March 8, 2014

Count me among the legions of little people who loathe banks and long for the reinstitution of Glass Steagall. Recounting the reasons would require several posts but a recent experience will suffice.

I’m fortunate to have escaped the killer winter of the Northeast and to be reveling in Florida’s warm sun. The much-maligned US Postal Service, performing admirably, delivers a weekly package of mail directly to our door in time to get all bills paid when due. However, if one of those envelopes contains a check – forget about depositing it into my Connecticut bank.  For some bizarre reason, I’m able to deplete my checking account to zero via ATMs at any bank in Florida, but none will accept my deposit- even though drawn on a reputable financial institution. Their solution – open an account with us!

I know. I know. If I had an i-phone and an app, I could photograph the check and send it electronically to the home bank.  Well, I don’t have an i-phone and don’t plan to spend $500 to buy one just so I can deposit a check. In any event, the amount one can deposit via the ether is limited.  Technology yields to market dominance.

Sitting in sunny Florida with more money than I can deposit doesn’t rank up there with world hunger and Crimean secession but is one more reason to bitch about banks (my favorite past-time).  Did I mention our little CT town of 59,000 (26% of whom are under 18) has 42 bank branches (960 adults/branch) but only one book store?

Our global gyroscope is broken.