Canada: Banks fuck us over once again
 

So the Bank of Canada announced today a .5% reduction in their lending rates.

And what do the other banks in Canada do as a result?

They offer customers .25% of the reduction and keep the other .25% for their own pockets.

Gee, why do we collectively loathe bankers so badly?

Not surprising. It always pissed me off that they kept a % of the exchange on USD too.

i hate the banks so much - what's a good alternate way to convert US dollars to CDN without the bank stealing so much? half the time i just leave big amounts of US dollars in my account because I hate letting them take their cut for doing very little.

Well, since we live on a bordertown (Niagara)...we sometimes try and spend some of the USD across the river. But its rather a crap shoot dependin' on what merch deals we get.

The banks fuck us over 'cuz they know most people don't have a lot of options.

Well the cost of lending has gone up.. what do you expect them to do? If bandwidth, camera gear, models fees shot up etc you wouldn't pass on a portion of the rise to your customers or affiliates? Good on them for taking part of it. You'd REALLY be crying if they didn't and went insovlent with ALL your money.

TD is ripping me off huge with the exchange...when it was 9 cents they only gave me 2

I hate the fact they charge me an extra 1.50 per transaction to take out my money at a atm.bloody thieves

That is why our banks do not need a bailout/rescue package . :2 cents:

Last I checked, Canadian banks were almost as profitable as the oil companies.

There are places that will exchange USD for a slightly higher rate than the banks. I've never used them personally but they are out there.

I use CustomsHouse. They guarantee they'll beat my bank rate.
WG

probably more profitable and twice as shady

Sounds like Aussie banks.

Oh and gotta love that 22.5% interest rate on some credit cards here now too ..

Thieves.

LOL too funny.

Its not a matter of insolvency. Banks in Canada aren't in trouble the way their U.S. counterparts are. Banks here are still posting big profits across the board...and have been for years.

As for whether I'd pass along increased model/gear costs to our customers - no, not if we're already making a tidy profit. We typically go several years between membership increases. We keep our profit margin steady by either cutting costs elsewhere, or diversifying in other areas (photo cdrom sales, convention sales, etc.).

It was announced yesterday that the canadian government is going to be buying 25 billion worth of bad mortgages from the banks. I really didn't think that would happen here. Pretty worrysome.

They aren't bad mortgages and the transaction is in no way the same as whats happening in other countries.

what are u getting ? got about 1.15 from Can T yesterday:thumbsup

what is ur bank giving you for your exchange..

the best exchange rate from USD to CAD i cud get was 1.1625

anyone else?

Interresting reading.:helpme