from big banks’ huge size, in their ads they often
4:53 go out of their way to portray themselves as homey, familiar, even rustic.
4:58 It’s as if they’re saying that little local organizations are more trustworthy.
5:02 So, if you find these commercials persuasive, maybe you should check out the smaller organizations
5:08 in your neighborhood.
5:10 And that’s our two cents!

[–] activistPnk 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

I would give that a mostly true. Banks and credit unions are both such a shit show that a big stash of cash is important. But I must say some comments are not exactly spot on:

So for most people, they [credit unions] are just as secure as the big national chains.

They missed something big:

Most credit unions have put their website on Cloudflare in the past few years. Which means:
- Consumers are generally forced to expose their account credentials to a privacy-abusing tech giant (while agreeing to be accountable for damage stemming from credential leakage)
- Consumers are generally forced to expose to their credit union their approximate physical location every single time they connect to the website as a consequence of Cloudflare. Which means if they move outside of the CUs service area some CUs will notice that and even freeze/lock your account. They tend to admit directly in their privacy policy that they collect IP addresses specifically for geolocation tracking of their customers.
- Consumers are generally forced to expose to their ISP where they bank as a consequence of Cloudflare. And considering Trump overturned an Obama policy that required ISPs to obtain consent for collecting and selling customer personal data, there is nothing to stop your ISP from selling info about where you bank to data brokers and debt collectors.
- Cloudflare can at any moment decide to block you for any reason arbitrarily, and suddenly your web access to your money is gone.
- Consumers who are behind CGNAT outside of their control are often blocked by Cloudflare. If a snot-nose script kiddie in your CGNAT pool decides to scrape some websites, CF’s excessive protectionism might kick in and block the IP which could go to you next, and you lose access to your money because CF overreacted to a harmless snotnose kid.
Most credit unions have outsourced just about every aspect of their business. They are like shell companies all working as many different façades to the same giant corporations. CUs in-house expertise doesn’t go far beyond their branding and marketing. They all outsource billpay to 1 or 2 different billpay services. They all outsource monthly statement generation to the same few corps, as well as statement printing. So that means that your sensitive financial info gets shared around with a handful of giant corporations while giving the illusion that you have the privacy benefits of a small CU.
Credit unions spam the shit out of whatever email address you supply, thus enabling all entities handling the email to see where you bank each time the CU decides to spam you.

Being free from Cloudflare sometimes means you can login over Tor and avoid most of the problems above. Many commercial banks block Tor increasingly more frequently lately (because they also want to track your physical whereabouts), but there may be some Cloudflare-free CUs that still permit Tor logins.

If you cannot find a bank or CU that gives you the privacy of Tor, the best feature to look for is gratis paper statements and paper checks so you can scrap the website and take back your privacy. It’s more common to find gratis paper statements from banks than CUs.

Credit unions offer FDIC-like protection through the NCUSIF,

It’s a shit show. The NCU does not protect people. Sure they may give security in the very basic deposit insurance scenario of a CU going under, but if you report unlawful conduct by your CU to NCU they just ignore it. They do not act on consumer protection law infringement even though it’s in their jurisdiction.

Also, smaller banks and credit unions usually can’t compete with the big banks’ digital offerings.

Not sure about that. Credit unions do not write their own software. You have a 1 or 2 closed-source Google Playstore banking app makers who all the credit unions outsource to. Whereas every commercial bank reinvents the wheel with their own implementation. For me it’s a shitshow no matter what. I am not going to enter Google Playstore and tell Google where I bank and let Google track exactly which software version I have which also reveals what vulns I inherit, to then run a closed-source app that snoops on me in countless unknown ways. Fuck all that. But anyway, with all credit unions outsourcing to centralised giant single supplier, I’m sure the result is comparable to large banks.