Dear Banks

DD's Modern Banking Paradox aka Paradoxen ex Fretus Moderni de DD

The willingness and ability of banks to accept your money for deposit is inversely proportional to their willingness and ability to give it back to you through withdrawl or transfer.

or

As it becomes ever easier to open an account with a bank (make a deposit) it becomes proportionally more difficult to get that money back by withrdrawing it or transfering it somewhere else.

or

Banks have never been better or more efficient at accepting people's money, and never any worse or less efficient at giving it back to them.

Dear Banks,

I am writing this letter as a concerned bank customer who is worried that you have forgotten something critically important. Before I reveal the identity of this very important thing, I need to remind you of a few things about myself. It is important that you understand these things about me because they will help convince you that the reasons for my worry are genuine, and not the result of political beliefs or an anti-capitalist agenda or a communist plot or whatever. I am a rational, fair, everyday, average individual who only thinks or cares about banking when I need to use a bank to deposit or withdraw money. At all other times (the vast majority) banks and banking are the furthest things from my mind.

Like most people I do need to use you on occassion and have since I was a youth. Your role as the place where people can safely deposit and save money is critically important in both the United States and globally. Because it is so important I do not begruge you the ability to take the money I give to you and do with it whatever you see fit, within reason of course. Most often it seems what you do is to combine my money with money from other people and/or businesses, and invest it in order to generate even more money. I have no problem with that, this is a capitalist society, and you have every right to make money like any other business. And, I totally get the pressure you are under from shareholders and investors to generate ever increasing revenue and profits. Therefore, I also have had no problem with the ever increasing menu of fees for services that previously were free, and the introduction of a host of new (also not free) services. I actually commend you for your cleverness on both those fronts and think you have generally been mostly fair in terms of pricing for those services. Not too surprisingly many of the new consumer services you have introduced are basically different forms of accounts, or different ways that people can deposit money with you so you can safely hold it for them. Today it feels as if there are a near infinite number of ways for people to deposit their money with you. And it has never been easier to deposit money with you (open a checking or savings account or whatever). You could even go so far to say that it is a golden age for you in terms of your ability to accept money via deposit.

Which finally brings me to the identity of that critical thing which it seems you have forgotten. All I ask in return for the largess I grant you to do what you see fit with my money is that you will give it back to me when I request that you give it back. Indeed this should not even need to be said for it is MY MONEY. This is what you have forgotten banks. I am depositing MY MONEY with you. It is NOT YOUR MONEY it is MY MONEY. When I ask for MY MONEY back I expect to get it back post haste and without complication or complaint. After all it is MY MONEY not YOUR MONEY. I deposit it with you and allow you to use it, but it IS STILL MY MONEY and when I need it back, I need it back. Even if I just want it back, I expect it back. It does not matter why or for what or how or for whom because it is MY MONEY, you must, and should give it back to me when I request it back. And you should give me as much or as little of it as I ask for. It should not matter if I only want 1 penny of it back, or I wish to withdraw the entire amount, it is my money and when I ask for it back I want it back immediately, without question, without delay. I guess what I am saying is that their should be zero restrictions for you giving me back my money when I ask for it. Given the huge fav0r I am doing for you by giving you my money to keep and invest to make even more money, there should be no restrictions at all on how, when, where, why or how much, when it comes to getting my money back or moving it somewhere else.

Therefore, it is more than a bit surprising how extraordinarly difficult it is for a person to remove their money from you or to move money from one of you to another. Which is again why I am writing this letter to remind you of what it seems you have forgotten, the money people deposit with you is their money, it is not your money, it is theirs. Therefore, they should be free to do with it whatever they want, which includes removing it or moving it, at will. Moreover, it should be just as easy to remove money from you as it is to deposit money with you. Instead, in the name of fraud protection, or market complications, or whatever other excuse you can come up with you put up roadblock after roadblock after roadblock when it comes to removing money from you, or moving money between different versions of you. When it comes to people giving you money the door is wide open and you say come on in, but when it comes to giving it back, your door is slammed shut, has a sign posted saying get out and must be pried open with a cro bar. Hope this reminder helps and would love to see you make some changes for the better in the near future.

Sincerely,

A concerned bank customer