The Notorious Banker

I very rarely am anti-customer as you can tell by my content, but a local El Paso TV report about how over 100 cannabis dispensaries have NOT paid their State of NM taxes last year, has made me change my mind on allowing them to bank. Taxing pot has long been a talking point for pro-cannabis folks in their fight to legalize pot. While I am pro-legalization, and am happy new small businesses are po...

According to an article in the WSJ and Gizmodo, Goldman Sachs, the humongous Mega-Bank, wants out of the Apple Card and Apple Savings business. Facing tough earnings this week, a lot of people who are familiar with GS expect them to try to offload them to another bank, likely AmEx. In this podcast, I will talk about how I predicted that Apple Card would succeed like the GS and Apple CEOs said it w...

Mike Lindell, the loud, creepy guy who owns MyPillow and is known for his 2020 Election crusade or misadventures, wherever you come from, had his AmEX credit line slashed from $1 Million to $100,000. He cites politics as the reason American Express did it . As I have mentioned in many podcasts before, it's NEVER about politics, because banks want to make money with you. It is however something...

Trying something different today. I am doing a podcast about something I would do a column on. The Starbucks near my house, inside a grocery store has not been open during the hours you would expect a coffee shop to be open lately. I am assuming it was staff going back to school and not being able to do morning shift. Last few times I have gone to that store, a homemade sign was taped to the door...

My grandpa passed on July 16th, and what I can help with, I have helped from afar in Las Cruces, NM, 150 miles away, with my mom handling the bulk of the issues. But she calls me out of the blue the other day and tells me that First Financial Credit Union who holds my grandpa's car note is demanding immediate payment without allowing his estate to go through probate. Also, Melloy Nissan told m...

I lost my Grandpa Candy last Sunday. He was 85. While of course we prep for the end always, it is never easy when it gets here. In this podcast, I share a couple personal stories about the day he passed, and the day after, which saw some interesting things at a local bank in Socorro NM where my cousins work and the bank felt a little...off. Plus I also talk about the sales pitches of being a funer...

Live from Fort Worth, a very truncated Emergency Podcast about Bank of America. Bank of America fined $200 Million by CFPB for unauthorized credit card accounts, double dipping fees, and so so much more. CFPB Article Here In this podcast, I explain that most of this had to have been when I was still there (I left in 2018) because aside from allegedly no sales goals now, BofA has internal controls...

I am back from a hiatus! Thanks for everyone who asked me, "James... Where's your podcast?" Been busy and working through some writer's block issues, but I am here to talk about things I love...Like arguing about shitty customer service. First, we will talk about how a local CU near my house ripped out the Drive-Up mechanisms, installed full-service ATMs in its place, and became...

Hello All! Back from my book sabbatical to talk about 2 topics (While Under the Weather) I discuss my thoughts on the Louisville Bank Shooting and things that triggered me about how and when it happened, plus discussing how big bank policy would have never let that man in the door after getting rid of him. Plus, I talk about turning 40 years old today. HOLY CRAP! I explain what I feel about life a...

Crazy Breaking News:  Silicon Valley Bank, a bank with hundreds of billions of assets, went into FDIC Receivership today , after a run on the bank starting yesterday, led by Peter Thiel and his VC Buddies. This left this bank reeling and the feds to come in midday (normally wait until end of business) and take over this bank. People's money will be available in 3 days, but needless to say thi...

Back from a mini-sabbatical as I write my NMSU Basketball book to get it out ASAP. I discuss Bank of America's role in Don Van Natta's AWESOME story about the turmoil with the Washington Commanders team and the beef minority owners had with the main owner, Dan Snyder. At the center is a $55 Million Loan that Snyder took out with the NFL's backing without informing his partners, which is leading to...

 As a lot of you know, I have been on sabbatical from my podcast and social media availability because I'm  currently writing a book about NMSU Men's Basketball and a couple other things. Plasma donations are part of my supplemental income, and I have become a huge advocate for the process since I started donating 20 years ago. Recently, changes in center policy have caused the equipment...

First off. PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO MY SUBSTACK. I talk Bad Banks, Unethical Businesses and more in a Hilarious Way. Free of Charge. Tons of content. The Biden Admin. has proposed capping CC Late Fees to $8 per missed payment from as much as $41. It is in an effort to reduce or eliminate "Junk Fees". Big banks and their lobbying arms claim that lowering the fee will encourage more late payments and cau...

First and foremost: Subscribe to my new Substack called "Consumer Beast" I will discuss bank issues in longform there, plus I will also rant about customer service issues in other fields! Now, let's get to the business at hand. Wednesday, January 18th, Bank of America had a major outage with Zelle, causing transfers that happened the previous four days to reverse, leading to negative balances and...

Happy 2023! We lead with the story of Dion Rabouin, an awesome WSJ reporter who was in Phoenix with family over the holidays when he decided to do work on a story about low interest rates on savings accounts at big banks. The Chase bank he went to on 12038 N 32nd St in Phoenix asked him what he was doing. He told him. They said nothing. They called their corporate security and then they called the...

 Big news in the world of banking today. Wells Fargo, who set aside $2 Billion last quarter to cover any potential penalties that the CFPB would impose on them, got hit with 2x that amount, $3.7 Billion for those violations in a stunning news release by CFPB Read CFPB Release Here. Denying mortgage modifications, charging surprise overdraft fees, and illegally repossessing vehicles are just t...

Thanks for listening. I start the podcast off with a book update, and another book idea that has popped up. Next, I discuss how Brian Moynihan, CEO of Bank of America, has a lot of buzz that he may be the next Treasury Sec. if Janet Yellen leaves. Charles Gasparino with the scoop tweet on 12-9 . I discuss how mind blowing that is, how of course Joe Biden's former nickname "Senator from MBNA" comes...

This came out of left field today. According to David Benoit and AnnaMaria Andriotis of the WSJ ,  Zelle is purportedly creating a "playbook" for banks and themselves to have systems to refund victims of Zelle fraud, particularly the "me to me" scam that has been going on for years. In this emergency podcast, I will tell you everything that is wrong with this supposed thing Zelle is doing. I...

Sorry about the long layoff... I was sick with COVID :( In today's episode, I discuss how since Elon took over, it has been impossible to do my "The Notorious Banker" work because of people trolling Elon, BofA for lending Elon and a bunch of pointless convos. It seems hard to get a couple of simple things completed, especially when it comes to helping people. Then, I briefly talk about Wells Fargo...

I briefly talk about Elon Musk and Twitter just in the sense of how it impacts me and my project. Note: It won't and it can't. I then talk about interest rates. As we all know, it's really expensive to buy a house now simply on interest rate hikes alone. I think it's bad, and it is only going to get worse. That being said, the American public always discusses these things collectively as a whole w...

We talk about something that is not really a bank issue. Equifax fired a lot of employees who were found to have second jobs. Apparently, they used their own patented software to spy on their own employees. I talk about how moonlighting is becoming more common and how I had a couple coworkers who did stuff like this at a smaller scale, but only getting written up, not fired. Plus, we talk about We...

Yes, We talk about the Kanye/Chase thing... Reluctantly. I mainly focus on why the people who are protesting this move by Chase are the same people who ignored when this happens to others not as rich or famous. I discuss what it possibly MAY have been to cause this breakup, and I discuss the uniqueness of this case. Plus, I talk about how some recent high profile criminal acts just outside of bank...

I discuss a man in North Carolina who fell victim to a "Bill Pay" scam that is different than the normal Zelle fraud we are used to seeing at BofA. Bank of America true to form denied the man's claim until a local news organization ran a story to ask the bank why they denied him, and boom, like clockwork, BofA caved like the dogs they are and refunded the man his money. I explain the scam, and I e...

In this podcast I discuss an offer I found through US Bank where the bank is offering select clients $5, yes FIVE WHOLE DOLLARS to use Zelle 2x. What I see as a lacking gesture is also a way to fudge the numbers of "alternative ways to bank" to justify limiting staff and branches going forward. Giving clients a small pittance in order for you to save millions over the years sounds like a bet US Ba...

One topic today: SENATE BANKING HEARING (3 HOURS LONG) House BANKING HEARING (7 HOURS LONG) Bank CEOs were on Capitol Hill for 2 days this week talking to the House and Senate Banking Oversight Committees. There were a wide range of topics from Climate to Inflation to Gas Station ATMs. I curated a few clips about Zelle, fees, Bitcoin, Questionable Ethical Job Hirings, and some of the funnier momen...