Is VISA card trying to immitate AMEX black card?

[rebeccaC]

All examples of how expensive it is to be poor ...

Not that it doesn't make sense from the bank's point of view, that they should impose charges on people when they can't make enough money from investing small balances. But from a customer point of view, it's infuriating that people with large balances should have fees waived and even interest awarded, where the people who can least afford it have all kinds of charges deducted from their accounts each month. When I was younger it was still possible to live without a bank account, and most of the poor did so. Nowadays, pretty much only the homeless can exist without bank accounts, and circularly, if they want a permanent residence, not having a bank account is a big impediment.

I don’t fault a non-predatory bank for needing to make some money for handling someone’s money for her or his convenience/need.

There are checking accounts with no minimum account balance requirements and no monthly fees if someone wants to find them. You may have to use a debit card a specific number of times each month (mine is 15) and get online statements, etc. that lessen the cost of handling your money for the bank. In any case as long as fees for services aren't predatory I have no problem with them and see it as a customer responsibility to learn about it and make a choice. I also see where my bank is making enough money off my balance, even with the interest they pay and cash back, to be able to include more services for me. I see nothing wrong with that and appreciate it even though I realize it's more about competition for deposits.

The reality of poverty and homelessness is that there are so MANY different factors involved not just access to a bank account. You might want to do some reading into what the Gates Foundation, among others, is doing in the challenge to get financial services to the poor and getting education to them on the subject. My city has a strong network of help for the homeless and poor, including some Gates project money, because as a community we care about it. If my city didn't I'd probably be volunteering to help it see the advantage to everyone by helping with those issues.

Crankin….I do tax payments by certified mail to have a record of the date of mailing out of habit….and cuz I usually mail on the day due and get a float for one to three weeks on the money. All forms are electronically sent.