I know, there are many more important things to write about this morning, but I needed to share my interactions with J.P. Morgan Chase bank over the last 24 hours.  Especially, on a day when the Trump administration stripped the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau unit of its enforcement powers to pursue discrimination in lending cases.  This move follows a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to reject the administration’s claim the Bureau’s regulatory powers were unconstitutional.  You have to hand it to Trump and his hench-persons (though they seem to largely be white males).  They are persistent.  If they fail to undermine the law one way, they will just find another method of achieving their goal.

Back to my story.  Yesterday morning, I submitted an on-line transfer of excess funds in my Chase (no-interest) checking account to a (barely-interest) savings account in another bank.  Upon completing the transaction, I received an e-mail from Chase affirming it.  End of story?  If only.

Around 7:00 pm last night I received a call from someone claiming to be from Chase Bank who needed to verify I had submitted the transfer.  Keep in mind he called me on the phone number that is tagged to the account for the past six years.  But “for my security,” he asked me to give him:

• The account number on the ATM/Cash Card associated with the account.
• The expiration date on the card.
• My ATM pin number.

When I reminded him his bank had sent me numerous security alerts to NEVER give that kind of information to a stranger, I also said I was willing to give him any other information to verify my identity.  He said the requested information was the ONLY method they accepted.  At which point, I said I am sorry but I would deal with the bank in the morning.

At 7:41 pm, I received the following email from Chase Online Banking Support.

We’ve sent an important communication to your Secure Message Center, available on Chase Online or on the Chase Mobile app.
The subject is: Transfer Cancelled
You can sign in to review this communication in your Secure Message Center until 05/02/2018.

This morning when I tried to log in to my account, I received a message that the account had been blocked and was given a phone number to talk with customer service.  After listening to the menu of actions totally unrelated to my issue, I finally got an agent who had to transfer me to another agent.  That was no surprise.  What came next was.

The second agent said that in order to verify my identity, he was going to send me a code via text that I needed to read back to him.  Okay, they have a phone number for me.  But NO, he asked me to which number I would like him to send the code.  At this point, I asked him to start recording our conversation, in case it was not already being monitored.  I gave him a number not tagged to the account.  He sent me the code.  I read it back.  And he said, “Good, how can I help you?”  My response.

You realize what just happened.  I called you.  I just gave you a phone number, which you have no idea whether it belongs to the actual person listed on the account.  You sent me a code.  I read it back.  And now I can direct you to do something with my account?  You have my social security number, my address, my date of birth, the answer to three secret questions and this is what you do to protect me.  I am not blaming you, but this is why I wanted the conversation recorded.

But just to make sure I understand.  If I had fraudulently scheduled smaller transfers over several days, you would be fine with that.

He admitted that was probably true and then unblocked my account and offered to reinstate the transfer.  I could not let this moment pass.  I thanked him, but asked him NOT to reinstate the transfer, explaining that based on their security measures I was no longer confident I was the person who initiated the transfer.  I could be anybody.

And Donald Trump and Mike Mulvaney do not believe we need regulatory oversight of financial institutions.  Just saying.

POSTSCRIPT/DO THE MATH

While we are on financial topics, let me take this opportunity to share what I believe is one more example of collusion, except this time it is between the Trump Administration and its donors.  On Wednesday, Lowes announced it was joining the list of company who are distributing bonuses (up to $1,000) to hourly employees because of the Republican tax cuts.  Sounds great, right?  Just a minute.  Here are the facts.

• It is a one-time bonus.
• The bonus varies depending on full- versus part-time work and length of service.  Only full-time employees with 20+ years of service will receive the full $1,000.  (How many of those do you think there are?)   A full-time employee with less than two years service will receive $150.  (CNBC, January 31, 2018)
• The average hourly wage for customer service associate is $11.56.  A sales associate makes $11.70/hour.
• The total hours worked each year by a full-time employee equals 2080.  If Lowes had raised salaries by just one dollar, each full-time employee would receive an additional $2,080 EVERY year, not a one-time bonus.  Remember that full-time employee with less than two years of service.  His $150 bonus is the equivalent of a $0.07/hour raise.
• If Lowes used its reduced tax liability to start paying a living wage of $15.00/hour, a full-time sales associate would receive an annual salary increase of $6,864.
• In anticipation of the tax cuts, Lowes raised the annual dividend on its stock from $1.40/share to $1.64/share.
• So, if I owned 10,000 shares of Lowes stock, I would receive an increased dividend of $2,400 in 2018 (2.4 times the amount of a one-time benefit for a full-time salaried worker with 20+ years service).
• The single largest shareholder of Lowes stock is a Vanguard Index fund with over 20 million shares.  Participants in that fund will receive an INCREASE of $4.8 million in dividends next year and likely every subsequent year.
• Oh, I forgot, those qualified dividends will be tax free.  Heaven forbid, the bonus recipients have a household income over $24,000/year.  They will owe both income tax and employment taxes (FICA and Medicare) on their largesse.

So much for the middle class and workers being the primary beneficiaries of the tax cuts.

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP