Another Thing That 'Bugs' Me - Banks' Primary Stakeholders

Isn't it interesting that institutions such as our chartered banks are tightening up credit when consumers and small businesses need it the most. Weren't the chartered banks the ones who advertised encouraging people to borrow money? Did they not encourage people to acquire credit card?

Don't the banks also have lots of publications saying how wonderful they are to their customers? They also tell everyone who will listen that they are wonderful workplaces. A look at the diversity of their current workforce suggests that they have been good at developing a workforce that accurately (or at least partially so) reflects the diversity of the workforce in the early 21st century.

But you know if you look beyond the spin, and see how they are doing financially one finds the following:

1 Banks are generally still posting large profits despite the 'recession' for the rest of us.
2 The 'fine print' in most credit contracts still gives them the right to request immediate repayment of all outstanding credit
3 Many of the activities at 'customer appreciation' days are funded by local branch employees

In reality the primary bank stakeholders are the shareholders. Customers like ourselves as well as bank employees are no where near the top of bank executive's priorities. Bank public relations officials will disagree undoubtedly but when you compare bank lending and othe practicess, actions do speak lounder than words.

Our banking system is one of the healthiest in the world.... they do lots of good community and other activities. But we should remember that they do this in their corporate self interest...