Is it still sexy to be a bank?

It was always good, was it not? I mean, they were the bank. Not just some company you did business with. They not only were “a bank”, they were “your bank”. People seemed to have similar relationships with their banks as they do with their cars: Once you chose your “financial partner”, you would stick to him and defend him against competitors and argue with friends on why you wouldn’t use their bank, or any other one.

It’s kind of a statement, kind of like “Do you drive a Volkswagen or a Mercedes?” – once you choose, there’s no way back.

Banks also had authority. Have you ever had a serious debate about your interest? Would you believe me that, with a couple harsh and self-secure words and not letting them come up with excuses, you could have raised your savings interest by a good percent, and lowered your credit interest by up to five percent?

But most people don’t do it. It’s the bank. They make the rules. We just obey and play by them.

No more of this, I say.

Banks have shown their real face. They are businesses like all other businesses out there. They want to make money, and they want to get it from you. Just like insurance companies: Very willing to take, not so much into the whole giving-thing.

You want a credit tolerance on your bank account? Better you plea and bring lots of documents. You want a real credit? Better bring many, many more documents.

I never got a feeling of costumer service at a bank. Harvesting would be more like it.

But banks have lost their reputation. They sold to normal people funds and equities and other investments that were, plain straight, shit. They were fake, they were fraud, they were bad.

People lost money. Banks crumble. Banks are as vulnerable as every other business. And they, sure as hell, are not trustworthy. I’m willing to bet that the average bank adivsor doesn’t know more, if at all, than the average reader of business newspapers.

Or they are all ruthless bastards.

To hell with them, I say. Stop begging, start being a customer. Demand, don’t ask. Act like you act with your insurance company, with eBay contacts.

And don’t trust them with your money. Inform yourself, get many an opinion, consult a lot of people – but don’t trust your bank advisor.

After all, if he was that clever, why is he still there, and not sitting on a carribean island with a pina collada and a sexy masseuse?