Hefty Surcharge Brings Controversy

The H.S.B.C. is in the news again. One week ago, it announced record profits of $22 billion. Now one British branch won't serve customers unless they have $100,000 in savings or pay a monthly subscription.

I wish this came as more of a surprise. When I worked for the bank (eight years ago) I saw no such discrimination but the trend has become apparent recently. The neighbourhood I live in is not an affluent one and there isn't a branch of any bank nearby. Why open one only to have it be your worst-performing branch? Everybody's got targets, people, even when we expect them to provide a darned service first and foremost. More "premier branches" are surely on the way.

There are three private A.T.M.s in the vicinity that I can use. The nearest is in the foyer of a massage parlour (so if you see me ducking out of there, I didn't just get the lunch hour special). So the banks back off from low-income areas, the independent contractors move in and charge you a fee for accessing your own money, and the locals just get poorer!

Have you seen the dollar exchange rate lately? Let's all go to America! Or somewhere fun that uses greenbacks, like East Timor.