Bank Robbery: The US Bank Scam

DO NOT PATRONIZE U S BANK!

We all know there's a severe penalty for robbing a bank. But how about when the bank robs you?

I keep some of my IRA funds in bank (or credit union, depending on where the best deal is at the time) CDs. A while ago US Bank had the best rates, a modest 3%, though it's hard to get these days. They had the best rates for long enough for me to get two CDs, and then somebody else was a better investment.

You know the drill on CDs, right? You put your money in, it's locked up tight for the length of the CD, and at the end the bank pays you the agreed upon rate of interest along with your original money back.

Well, those days apparently are over.

Last week I got a letter I had trouble believing from US Bank. They have now declared my pair of CDs to be a Retirement Plan, and they're going to charge me for managing it for me.

WTF? A Retirement Plan? 2 simple CDs? What's to manage? Whatever happened to money in, locked in, money plus interest out?

MY BANK HAS DECIDED TO ROB ME!

Incredulous, I called them, trying to figure out what the mistake was. This wasn't in the deal, it's not a plan, and how can they change the rules on me like that? I mean, I get it, that they're renegging on their promised interest rate because 3% even on my paltry sum of cash is just too much for their greedy little asses, but how can they break the contract like that?

Well, they think they can. I argued every point in person, to a "personal banker" who was unflappable. He insisted what they were doing was perfectly reasonable, usual, and acceptable. I still disagree. I still feel robbed. I cancelled my US Bank card. (I only kept it "just in case" - I still have $20G in unused credit on other cards.) I tried to withdraw my CDs but was informed I would be penalized the entire remaining interest. The $30/year was much less than that. Of course, he said it added up to $180, and on 5 year CDs, he needs either a new brain or a calculator. $120, tops. They've been in over a year.

He also tried to claim that this was not a new policy, just a revamping of an old policy. Supposedly they used to do it for accounts under $5G, so all they were doing was bumping it up to applying to all accounts under $25G. Of course, if I added another $20G, I'd not be affected. And he was completely unfazed by the fact that this possibility was never mentioned to me when I made my initial deposit, definitely under $5G, or again when I made the second. For my nickel, it smacks of bait-and-switch.

Yeah, in a pig's eye. NOT ONE MORE PENNY FROM ME, YOU CROOKS! Who knows whether next year it'll be accounts under $50G. Whatever this greedy bank thinks they need to do to make "enough" money off our backs. The government is putting restrictions in place on some of their most eggregious thefts, so they are busy thinking up new ways to steal our money. THAT is their definition of "retirement plan". And they think I should pay them for this service. They even sent me a bill in the mail a few days later. But not to worry: if I want to save a stamp, just ignore the bill and they'll simply deduct it from my funds.

So what do you call it when the bank starts stealing from you? If it were one employee, it'd be called embezzlement. This way it's plain old bank robbery!