The Notorious Banker

Breaking News as Bank of America ONCE AGAIN announces a starting wage increase . Last Year, they got to $20, and this year they announce an increase to $25/hr by 2025.  While it sounds all well and good, I discuss how this means THE END of tellers as we know it, as everyone on the branch level will be a skilled salesperson. I talk about the immense pressure that will only get worse as the wag...

First off,  I am proud to announce with your donations to my Patreon , CashApp and Venmo, The Notorious Banker is donating his body weight in food. That's 310 lbs of food for the needy in Southern NM. The food will be given to Casa de Peregrinos in Las Cruces, NM . I am so excited and THANKFUL for your generosity, which allows me to be generous as well. Today's podcast we discuss an interview...

I discuss my COVID Vaccine experience in a small pharmacy in Las Cruces, NM and despite how bizarrely set up the drive was, I felt that it was 100x better than big bank efficiency is today.  I give a detailed play by play of how that went and how I missed good customer service. I also talk about how some processes can be much better at the bank as a result. I also allude to a news story about...

First Segment: I discuss the glitch that so many people reported on Twitter Last Thursday which credited thousands of dollars into their accounts without warning. I discuss how the majority of the posters were POC and how it ties to the thought that POC are the most impacted by OD fees, as the glitch was an overdraft refund from the stimmy deposits of a month prior. Instead of debiting any fees ba...

Opening: I talk about earnings at JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo being INSANE so far, with Bank of America to come. It's asotounding. 2nd Segment: I talk about the death of Bernie Madoff and I spent 20 minutes talking about how excess is toxic in finance and how he spent a lifetime cultivating a story and a lifestyle to impress people, including women. Some items of Madoff Auctioned off after his...

I'm back after a brief hiatus dealing with a harasser (No, not a BofA Employee). Thank You for your patience and support with that bizarre issue last week. Today's pod is a single topic spawned from an article by Margot Roosevelt of the L.A. Times Article Here A bill in California is going to be introduced into their state assembly in the coming weeks which will be able to offer basic financial se...

This podcast is dedicated to all the amazing women I worked with at BofA who were always objectified.  I am upset about this story. In Houston, TX, Bank of America Relationship Manager (My old job) Juan Esteban Ramirez was arrested for stealing nude photos off the phones of his young female clients under the guise of being a helpful banker accessing information for his clients. Now, I have a...

Just wanted to rant about a lot of the things we discussed in the past week as America waited for the #stimmy aka $1400 Stimulus Check. I first discuss how it is this awesome communal experience with all people on Twitter discussing banking and money and everything else, and how I found it so cool from my perspective as a bank nerd! There was so much misinformation from Bank of America's @BofA_Hel...

FIRST OFF... 3000 FOLLOWERS ON TWITTER!!! Special podcast. We will talk about all the news from BofA and Wells Fargo next pod. But, yesterday, My #vigilantecustomerservice recovered a record amount of money for a Bank of America customers. Dr. V, a professor and overall amazing person was sending money via "wire" to pay the closing costs of his amazing new home. Problem? Bank of America sent him i...

Great big podcast today: First, I discuss an issue my follower and TNB listener Myste had with Bank of America and their new check cashing policy which went into effect in October. Basically, if you need to cash a check that's more than what you have in the bank, you will be forced to deposit it or go somewhere else. What if that deposit that they make you do impacts your housing, food stamps, hea...

Interesting Subject Matter Today: First, Wells Fargo announced a closure of one of its branches in Birmingham, AL . For the first time, I noticed the closure was in an upper-middle calls or higher neighborhood. Vestavia Hills has median incomes in the >$100k range, median home prices in the >$350k range, and is 87.7% White . It's basically the opposite of everything I was ever told about Ala...

After reading many stories about how the victims of the Texas winter storm, freeze, and rolling blackouts were paying upwards of $17k for their electricity, including $1k for a few hours worth of power , I felt compelled to discuss one thing people need to do with their electric bill if they are not sure they will be gouged: Disable auto-pay which so many power companies recommend you do. Autopay...

I watched the Britney Spears Documentary this weekend with my wife when we were snowed in. It was very intriguing, and it led me to think about how people treated young women a generation ago, which influenced how I did as well. I discuss in this podcast how I am evolving my way of thinking the last couple years because of more recent events, and how the Britney situation is an untenable one for h...

Today's main topic, unless you have been under a rock in the banking world is Tucker Carlson, widely popular Fox News host, with millions of viewers every night, pointing his anger at Bank of America. Speaking on the aftermath of January 6th at the Capital, Carlson lobbed the accusation that Bank of America without hesitation, gave data which included purchase history, location data and other evid...

Bank of America is doing it again. Today, BofA announced a " $15 Billion Commitment to Affordable Homeownership " for Low and Moderate income potential homebuyers. This is triple what they announced in 2019 , with this commitment now going into 2025. In the middle of Black History Month, BofA annouces a product that should in theory help communities of color thrive with the prospects of home owner...

I give you some brief thoughts on the Gamestop situation, and how in a weird way, I am glad so many thousands of people are seeing the hypocrisy of the system which pretends to give people equal opportunity to invest in things to only handcuff them when it isn't going the best for hedge funds who were left exposed by the recent Reddit posts and subsequent trades on RobinHood and other places Regar...

I discuss Brian Moynihan's comment on the conference call for Q4 earnings, where he said, "2020 was a good year." Of course he was meaning $18 Billion in profit, slightly less than last year, but with less expenses like branches open, etc. I get into why he may have said it (I even don't think it was nefarious...just more bank speak from a very shy CEO) But I go over a laundry list of bad things t...

I first address the big purge of followers we all had on Twiiter after the President was banned from Twitter and how my demographics are impacted! Yours truly helped someone locally here in Southern NM recover a $7000 check from Bank of America that would be held for 12 days in 12 hours! Bank of America has policies that require you to deposit checks when you don't have enough to cover them, and t...

Note: This Podcast is merely a discussion about companies contributing politically to campaigns. Bank of America weighed in on the Capitol Unrest on Wednesday , Hours after potential insurrectionists broke windows and infiltrated the Senate Floor. They preached a "peaceful transition". According to Blogger Judd Legum, Bank of America has donated $500k to dozens of people who supports the case to s...

Everyone is wondering: Where's my $600 Stimulus (or #Stimmy) as Twitter is calling it. It is leading to pissed off people and some hilarious memes (That I'm Sharing). I discuss more how big banks are talking to their customers about expectations. Wells Fargo and Chase have been surprisingly good in tweeting links on basic info on how it works. Bank of America is telling you that you need to save m...

First off -- HAPPY TWO YEAR ANNIVERSARY TO THIS PODCAST, FORMERLY KNOWN AS WHY YOUR BANK SUCKS. Thanks to the people who have downloaded my project hundreds of thousands of times! :) :) We start off with an interesting story. Because of what was described as videos that "violate the terms of service" on their servers, Visa and Mastercard announced last week that they would stop accepting payments...

I got an email from a listener who told me that I should talk about the new Chase First account, which is an account that is targeting the parents of kids 6-13 years old, by offering an account that allows their kids to "learn about banking". Chase First Banking Account Info Chase First Account Schedule of Fees (PDF) Ironically, that age range doesn't allow online banking for email/privacy concern...

Kurt Phelps, a Market Executive at Bank of America in NYC (A role similar to my old boss who fired me) arrested for asking for and taking hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes from business customers. He was taking them to "Coach and coax" business loans through the system that would not meet qualifications. This also leads to speculation of the bribes going to others as well. Austin Weinstei...

Interesting story about debt collectors being able to contact you on social media happened in the past two weeks. I think this is a scary thing, but not just for the privacy reasons a lot of you are thinking about. I have a feeling that debt collectors amping up the pressure on you can hurt your mental health, especially if using social media as an escape from reality. CBS NEWS STORY HERE Plus, as...

We've talked about how much Wells Fargo and CEO of Wells Fargo until 2016, John Stumpf sucks for the "unauthorized account scandal" of 2016. He was fined and banned by the OCC in January and fined $2.5 Million again this past week. But I talk about why he should be in jail. But I did something in this podcast. I talk about his ascent to the top of Wells Fargo, which included a stop in my home stat...