When I read the story last weekend that TD Canada Trust was letting hundreds of people go to reduce costs, I saw red.
Last quarter, that particular bank’s earnings dropped 7%. However, it made a profit of $1.68-billion. But if you’re a shareholder, you’re not happy that your shares are slightly lower than before. So in order to prop them back up, the bank will put hundreds of people out of work. This infuriates me.
I’ve been with Canada Trust since long before it was swallowed up by TD. Bank fees keep climbing. That’s nothing new. But this latest move was the proverbial straw. I finally started the process of moving to a no-fee bank.
When I was living in Wingham and bought a beautiful Camaro, my friend Don advised me to get my loan at the local credit union. When they stopped taking payments out of my account, I thought it was a mistake and went in to see them. “You’ve paid off your loan”, they said. I couldn’t believe it. Their interest rate was so much lower than everyone else’s that I paid it off quickly. Now, there are online-only banks such as Tangerine, and other no-fee options like President’s Choice, where they actually seem to treat customers as if they’re grateful for their business. I’m about to find out if that’s the case, as I source out my account numbers and switch everything out of TD for good.
No one likes to lose money, but whether you buy into a company or an RRSP, things ebb and flow. Sometimes it’s up, sometimes it’s down, but if you’ve chosen well, you’ll come out of it ahead. Not so anymore. If it looks like there’ll be a dip, the CEOs toss out people to keep the shareholders happy. It’s backwards and disgusting and so greedy that it makes me want to take my money out of institutions and put it under my mattress. With my luck, the dust bunnies under the bed would start charging me a storage fee.
I switched ALL of my banking to a credit union years ago. At that time, we had 3 commercial banks and one “savings bank” in town as well as a credit union which was started in the 50s by workers at a local manufacturing company. As a member, YOU are an owner. Our credit union now has 5 offices in the county and is open to anyone living, working, going to school, volunteering, going to church, etc. in the county. It offers checking & savings accounts, CDs, a credit card, mortgages, personal loans, car loans, boat loans, just about any banking option that you might want AND at lower rates. Why anyone would not avail themselves of these offerings is beyond me.
It only makes sense. These bank asshats have to be shown the door!