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Banks to Give Customers the Boot, Analyst Dick Bove Says

Posted Nov 24, 2009 09:00am EST by Peter Gorenstein in Investing, Banking

Not happy with your bank?  The feeling is likely mutual.

Don't be surprised if your bank soon decides they don't want your business anymore, says Rochdale Securities bank analyst Dick Bove.

Why?

Bank regulators and Congress are looking at ways at making the system more safe and sound in order to avoid another meltdown. What on the surface seems like a wise and prudent decision, however may have unintended consequences, most notably higher fees for bounced checks, credit card balances and the like.

"The way a bank discourages a customer from doing business with it is to make the cost of doing business so high the customer gets upset and leaves," Bove says. "I think that’s the methodology," although some unprofitable accounts will be closed by the banks, as American Express has been doing. (AmEx canceled 3.3 million cards globally in the second and third quarters, TheStreet.com reports.)

Update: In another example, HSBC "has decided retail customers aren't profitable enough and is demanding those clients remove their gold to make room for more lucrative institutional customers," The WSJ reports.

Bove says as much as 30% of U.S. households could find themselves being forced out of their banks since they're not deemed profitable.

The shift will create investment opportunities as depositors look to other companies to provide banking services. In this scenario, Bove thinks consumer finance firms, payment system companies, pay-day loan companies and pawn shops will pick up the slack.

As the government moves to make the cost of banking higher for the banks, they're going to have to pass on those costs to the consumer," Bove says. "If the consumer doesn’t like it, the consumer is going to have to rely on these less-established methodologies of getting finance and moving money."

 

224 Comments

MikeD
MikeD - Tuesday November 24, 2009 09:05AM EST

Too funny! "Yeah, we offered the service for this price, but it really isn't that profitable if a lot of people use it, so piss off!" Is this a sign that the gold bubble is about to pop or just the beginning of the demand?

san
san - Tuesday November 24, 2009 09:06AM EST

Why should they want our business. It's the government doing home loans now and handing the banks billions to play the stock market. The shock will come when they want our money back it will cost them double digit interest rate... see Iceland, it's your future. McDonalds have even left Iceland because they couldn't do business in a high inflation environment! LOL :D

Art
Art - Tuesday November 24, 2009 09:11AM EST

The d... democrats and the idiots who vote for them and their support of labor unions have destroyed millions of jobs and thousands of businesses. I want a balanced budget, lower taxes and liberty. I do not want more government "services". Thank you very much.

Rey
Rey - Tuesday November 24, 2009 09:15AM EST

Banks will always nail you any way they can // How else to pay John Doe a 2 millions $ Bonus // Keep your Money under the matress and stop giving it to the banks

Johnny
Johnny - Tuesday November 24, 2009 09:15AM EST

It is your business to change it for better..............What is the best folks...........You know the faults and the solution better than I.

Yahoo! Finance User
Yahoo! Finance User - Tuesday November 24, 2009 09:15AM EST

So glad we used tax dollars to keep them around. Most industries would feel a little more obligation to the public, but not these guys I guess. Beat them to the punch and see your local credit union. You'll be pleasantly surprised.

Henri
Henri - Tuesday November 24, 2009 09:19AM EST

US Customers should outsource their banking. Dump these bloated corporations that serve only the CEO and BOD. 1) Their savings are safer in another currency 2) Fees are probably lower as the CEOs of foreign banks are paid 10x lower.

Carl Childers
Carl Childers - Tuesday November 24, 2009 09:20AM EST

"Banks to Give Customers The Boot, Analsyst Dick Bove Says" ANALSYST Dick bove. They got THAT right !!!!

Yahoo! Finance User
Yahoo! Finance User - Tuesday November 24, 2009 09:25AM EST

This guy is talking out of the side of his mouth. First he says bank shares are a terrific bargain then he says banks are cutting back on their primary means of making money, loans. The Easy trade is over. The money that banks made trading stocks for the past two quarters is pretty much exhausted. And I certainly don't see them making much money on loans in the future given the debt load of the average American and the Government itself.

Tups
Tups - Tuesday November 24, 2009 09:25AM EST

I spoke to my bank contact. He said Bove was a bubble head. The Customer base is exactly what the banks want and need, according a JPMorgan spokesperson.

sakechai
sakechai - Tuesday November 24, 2009 09:29AM EST

Bove is the worst analyst ever. He asked people to stay away from BAC and C 5 in 2008 and few months ago he asked people to buy these stocks. Had people listened to him, they would have missed the whole rally. I wonder all these bears on cnbc saying that market is way overvalued and yet they didn't make a move when the market was undervalued. It makes me want to laugh when listening to all these guys.

sakechai
sakechai - Tuesday November 24, 2009 09:29AM EST

Bove is the worst analyst ever. He asked people to stay away from BAC and C 5 in 2008 and few months ago he asked people to buy these stocks. Had people listened to him, they would have missed the whole rally. I wonder all these bears on cnbc saying that market is way overvalued and yet they didn't make a move when the market was undervalued. It makes me want to laugh when listening to all these guys.

san
san - Tuesday November 24, 2009 09:31AM EST

Watch this Max Keiser prediction from 2007 on Iceland and understand it applies to the USA too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFzUR1k3ku4

James
James - Tuesday November 24, 2009 09:33AM EST

Hey Art...How are you enjoying the liberty you have on weekends? Brought to you by labor unions, by the way.

Redwoodkape
Redwoodkape - Tuesday November 24, 2009 09:34AM EST

Art - I want a balanced budget, lower taxes and liberty too... but the last time we had a truly balanced budget (net borrowing did not go up in the fiscal year) was in the 50's. Since then we had Kennedy, Johnson, Carter, Clinton and Obama; but we also had Nixon, Ford, Reagan, Bush I and Bush II. I'm not defending Democrats but I don't think the Republicans have done better. Just looking at fiscal status, Bush II and Johnson were the worst. Both spent lots of money, mostly on the militarty-industrial complex, with no realistic plan to cover the expense.

MaryD
MaryD - Tuesday November 24, 2009 09:34AM EST

Remember--all this gov't activity began in order to avoid banks' shutdown. The US public was told that life-as-we-know-it would end if the banks ever shut down.

Yahoo! Finance User
Yahoo! Finance User - Tuesday November 24, 2009 09:37AM EST

What’s new? Businesses (not just banks) have gotten too big for their britches. Nowadays, they treat EVERYONE like an employee. Everyone is meant to serve a purpose for business: The employees with their labor, and the customers with their money. Now that the employees have been thoroughly beaten down, it’s time to crack the whip at those worthless customers - time for those slackers to GET WITH THE PROGRAM! What ARROGANCE.

Bub
Bub - Tuesday November 24, 2009 09:39AM EST

"Solar" said:bANKERS SUCK, even more than a drunken foreigner on a financial blog! I agree! Take your business down the street. There are small banks and credit unions available. I hate my tax dollars being used to subsidize crooked, overpaid, arrogant fat cats! Big banks, AIG etc are the new Halliburtons and Blackwaters. Lawmakers need to wake the F**K up!!!

CiGi
CiGi - Tuesday November 24, 2009 09:39AM EST

that's fine... why don't all the Americans withdraw all their money out of their banks just this christmas and see who is the greatest loser ? after all, the bailout is using the taxpayers' money so rightfully it belongs to the people. The banks and even the administration IS NOTHING without the people. WAKE UP Americans! It's time to punish the WALL STREET and the administration. Take all your money your government has given to the banks... You ain't gonna to wait for the next election. What is WALL STREET without MAIN STREET.

Yahoo! Finance User
Yahoo! Finance User - Tuesday November 24, 2009 09:40AM EST

"The d... democrats and the idiots who vote for them and their support of labor unions have destroyed millions of jobs and thousands of businesses. I want a balanced budget, lower taxes and liberty. I do not want more government "services". Thank you very much."........The labor unions became laughable. Car assembly line workers think they actually do work that is worth $90k a year? For a job that just requires a few weeks training?

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