Idea: A New Law that says banks can only charge as much interest as they give others

I was driving through town a few weeks ago with the radio on, and I was listening about how the banks are charging ridiculous interest rates on credit cards these days. I myself never carry a balance over every month (I always pay off on time), but still....I thought it is absolutely crazy that banks can get away with charging people that much interest, especially when they went from a 12% interest to a 30% overnight.

So, today, I was driving around again, thinking of where I could invest my money right now (because there are really no good investments at this point), and I thought: it's insane that I can't find a savings account that will pay more than 1% interest, but banks can charge people 29% interest on their credit cards. How is that fair??

And then I thought: You know what? It should be illegal for banks to be able to charge their customers a 20 or 29% interest rate, and only offer a savings account with 1% or 0.5%, and when CD's are only paying yields of 2 and 3%.

So, I think we should make a law that says to banks: if you want to charge someone 20% or 30% interest, you can only do that if you also offer savings accounts or CDs that pay people 20 to 30% in interest. After all, fair is fair. Right now, nobody can make the kind of interest rate in savings that banks are charging.

So, that's my bright idea for the day.

Although I'm sure lots of people will tell me it's not fair to banks....but I think it's ridiculous that banks are allowed to charge that much in interest, but aren't required to pay out more than 0.5% or 1% on a savings account! Like I said, I don't carry a balance, but I still think it's criminal for banks to be able to do this.

[edit on 25-11-2009 by nikiano]

F&S to you, and if I could applause, I would. I just wonder why I didn't think of this first. It's such a simple solution. You know, like a wheel, or those Breathrite strips. I guess the (w)hole idea came up in Italy when certain ethnic groups were allowed to charge extra money, to people who borrowed from them (goys). It has all gotten out of hand from the greed of money.

reply to post by nikiano


i agree with this fully, and here in the UK we need something like thos more than ever after the ruling in favour of the banks today with letting them charhe say 37.00 pound for going overdrawn by 0.50 p . how is that fair even after these people who they re charging stupid amounts to, payed their taxes and helped bail out the banks.

Big Changes are needed, i wish i could do more to help


GREAT IDEA OP

reply to post by nikiano


They would go broke and if you don't understan why there is nothing anyone can do to help you.

reply to post by nikiano


Yup. Good idea!

And all retailers (department, car dealers, grocery, etc.) should have to sell all their goods and products for exactly what they buy them for.

And all craftsmen and artists should have to sell all their goods and products for exactly what the raw materials cost.

Fair's fair.



[edit on 11/25/09 by Ferris.Bueller.II]

It's absolutely insane how the banks can do this to people. I was just a high school kid in the 60's. I borrowed 200 dollars from the bank for 6 percent interest. I in turn put the money in a savings account receiving 5 1/4 percent interest. This was all done to establish a credit rating for myself. Yeah, I paid a bit more in the long run, just a bit more, mind you, and established myself financially. This stuff today is crazy!

The Saudi Arabian government finances their citizens to build homes, for example. They loan the money needed to build a house, and the citizens pay back the loan over a number of years. No interest! No finance charges. Social engineering and it's painless for the one getting the loan.
A family settles down instead of wandering through the desert, finds jobs or makes jobs and the economy continues. I'm sure there might be some downsides to this all, but I haven't really wanted to investigate further. Meanwhile, you want to continue wandering about the desert? You're free to do so.

I think this is a very good idea,and if a bank started doing this they would gain quite a % of new customers.

But the way banks make money is by lending your money out over and over again while charging interest. In turn they give you a small interest if you keep your money in your savings account.

I think a good idea would be to not allow banks to lend out money.
They should just keep all of your money in the bank and never move it. I know this would completely ruin any money making power a bank has, but why do banks need to make money? They should just be there as the safest place for The People to keep their money.

It would then be up to The People to invest their money not the banks.

The only way to do this that I can think of is to make a federal bank controlled by government for non-profit. There will still be the other banks, so you have a choice. I also know nobody wants the government to get any bigger, but in this case they would acctually be helping us becuase the other banking corporations will take notice and have to offer something similar or risk losing customers. Or lower the interest they charge on you.

A problem with this is that you would gain no interest by keeping your money in the bank. But it would stablize our banking industry.

reply to post by tooo many pills

I think a good idea would be to not allow banks to lend out money.
They should just keep all of your money in the bank and never move it. I know this would completely ruin any money making power a bank has, but why do banks need to make money? They should just be there as the safest place for The People to keep their money.

1) Facilities
2) Employees
3) Investors

Banks are a business, just like any other business.

I think you should see if you could open a bank that'd loan out zero funds, make zero money, and see if you could get people to give you their money to hold for zero interest.

Get back with us on how it works out.

Originally posted by HotSauce
reply to post by nikiano

 

They would go broke and if you don't understan(sic) why there is nothing anyone can do to help you.

They would go broke
Is that why, after charging borrowers 3 to 12%, they went broke, and WE had to bail them out at the tune of Trillions of dollars
I don't think so.

Originally posted by HotSauce
reply to post by nikiano

 

They would go broke and if you don't understan why there is nothing anyone can do to help you.

Then maybe you could explain how banks in Muslim countries stay solvent? It is illegal to charge interest or collect interest, because of religion.

Originally posted by Rook1545

Originally posted by HotSauce
reply to post by nikiano

 

They would go broke and if you don't understan why there is nothing anyone can do to help you.

Then maybe you could explain how banks in Muslim countries stay solvent? It is illegal to charge interest or collect interest, because of religion.

The banks still make a profit by working around the Sharia law restrictions. You didn't actually think they loaned money with no interest, did you?

Islamic Banking Principles