All banks are bandits. Remember in the 1950’s and 60’s when mortgages were around five to six percent and one could get 4-1/2 percent on your passbook savings. And that was before credit cards and all the other high interest rate and overdraft charges that generate big profits. You generally knew your banker and got really good service. Now the bankers are as greedy as payday loan sharks and have even lower morals. I remember when I worked for an employer that had lots of hourly production workers that needed to cash their weekly paychecks at the employer’s bank. That bank and most all others charged five dollars to cash the payroll checks. I find it criminal that a bank would charge to cash a check drawn on their accounts. The working poor always get robbed. A lot of them cannot even get a checking account at a bank because they don’t have any credit history or other consumer card.

I worked for Screw U Bank back in the 80s. My all time least fav employer.... I'd rather eat ground glass than work for them again.

While I am sure that there was something afoot, I find it hard to believe that a US Bank manage said that they were not "real customers".

Incidentally, has anyone noticed the "returned check fees" that banks have recently started charging if you want copies of your checks? Wells was charging me $3.50/month. US Bank was charging $1.50/month. If you call and complain, they will stop those charges.

What a non-story. A little research goes a long way:

http://www.employment.oregon.gov/EMPLOY/UI/ui_payment_options.shtml

Will I receive a monthly paper statement in the mail?

Yes, by request only. Paper statements will automatically default to “No” unless you choose to receive them. You may also view the current transaction history and past statements online at www.reliacard.com. To ensure that your monthly statement is sent to the correct address, please contact ReliaCard Visa customer service at 1-866-276-5114 to report an address change. The Employment Department will not forward address changes to the Bank.

Who do I contact if I have questions about my card?

For questions about your payments, such as when you will receive the next deposit to the card, or the amount of a deposit to the card, contact your Employment Department UI Center. For all other questions about the card, you may contact ReliaCard Visa customer service 24 hours a day, toll-free at 1-866-276-5114. This number is on the back of the card.

Can I contact my local bank or the local U.S. Bank for customer service on my ReliaCard Visa account?

No. You must direct all of your ReliaCard Visa questions to the toll-free customer service line.
You may also utilize the web site www.reliacard.com for inquiries.

The bank still could have been a little nicer about it and say something like "Sorry, we dont manage that, please talk to the state."

The bank still could have been a little nicer about it and say something like "Sorry, we dont manage that, please talk to the state."

How do you know they didn't. We only have one side of the story.

>\ From Global Depression to Global Governance - The role of the corporate elites' secretive global think tanks, by Andrew Gavin Marshall, Global Research, October 19, 2010

The following is the text of Andrew Gavin Marshall's presentation at the book launch of "The Global Economic Crisis: The Great Depression of the XXI Century", Michel Chossudovsky and Andrew Gavin Marshall (Editors). September 29, 2010, Montreal, Canada.

We now stand at the edge of the global financial abyss of a ‘Great Global Debt Depression,’ where nations, mired in extreme debt, are beginning to implement ‘fiscal austerity’ measures to reduce their deficits, which will ultimately result in systematic global social genocide, as the middle classes vanish and the social foundations upon which our nations rest are swept away. How did we get here? Who brought us here? Where is this road leading? These are questions I will briefly attempt to answer.

In the West, corporations and banks saw rapid, record-breaking profits. This was the era in which the term ‘globalization’ emerged. While profits soared, wages for people in the West did not. Thus, to consume in an economy in which prices were rising, people had to go into debt. This is why this era marked the rise of credit cards fueling consumption, and the middle class became a class based entirely on debt.

In the 1990s, the ‘new world order’ was born, with America ruling the global economy, free trade agreements began integrating regional and global markets for the benefit of global banks and corporations, and speculation dominated the economy.

The global economic crisis arose as a result of decades of global imperialism – known recently as ‘globalization’ – and the reckless growth of– speculation, derivatives and an explosion of debt. As the economic crisis spread, nations of the world, particularly the United States, bailed out the major banks (which should have been made to fail and crumble under their own corruption and greed), and now the West has essentially privatized profits for the banks, and socialized the risk. In other words, ...

Something About Tax Cuts Or Earnings Or Money Or Something In Recent Economic News, TheOnion, September 29, 2010 | ISSUE 46•39

WASHINGTON — Some sort of tax cut or earnings or money or something was reported in economic news this week in further evidence that a lot of financial- related things have been going on lately.

According to numerous articles and economics segments from major media outlets, experts on banks and such have become increasingly concerned over a new extension or rates or a proposal or compromise that could signal fewer investments, and dollars, and so on.

The experts confirmed that the stimulus has played a role.

"This is a clear sign of a changing cycle," some top guy at one of the big banks in New York said of purchasing power parity or possibly ....