Is Too Big To Fail now “What’s in your wallet?”
Well, most of the folks I know don’t have time to keep up with the fast lane of high finances, but I had to stand up and take notice when I received an email informing me that Capital One would now be taking over my Kohl’s Credit Card! It was bad enough that they acquired my once-favored online bank, ING Direct. This is a commentary on one of the places we put our “Safe Money”~
Using my mini-detective skills, I dug a little deeper on this story. What I found was disturbing enough to result in a decision to close & move my ING Direct account elsewhere.
Did you know that “TBTF” [Too Big To Fail] is a new acronym birthed out of our latest financial crisis? Yes, whenever you hear it, think, “No, I am not bailing out another failed, giant corporation, backed by the corrupt DC politicians”!! Click here to read a story on that exact thoughtand herein I will add a few tidbits from my “investigation”.
Sometime around August of 2011, Capital One acquired the US Credit Card business from HSBC Holdings. In December 2008, they took over Chevy Chase Bank. Previous years acquisitions include plastic credit of the AFL-CIO (largest union in the US), Best Buy, and General Motors! This was enough to smell “govt. mess” right away.
Now I’m not saying that you should close your ING Direct account, but I personally will no longer patronize ING & give my dollars to a company who I have no doubt is making stinky, wheeler-dealer, transactions with the Fed’s blessing. It is widely known that Capital One had exerted its aggressive, sub-prime lending practices to grow itself.
While I believe in the free market (capitalism in it’s purest form), we all know that many giant corporations have compromised success for greed. Still, the alternative of government-controlled everything is far worse. As consumers, we all need to pay attention to who gets to use our hard-earned dollars, choosing companies who balance rewarding customers and shareholders with their profit-margins.
Contact me for more information on Safe Money alternatives.