I received a call from Amy, my daughter-in-law and office manager, and she was in a bit of a panic. She had brought up our business checking account for Rick’s Sign Co. online and seen that the account was in the red, and noticed the deposit she was supposed to have made the previous Thursday was still on her desk and not in the bank. A fairly large draft for payroll taxes had nearly put us under, and then several checks came through and put us in the red. Fortunately the bank had covered the checks, but charged us nearly $250 in overdraft charges, and she was pretty upset with herself.

 

I told her to run to the bank and make the deposit, along with any other funds we had received in the meantime, and I would call my banker, whom I’ve known for nearly 30 years, and even go to church with, and see if he could credit us back the overdraft charges and assumed he would. After all, we don’t do this type of thing every day.

 

I called my friend and banker, and explained what had happened. And as I told the story he looked up the account and viewed all the transactions, and saw the final deposit as well. I told him that I very much appreciated the bank covering the checks, but wondered if he could do something about the fairly hefty overdraft charges we were being penalized with. 

 

“Rick,” he said, “I will see what I can do. I can probably get about $150 of that back for you, but I’m not sure about the rest. Let me check into it and get back with you.”

 

Well, in a day or two a notice came in the mail and online that showed he had indeed put $150 of those overdraft charges back in our account, but the other hundred dollars or so was just a loss. I’m sure I should be thankful, even grateful, for the adjustment he made. But the more I thought about it, the more I started scratching my head and mentally working through the way banks have treated their clients for as long as I can remember, and I plan to go visit my banker friend and see if he could offer some type of explanation.

 

I intend to say something like, “Jim (not his real name), I think we can agree that a bank, any bank, deals with a commodity: money, right? It is not a rare commodity, as money is everywhere and banks are just about on every corner. Whether deposited, loaned, overdrafted or deposited, money is money.” I don’t think he’d argue with that.

 

“The amount that we went under in one of our accounts, and was covered by the bank for two or three days, was basically a loan. An unintended loan, but still just a loan, right? 

 

“But, in our other business account, there was roughly $10,000 on deposit at the same time. Since the bank pays us no interest on that money, that is basically an interest free loan from us to the bank, right? Our average monthly balance of our combined commercial checking accounts is around $15,000 to $20,000, which one might consider free money to the bank, which they can loan out at various rates and do business with.”

 

(I should tell him that in the commercial sign business, I have absolutely nothing I can sell or make a profit from that costs me nothing. Maybe that’s why banks are always in expensive buildings, expensively furnished, and sign shops aren’t. But, I probably won’t say that.)

 

“Taking everything at face value, I am wondering why we should be charged first $250, then $100 in interest for a loan of less than $2,000 for two or three days? That interest rate is so high, it’s hard to calculate. And after all, it was basically our money loaned back to us. There was nothing special about that money. Money is money. So why do banks insist on charging even their good customers high overdraft charges, and act like there is nothing else they could do?”

 

I probably won’t have the nerve to say something like, “Now the real answer could be (a) My boss, the bank president, won’t let us do anything else, or (b) Overdraft charges are what we use to keep our clients in line, or (c) These charges are a revenue stream that we don’t intend to give up, or even (d) All of the above. But to just say “there is nothing else I can do” is not an answer, it’s just a charade, a game… the Banking Game.”

 

No, I probably won’t have the nerve to talk about “The Banking Game,” but that’s what it is. They make up the rules, and we are so used to them we accept them without questioning. But, we should question them, as they are nothing short of silly. And that is what I will do, politely, of course. After all, we do go to church together. But, I will try to get an answer, and I will let you know what it is and then we’ll both know.

 

Have a great month—Rick  

 

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The NBM Show

 

Be sure to catch Rick Williams on Aug. 12-13 in Long Beach, Calif., at the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center during The NBM Show for his educational classes on focusing your business for short and long term success as well as sharing tips from 37 years in the sign industry. He can also be seen in Baltimore on Sept. 8-10 during The NBM Show at the Baltimore Convention Center. See TheNBMShow.com.