Читать книгу The Barefoot Investor - Scott Pape - Страница 25

‘What do you look for in your banking relationship?’ a bank executive once asked me.

‘I'm sorry, but I'm just not looking for a relationship with a bank right now,’ I told him, and then added, ‘it's not me, it's you'.

I am not loyal to any financial institution.

Banks are giant corporate octopuses with tentacles that wrap around you and squeeze out as much money as they can.

In 2020, the average Australian household was getting whacked $395 a year. Makes sense when you think about it — how else could four businesses make $30 billion a year in profits in a country with just 25.5 million people?

Rant over.

The bottom line is that it doesn't pay to be loyal.

What you need from your bank is a dead-simple, zero-fee solution.

Spare me all the convoluted ‘Terms & Conditions’ and fine print: ‘If you deposit $125 a month and don't withdraw it for 3 years, we'll pay you a bonus 0.16 per cent for the first 2 months, at which time it will revert back to our standard variable rate’.

Huh?

Just give me zero fees. As in doughnuts. None. Ever.*

(*And that includes no ATM fees. Ever.)

I don't care if I'm at one of those weirdly named convenience stores that has one of those weirdly named ATMs charging you an arm and half a leg to get your dough. Not my problem. I'm not paying for it.

Contrast this with what happened a few years ago to a friend of mine who banks with ANZ. I spent 30 minutes with him one night trudging around the city in the rain looking for his ATM: ‘I swear it was on the corner of Collins and Swanston!’ he moaned while I stood there shivering, hating him.