Investigating the Bank

Banks hold money, but they also have to make some to operate. That’s why overdraft fees and user fees exist.

When I worked for a bank in Ceredo, West Virginia, I felt the company actively defrauded customers they called “valuable.” The company mailed $10 checks to their “valued customers” for being good clients. Unbeknownst to the customer, when the check was cashed it was considered a signed contract agreeing to enroll in an account that charged them $5 per month.

On the very bottom of the check, a sliver of perforated paper read in tiny letters what cashing the check meant. Many customers who received the check were elderly and for whatever reason did not heed the warning.

I think a good investigation of this would be to talk to the FDIC to see what their point of view on grey area of false advertising is.

Investigating this story would also require speaking to someone at the United Bank company to see why they thought it was okay to rip off their customers in this way, especially elderly customers with bad vision and trusting personalities. It would also be very important to speak with a customer affected and pull their bank documents showing the transactions.

I think this would be an ethical question – the small words on the check were obviously supposed to be ignored.