UNITED STATES—The bank, it used to be a place I visited at least once a week, but as of late that has vastly changed. Why? Banks I feel just do not care as much about their customers. They are doing any and everything in their power to hit customers with unsuspecting fees. Like I had a bank charge a freaking $4 fee on a stop payment for a check that was done nearly a year ago. I’m pissed because I already paid a $30 fee to stop the payment (nearly a year ago) and you’re charging me another fee?

Something tells me banks think their customers are stupid and that is a major mistake. I’ve been angling to find another bank for months now, simply because I want to have a back-up and a potential change. Sometimes you have to shake things up to realize what you’ve been missing or what needs to be addressed primarily. You get charged a fee if you don’t have a distinct amount in your account each month, you get charged a fee if you don’t have a specific amount of direct deposits in a given month, you get a fee for this, a fee for that it is just never-ending.

So here is where it becomes important. When you send a clear message to the bank that they are there to SERVE you and not the other way around, they understand that you’re not a pushover. I rarely go to the bank to deposit my checks anymore because I use mobile banking. It’s so quick; it’s so easy and just makes my life so much easier America. I like talking to the tellers, but at times I hate sitting and waiting for service when you have people who want to have full-blown conversations with the teller when there is a massive line of customers who need assistance.

The worst thing about a majority of banks or banking establishments nowadays is the fact that it’s hard to earn interest on your money. What good does it do me to leave my money in a bank where I cannot earn interest helping me make more money? Most banks are only willing to offer 0.001 percent. Guys, that is no money whatsoever, and it would take decades to earn a few bucks at most. It seems using a CD is the only way to really draw any interest on money that you have in your possession.

The notion of experiencing such bad banking behavior this week has not only forced me to question who I currently bank with, but the notion of saving more money at my home in a potential safe. I mean the banks are loaning or handing out the money you stash to others on a daily basis. So am I actually losing out on anything if I decide to take my money from my current banker? In all honesty, the answer is no. The one perk I lose is the potential to cash checks without losing a few dollars, not to mention losing the perks of getting an auto loan or home mortgage loan.

As I tell people all the time, cash is the best thing that you can have. If you tell someone you’re willing to pay cash for a house that perks their attention much faster than going thru a bank to obtain the funds. Cash speaks in ways that no other form of currency does. The biggest issue I’m realizing with 2019, which is only three days in is its time to make changes to things that I’m not happy with, even if it’s a bank that I’ve done business with for nearly a decade plus. You know what they say sometimes change is a good thing.