Re:Finance is Not the Economy
by Bartweiss on Monday September 26, 2016 @11:12AM
(#12582470)
I've also seen the suggestion that regardless of where lending goes, "safe" financial services should be moved out into a utility format. That is, investments and loans shouldn't be conflated with non-interest-bearing deposits and money movement.
Right now, people are caught in a weird double-bind that mostly serves a small part of the finance industry.
- If you don't have a bank account with a balance, you pay through the nose to access money and paperwork (e.g. notary fees, high fees on welfare debit cards, wire transfer prices).
- If you do, you expose yourself to the risk-taking of the banking industry. That means losing your deposits with Washington Mutual or IndyMac, and if you stay below the FDIC cap it still means getting scammed when Wells Fargo opens you a fraudulent account.
There are some good reasons to combine these things, and some of the costs for non-account-holders reflect the actual price of moving money. But it's not obvious that access to non-investment services should be inescapably bound up with exposure to investment risks and pressures.
Right now, people are caught in a weird double-bind that mostly serves a small part of the finance industry.
- If you don't have a bank account with a balance, you pay through the nose to access money and paperwork (e.g. notary fees, high fees on welfare debit cards, wire transfer prices).
- If you do, you expose yourself to the risk-taking of the banking industry. That means losing your deposits with Washington Mutual or IndyMac, and if you stay below the FDIC cap it still means getting scammed when Wells Fargo opens you a fraudulent account.
There are some good reasons to combine these things, and some of the costs for non-account-holders reflect the actual price of moving money. But it's not obvious that access to non-investment services should be inescapably bound up with exposure to investment risks and pressures.