Open Letter to J.P. Morgan Chase, Citigroup, Bank of America, Capital One, et al

Per your request, the following is an explanation as to why I am closing my Chase Checking Account.

I was not pleased that you intended to sharply increase the interest rate on my credit card inherited by Chase from WAMU to 22.9%--which is why I closed that account in 2009 prior to the increase taking effect. Evidently, you must think that all your customers are completely clueless about financial affairs. Chase charges exorbitant & constantly increasing fees & rates during a period when the Fed is holding interest rates near 0% (actually negative when adjusted for inflation) "for an indefinite period of time".

Thus while Seniors earn almost nothing on their painfully accrued savings, the Bernanke Federal Reserve caters to and rewards institutions like yours that almost destroyed the world's economy--and still may do so.

It must be very pleasant to have the ability to borrow hundreds of millions of dollars at the Federal Reserve discount window @ 3/4 % & immediately lend the same monies back to a supposedly hapless (but in reality not) Fed @ 3 1/4% (10 year T-Bond)-a completely riskless transaction which locks in untold profits! It's probably also quite agreeable for Chase & its ilk to pay next to nothing for deposits-- less than 0.25% for Fed Funds (overnight bank-to-bank lending rate) & savings accounts & nothing at all for Demand Deposits-DD's-(checking accounts).

And rather than lending these funds to small businesses in an attempt to help revive a moribund economy, commercial banks like Chase are choking off credit by raising rates & tightening lending standards.

And this after gorging yourselves at the taxpayer trough of unlimited "Fed favors" during the financial meltdown.

These outrages continue despite recent putative financial "reform" legislation--which was hopelessly watered down thanks to the army of Congressional lobbyists the banking & credit card "industries" employ.

Your operation would impress even Tony Soprano!

You don't break legs--but you greedy and unrepentant parasites DO ruin lives utilizing legalized usury.

A Federal government that was truly populist would indict all of the large commercial banks as criminal enterprises under the RICO (Racketeering) Statutes.

I have therefore transferred my business to a financial institution not based in the U.S. & that consequently has NOT taken ANY taxpayer monies and/or guarantees & subsequently announced obscene profits a la J.P. Morgan Chase, Capital One Bank, Citigroup, et al. And it even pays nominal interst on DD's!


P.S. Please explain to this writer, Mr. Chase Chairman Jamie Dimon, why I should pay down the balances on my two closed Chase Credit cards--interest rate 15.9 %--which both Chase & failed WAMU Bank tried to raise to 22.9 % ?! (An action only averted by my closing both accouts).

Uhmmm..Go get the money from Mr. Bernanke. He'll just print or borrow it. He is an associate of Tony Soprano. You see, he likes to confiscate the income of Seniors like me, too. Then he gives it to you, Mr. Dimon. It's the "American way".

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Coming soon: The ultimate "thermonuclear" option Seniors can employ vs. the Banks, Credit Card Companies & Health Care Providers--BANKRUPTCY. How it actually IMPROVES rather than DAMAGES your credit and why. And what does it mean to be "Judgment-Proof"?

For an in-depth discussion of U.S. bank profits, please follow this link:

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/apr2009/bank-a18.shtml

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DISCLAIMER:

MrKen is NOT a registered financial advisor & any opinions, suggestions or strategies explained are based on his own experiences and knowledge. Readers of this blog should consult their own financial advisors, accountants and/or brokers before taking any action explicitly or implicitly recommended or recounted by this writer.
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