8/05/2007

OCBC Bank - Returning to the roots

It was not many years ago when children were encouraged to save in schools. Banks were also actively promoting savings among children by offering all kinds of schemes and attractive toys to the young savers. Then as banks grew big and strong, they find the few dollars and cents too tedious, unworthy, and costly to manage. So they start to impose a fee for savers who did not have the minimum sum in their bank accounts, something like $1000 or $1500. Small savers suddenly find that it is the bank that is doing them a service and they have to pay to keep their miserable sums in the banks for safe keeping. I think subsequently all the children savers who have less than the minimum sum stop putting their money in the big and strong friendly banks. The banks are now so rich that they find the small savers a pest. I cannot imagine where these small savers are putting their monies but very likely in piggy banks or some tin cans. Where else when no bank is going to keep their few dollars for free? Now OCBC is launching a scheme with all kinds of attractive gifts for the children to save. I believe these children will not have to pay a fee should their savings be too small. Nothing stated on this. Looking at the long run, this is a genius move, a strategic move to sign up all the future depositors to become OCBC account holders. Yes, get them when they are young and once they have got use to OCBC and have an account with OCBC, they will remain there. Unless OCBC mess it up with their services or starts the nonsense of imposing a banking charge again for small savers. Just one generation, OCBC will sign up all the new adults as their account holders. What a smart move. 'Greed has no shame'

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Saving" money in a bank is what foolish people have been conned to believe in as "smart".

The moment you put money into a bank, it becomes their liability.

But because of the clever system — na cartel, monopoly or oligarchy protected by the state and the govt of the day — BANKS can quickly do things you and I can't (legally) — LEND OUT THEIR LIABILITY (i.e. YOUR asset).

Bear in mind, you have turned over your asset to the bank for SAFE KEEPING, yet they've chosen to lend it out (usually about 10 times) and make money from it. Furthermore, as redbean as already mentioned, if you have below a certain amount the fucking cheeky banks will CHARGE YOU FEES — fees for lending them your money for them to make money.

FUCK THE BANKS,
FUCK THE BANKERS,
FUCK ANYONE WHO WORKS FOR THE BANKS
.

OK, I will agree that they are a "necessary evil", but only because they've closed the door—with the help of the state—to any competition.

Kids ought to first learn the bad habits and the fallacies in which their parents believe, and look at how these "bad ideas" have wasted precious time in their parents' lives. Learn from the mistakes of others—this is a great "freebie" from the universe. Plus you get to laugh at human stupidity too—the bonus of "entertainment".

Parents and grand parents believed in BANKS—under a gold standard it wasn't so bad. Now with paper money (fiat currency) the deck is stacked IN THE BANKS FAVOUR.

Money is essentially a MEDIUM OF EXCHANGE, and thus a commodity or resource.

Therefore there exists a market for money itself. And therefore there are more ways to preserve one's capital, its purchasing power etc.. until one needs to use the resource. In other words, there other solutions besides BANKS.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

as long as one gets some interests back instead of nothing when kept under the bed, there is a premium. the premium will depend on the risk and the bank or 'banks'. lend it to the ah long and one may get more in return. let it to a high risk company, the interests could also be higher.

but lend to it a bank who lend it out to make money from your money and charge you expenses, not that is uniquely singapore.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

i hope ocbc will corner the whole market of new depositors and give them a fair deal and not charging them fees like the cartel.

Anonymous said...

Fair deal? Behind closed doors all the banks are cousin-brothers. It's a cartel, nothing less. Of course customers are hapless to do anything.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

we always hear top executives talking about ethics and morality. but yes, behind close doors, many immoral and unethical things are being done. i have seen many such things with my own eyes. have banged at the wall and got one out of the way. but many wrongs are still happening.

what a world of cheats that present themselves as saints.

Anonymous said...

When you are a member of one of those Associations like bsnks, goldsmiths, coffeeshop owners, pawnshops etc, you don't hold meetings behing closed doors to have tea and look at the moon. They are there to 'fixed' rates, prices etc. Not a cartel?

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