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Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is under attack by the rich banks CEOs; You must act to protect consumers everywhere

  CORPORATE ACCOUNTABILITY AND WORKPLACE

AlterNet / By Dave Johnson

6 Unbelievable Ways the Big Banks Are Scamming You

Five years since the crash, the big banks continue to screw over their customers.
June 19, 2013  |

It is going on five years since the financial crash and three years since President Obama signed the meager Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, and the big banks are still scamming and conning and ripping off their customers. What a huge surprise.

After the financial crash, we heard about a laundry list of abuses and frauds that ranged from small things, like hidden fees, to pushing minorities into subprime loans and then switching them into more expensive mortgages at signing time, to huge things like selling trillions of dollars in complicated CDO schemes and making bets on derivatives of derivatives without having the reserves to pay off what they owed when the bets went bad.

Of course, no one at the top was prosecuted and the banks were allowed to settle a host of charges (which meant that their shareholders, not the executives who made the decisions, paid the fines). The bad behavior gave these giants a competitive advantage, driving out what good companies there were. So the costly and destructive bad behavior, schemes, cons and scams continue.

1. Falsifying Paperwork, Blitzing, Lying About Payments to Force Homeowners Into Foreclosure

This week, ProPublica released a report detailing the shocking ways that Bank of America has been pushing homeowners into foreclosure. Employees lied about documentation and falsified paperwork to force families out of their homes when these customers thought they were getting a loan modification under the government’s Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). To make matters worse, the bank gave bonuses to employees who were able to reach monthly quotas of people they forced into foreclosure.

According to a lawsuit against Bank of America, the bank used “blitzing” twice a month to deny HAMP applications even when the homeowner had fully complied with the program’s requirements; it gave employees $500 bonuses each month they forced 10 or more homeowners into foreclosure; it intentionally ignored applications for 30 days, then declared them late and forced homeowners to reapply; it closed applications even when they knew the homeowner had met all criteria; and it canceled loan modifications because of “late payments” when the bank’s records shows that payments had been made on time.

Of course, as long as the government refuses to prosecute banks and bankers for violating laws, and instead negotiating “settlements”  that require bank shareholders to pay fines, bankers will see no reason to stop this kind of activity.

2. Bank Protection “Service” Puts Consumers at “Greater Risk Of Harm”

Last week  a report from the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) found that the big banks are still scamming their customers with ridiculous fees that are hugely profitable for the big banks.

Three years ago the government required banks to ask their customers if it is okay (this is called “opt-in”) before they charge them for “overdraft protection” service. CFRB has been studying how this is working out, and its report shows that customers who do not opt-in to this heavily marketed “protection” service pay much, much less in fees than those who do. In other words, agreeing to use the “protection” actually puts you at a much greater risk of incurring expenses than those who are not “protected.”

According to  a McClatchy News report on a call with CFPB director Richard Cordray to discuss the report, Cordray said, “What is marketed as overdraft protection can, in some instances, put consumers at greater risk of harm.”

How much risk? People who are “heavy overdrafters” but still opt out of this service save on average more than $900 a year. But it isn’t just heavy overdrafters who are saving. According to the CFPB report “… the reduction in fees for those who did not opt in was $347 greater, on average, than for those who did opt in.” People who opt in are also more likely to lose their bank accounts, with the bank “involuntarily” closing it.

Banks have made $32 billion from these fees. So maybe this isn’t about providing a “protection” to consumers at all. As  NPR puts it, “Overdraft and non-sufficient funds fees accounted for 61 percent of total consumer deposit account service charges in 2011 among the banks in the CFPB report.”

3. Transaction Ordering

Not only do customers who opt-in pay more for this “protection service,” but the banks are still scamming them by causing the overdrafts that generate these fees. The CFPB report says that some banks still use “transaction ordering” to cheat customers out of additional fees. These banks post checks or debit transactions from large to small to trigger these fees. In other words if you write several small checks (or make debit card transactions) and then a big one that overdraws your account, they credit the large one first so each of the smaller transactions causes its own fee to be charged, even though those transactions occurred before the account ran out of money.

From the report, “The earlier in a sequence that an account becomes negative, the more overdraft or NSF transactions may occur.”

4. Forced Arbitration

Another big-bank scam on consumers is “forced arbitration” clauses in bank account, credit card, mortgage and other financial-service agreements. Forced arbitration clauses – also called mandatory arbitration or binding arbitration – require you to give up your legal right to take a big bank to court if it cheats or harms you. And if you don’t agree (which requires reading the entire agreement) you can’t get the account.

They way this works is that instead of being able to pursue your legal rights, you have to take your complaint to an arbitrator, and then must accept the arbitrator’s decision. The catch is that the bank gets to pick the arbitrator, and the arbitrators naturally know they’ll never work in this town again if they ever rule against the banks. So there is an inherent conflict of interest working in favor of these companies.

How is that conflict of interest working out for us? A 2007 Public Citizen report revealed that arbitrators working for the National Arbitration Forum (NAF) had ruled against consumers 94 percent of the time.

In another blow to the big banks, the CFPB is beginning to take steps to reign in forced arbitration clauses in consumer financial contracts.

The five-year-old Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act authorizes the CFPB and the Securities and Exchange Commission to regulate mandatory arbitration. The SEC is resisting implementing their part of this law, but the CFPB is conducting a survey to determine consumer awareness of forced arbitration clauses in credit card agreements.  On its blog, the CFPB said the study will “explore consumer awareness of dispute resolution terms in credit card agreements. The survey will gather information about consumers’ perceptions, preferences, and assumptions related to arbitration proceedings.”

5. Marketing Refinancing That Costs People

Thom Hartmann has exposed yet another banker scheme. This time banks are marketing a mortgage refinancing that promises annual savings of more than $4,000. But the scheme really just adds more than $37,000 to the cost of a loan.

Basically, the mailer focuses on lowering monthly mortgage payments, while neglecting to mention that the borrower would end up paying a higher overall interest rate, and would be adding 10 more years to the overall length of their loan. Hartmann  writes,

Back in November of 2012, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sent warning letters to around a dozen of America’s largest mortgage lenders and brokers, advising them to “clean up” potentially misleading advertisements, especially those targeting veterans and older Americans.

At the time of the CFPB’s announcement, CFPB director Richard Cordray said that, “Misrepresentations in mortgage products can deprive consumers of important information while making one of the biggest financial decisions of their lives.”

And, as we also know, deceptive mortgage advertisements like this can cause consumers to bite off more than they can chew, ultimately leading to a nationwide financial meltdown.

6. Banks Trying To Kill the CFPB

Over the years, scam after scam is exposed, and nothing has been done about it. But there is a new cop on the beat, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The CFPB’s job is to police the big banks, and protect financial consumers. Of course the big banks are trying to head this agency off at the pass.

The Republican Party and its conservative infrastructure have basically been contracted by Wall Street’s big banks to obstruct and even kill this agency. Senate Republicans have been blocking the confirmation and are still trying to obstruct the nominee to head up the agency. Republicans have been filibustering the nomination of Richard Cordray to be its director and even vowing to filibuster to keep any nominee from being confirmed to head the agency. President Obama finally  made a recess appointment of Cordray in January 2012. But this recess appointment runs out at the end of the year with no end to Republican obstruction in sight.

Republicans are also  trying to defund the agency. Republicans and the (billionaire, Wall Street, oil and tobacco-financed) conservative movement have also launched a propaganda campaign against the agency. Recently, at the Senate Republican Policy Committee website, “CFPB: Unaccountable and Unrestrained,” claims, “A recent action by the CFPB to monitor consumer credit cards and the spending habits of millions of Americans is raising new concerns in a government suffering from a trust deficit.” In an example of how the right’s echo machine works, the Heritage Foundation echoes this attack, alleging that CFPB gathering data for reports like this one is an example of government “surveillance” on consumers, “amassing an Orwell-worthy database on all manner of spending, including … overdrafts …”

Sen. Elizabeth Warren – the person most credited with the creation of the CFPB – spoke at a Senate hearing on the CFPB last March on the role of the CFPB and Republican obstruction of the agency:

“I see nothing here but a filibuster threat against Director Cordray as an attempt to weaken the consumer agency,” Warren said. “I think the delay in getting him confirmed is bad for consumers, it’s bad for small banks, bad for credit unions, for anyone trying to offer an honest product in an honest market.”

“The American people deserve a Congress that worries less about helping big banks,” she added, “and more about helping regular people who have been cheated on mortgages, on credit cards, on student loans and on credit reports.”

Don’t expect much to change until we have a government that is willing to take on these financial giants. As long as we keep seeing “settlements” with these giants instead of prosecutions, and as long as we allow big money to buy influence over our government, nothing will change.

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But the banks’ CEOs have huge incomes and the power that comes with being super rich. The rich banks and corporations run  the USA and form all of the policies. Citizens must speak up and vote appropriately.

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by mrnd5 on December 9, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by mrnd5 on December 9, 2013

https://mrnd5.wordpress.com/2013/12/09/consumer-financial-protection-bureau-is-under-attack-by-the-rich-banks-ceos-you-must-act-to-protect-consumers-everywhere/

Solving Customer’s Problems Should Be of the Foremost Importance…. METABANK abused us while we were their customer

Customer Service Solves Problems To Create Loyal Clients

but NOT SO at METABANK

Make it easy for frustrated customers to contact you, get problems solved. You’ll create loyal clients.

In the past 30 days, I canceled service with three companies I’ve used for years.

Customer service was the reason. It was that bad.

 

But I kept my business with another company even though its actual service keeps messing up. That business’ customer service is that good.

Customer-service representatives are everywhere. Anyone with a phone, TV, computer, coffee maker, credit card or insurance; or who buys subscription services or makeup from shady companies advertising on TV has dealings with them.

And let’s not forget about business-to-business customer-service reps. [This is part of how METABANK performs their scam.]

Their numbers are growing by the minute. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts the profession will expand 15.5% through 2020.

Call centers alone had almost 23,000 vacant jobs, more than a third listed in the past week, according to CallCenterCrossing, which calls itself the largest collection of call-center jobs. The company cites the health care law, holiday season and general economic expansion as the chief reasons for a rise in call-center hiring.

As long as companies offer things to buy and services to use, folks will need help.

[Customers have over a period of many years now indicated that METABANK and its affiliates, including the Network Branded Bank Card Association, fail when it comes to customer service. We, as former METABANK customers/clients believe, based on our own personal experience using METABANK et al., that METABANK by design treats their customers in an abusive manner. We have been scammed and lied to. We have been treated in an inhumane manner.

METABANK does not offer any kind of model that should be used as a guideline by any other entity…. METABANK relies on numbers and the population is growing rapidly.

METABANK relies on getting partner corporate entities to market their prepaid bank card  a relationship which is in fact one that will increase the rate of decline of that partner company. At first the partner company will experience an initial  spurt that may appear to be great and fabulous; this is the honeymoon, but it is a marriage that is doomed by design. METABANK only wants their partner companies’ list of customers whom METABANK will use for their own financial gain.

In establishing this partnership, METABANK promises to take care of all the collections for their partner. Collections is the dirtiest of dirty work so the partner company is happy to hand over this part of the operation to METABANK. METABANK, as we former customers have found, has an abusive customer service system by design.

When METABANK’s customer serivice representatives basically went through a list of standard lies they had been handed to use for all situation; the lies serve to blame the customer for the problems the customer had encountered using METABANK. However, by design, METABANK created a prepaid bank card which customers load with cash money, and then METABANK limits and controls when and even if a customer will be able to have access to their own money…. This scheme is predatory. It is based upon false and misleading promises.

METABANK is by design immoral. Only consumers can speak up to warn others so that METABANK can be stopped from doing this great scam on the people.]

Companies claim to know how important these front-line jobs are. They say they strive for a “customer-first mindset,” “transparency and accountability,” “positive customer relationships” and “consistent and efficient delivery of superior customer service.”

So why don’t more customer-service reps deliver? Is it the company or the employees?

Likely both.

Workers tell me they want these jobs because they like people. Yet too many companies do everything they can to not let their people talk to us.

Finding contact information can be like a game of hide-and-seek.

Some refuse to talk to you. Take Twitter: [This isn’t a model anyone should follow!!!!!]

My account has had a problem for four months. I’ve obediently followed Twitter’s directions and sent in a dozen requests for help.

I’m still waiting for an answer.

On the other hand, companies such as crowdSPRING help businesses and creative talent find each other and make it easy for customers to communicate with them.

[This concept is an old one that worked. It worked very well. This is what we as consumers expect, but this is not at all what METABANK provides. METABANK uses this concept to catch consumers and their partner companies off guard so that METABANK can get their foot in the door. What META BANK does is an IMMORAL ACT.]

This company posts its phone number on every page of its site. No doubt this springs from the philosophy of co-founder Mike Samson who tells his reps that the spoken word is better than the written word, to say “please” and “thank you” and always end with “much obliged.”

 

People who get into customer service tell me they love to solve problems.

Yet “I can’t help you with that” are the last words that a lot of people hear from a customer-service rep.

  • Those workers either don’t know how to think like a problem solver or don’t think they have the authority to help.
  • Some customer-service reps are plain mean. The other day I asked a one that I could barely hear if she might speak a little louder.   She snapped, “No, I can’t scream.”
  • When you keep getting bad customer service, you wonder why companies keep sending surveys asking how your customer-service experience went.
  • I also often wonder why companies insist that customer-service reps speak canned faux caring phrases like “Have a nice day” after they’ve been mean and obstructive.

Chief Operating Officer Zach Cusimano of Bizness Apps, which makes mobile apps for companies, says his business doesn’t coach reps to use particular phrases.

Company officials do encourage them to “throw in some love” and foster more interactions by saying, “I’m happy to help,” “Please let me know if you have any other questions,” and “Looking forward to hearing from you again.”

[However, if these statements are nothing but empty words with no real response and no action behind them then they are useless. It is our strong impression as former METABANK customers that the CEOs of METABANK have created all of the guidelines, which include a list of rote excuses for why it is always the customers’ fault for any problems they may have encountered. METABANK creates the problems by which they get rich and then richer; METABANK breaks with every expectation that any person would normally expect.

METABANK creates all the rules and retains the right to change all of the rules without notice. This is bad, but on top of that METABANK takes customer’s money and keeps us/them from having access to their own money while using the NETWORK BRANDED PREPAID BANK CARD.

The NETWORK BRANDED PREPAID BANK CARD amounts to being an interest free loan from customers to a very rich bank. The whole concept has been reversed. Potential customers are mislead into taking on such a card by the partner company who is in effect being used as a “PATSY” in this dynamic triangle of abuse of the consumer.]

I contend that more people would like their customer-service jobs and customers would be happier if they did what Jesse Richardson does.

“We love our customers,” Richardson says. She is conscious community officer for Conscious Box, a subscription service for eco-friendly products.

Seriously.

If you want a satisfying career helping solve problems for people who are frustrated, confused and sometimes angry, care for them no matter what.

Find a great company that values them and you.

In the 25 years I’ve counseled people with their careers, most tell me one thing: I want to be of service to others. Here’s your chance.

[As former customers of METABANK we had expected this kind of treatment, but METABANK and the NETWORK BRANDED PREPAID CARD ASSOCIATION act in a predatory manner so that they abuse their customers, only to move onto the next  person so they can dupe that person. The huge size of our population is how METABANK has been able to get away with this kind of scam for as long as they have. Only you can stop this kind of a scam.]

Career consultant Andrea Kay is the author of This Is How To Get Your Next Job: An Inside Look at What Employers Really Want.

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by mrnd5 on October 27, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Access Sought To Your Company's Customer List, Advocate for your needs and concerns as a consumer, agreements with 520 campuses that enroll more than 4.3 million students, Annual Income of META BANK's CEOs, Bank Publicity that is simply "Garbage Talk", Bank Reform and Proper Regulations are Needed, BANK REFORMS NEEDED TO BE CAREFULLY REGULATED, Bank Regulations must be enforced, Bank regulators shut down MetaBank payday loans, Bank Scams go international, Bank Tellers at MetaBank earn wages on the average that are below the poverty level, Banking, banking in Storm Lake IOWA, Banking in the USA in 2013, BankMeta lies to keep customers from their own money, bankmeta.com, Banks are creating economic servitude in the USA, Banks Designed To Keep Consumers in Debt, Banks have created all the rules for PREPAID CARDS, Banks Lying to Consumers To Trick Them into taking on Debt, Big Corporations and Banks run the world, Complaints Against Meta Bank, Consumers act to protect themselves and others from further bank fraud and customer abuses, Consumers being forced to use plastic, Consumers Demand Bank Reforms That Serve Their Real Needs, Consumers must speak out, Consumers Need To Save Money And Stay Out of Debt, Consumers Start Talking and Learning Real Facts About Banking, Consumers suffer at the hands of METABANK, Corrupt Practices found within METABANK, Customer Complaints Abound Regarding how METABANK treats them., Customer Service at METABANK.com, Customer Service isn't listed as being one of META FINANCIAL GROUP INC areas of interest or studied skills, Customers of METABANK continue to complain about how they have been mistreated by METABANK, Customers' Scammed Repeatedly By METABANK, Do not give up control of your own money by using a prepaid card, Does METABANK believe their customer base are unworthy?, Dollar General Pre-paid Card is Meta Bank, Don't Invest in META BANK, Don't use PREPAID BANK CARDS of any kind, fees required to talk by phone to NETSPEND, Fight Corruption, Financial Regulatory Reforms Needed, Gift Cards are an interest free loan to an unknown bank, Gift Cards May be Suspended After Purchase and without notice, Green Dot is Meta Bank and Green Dot already has many complaints from customers, Internal Audit Committee at Meta Bank, Internal Audits not able to cope with problems related to prepaid bank cards, J. Tyler Haahr, Just Curious About Meta Bank's Ad Placement, META BANK bilks their customer base, Meta Bank charges customers for spending their own money, Meta Bank denied one man his right to a fair and impartial trial. What kind of a world citizen is Meta Bank? We are tired of fighting the wars that Meta Bank causes., META BANK doesn’t serve the general public, Meta Bank is nothing but a publicity scam, Meta Bank never accepts responsibility, Meta Bank operates using many different names, META BANK same poor service as always, Meta Bank Scams Americans, Meta Bank sells VISA and Mastercard Pre-Paid Cards, META BANK: Creating all the rules in their own favor, META FINANCIAL GROUP INC fails to address customers' real needs, META FINANCIAL GROUP INC pushes blame off onto their customers for their own design issues and internal operating problems, METABANK =TURBOTAX and both are scams, METABANK as the alpha baboon in our society, METABANK average employees earn wages below the poverty level, METABANK causes the late fees for customers, METABANK CEOs create and require all of the rules, METABANK CEOs make huge annual incomes, METABANK customers are still being scammed, METABANK Customers complain about METABANK's mistreatment, METABANK fails to hear and to respond appropriately to customer's real needs, METABANK is a collections agency, METABANK is a collections agency and not a bank, METABANK is a piece of crap, MetaBank is corrupt, METABANK lies to their own customers, METABANK operates using many different names, METABANK practices are dragging the economy down, METABANK uses false awards- false testimonials, METABANK's partner company provides METABANK with access to their customer base, METABANK's practices are narcissitic, METABANK's publicity says that their prepaid card will meet your specific needs but in reality they are the exact same card just using different publicitty, Narcissism of Storm Lake IOWA, NBPCA is a scam on the American public, Ordinary customers can't get the METABANK PREPAID CARD TO SERVE THEIR NEEDS, payment cards that carry hefty costs, Payment Solutions with Serious Problems, Payment Systems, PayPower Scam, PayPower Visa by META BANK, Pre-paid Bank Cards don't work, Predatory Practices of BankMeta.com, PrePaid Bank Cards bad for consumers, PREPAID CARDS are not consumer friendly, PREPAID CARDS promoted by METABANK, Real Customer Service Builds a Genuine Customer Base, Rules Designed BY METABANK for the benefit of METABANK, Scams by banks like METABANK, Staying Competitive at What Expense, Success shouldn't be about profits - People mattter, Suspicious Activity is within Meta Bank's internal practices and policies, Terrorism within the USA, The cards and accounts are marketed aggressively using college letterhead and websites carrying the endorsement of colleges., This is not a sustainable pattern for the US Economy., Thrift Bank - the concept is a scam, to fee-paying students, travel card, Tricked by METABANK's publicity, Two problems found in METABANK's "No Credit Check" Cards, unbanked, Usury, We are all vulnerable to predatory practices of banks like METABANK, Western Union and MetaBank have joined forces, Where There Is Smoke There Is Fire
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Posted by mrnd5 on October 27, 2013

https://mrnd5.wordpress.com/2013/10/27/solving-customers-problems-should-be-of-the-foremost-importance-metabank-abused-us-while-we-were-their-customer/

The Corporate Psychopath: I found them at META BANK when I was one of their prepaid bank card customers

Consumers, Your help is needed to get the proper regulations in place that will actually protect you and all of us from Bank Scams

I established this blog after I had been scammed by META BANK when using their prepaid bank card.

META BANK Lied to me and I had wondered why.

Then I went online and saw that META BANK had been doing this to many other people. It was always the same scam but using different PREPAID BANK CARD names.

The scam is “To keep customer’s money from them” and “To get a free interest loan for META BANK.” That is the part that is consistent and which happens regularly with META BANK.

META BANK has created all of the rules in the fine print on their bank contract. The rules can be changed at any time and with out notice to their customer base.

META BANK began with the underbanked and used that experience to build up their repertoire for what came to be their scam pattern that they would seek to push off onto the general public. The underbanked would be the most economically vulnerable people in our society.

META BANK promises to help them to improve their credit rating by getting one of META BANK’s PREPAID CARDS and by having their payroll salary check or government check directly deposited into an associated checking account. By doing this, META BANK gets full control of all of the assets of the most financially vulnerable people in our society. Then META BANK wreaks havoc on the lives of these people who have been enticed by false and misleading promises.

Oh, it was bad enough that META BANK had scammed me, but the fact that META BANK had done this to so many people really irritated me, and that they had done this to the most vulnerable among us really upset me… so much so that I had to speak-out on their behalf in an effort to protect others from being scammed by META BANK as I had viewed was happening to so many people already.

      • Potential Corporate Partners needed to be warned about the damage that META BANK would cause them when all the while lying to those corporate partners.
      • Consumers needed to be made aware so they could protect themselves.

I don’t want what had happened to me to happen to another person and yet META BANK had actually done much worse to others. I needed consumers to speak up and to act in ways that would serve to protect them and others. We are all in this together in one great fraternity of consumers/customers of a banking system. We must help each other  because banks like META BANK have shown us that they cannot or will not serve us as they should . Given the fact that META BANK has hired lobbyists (RUPLI and Associates) to promote the PREPAID BANK CARD, we can see that META BANK has the means to serve the public, but that their interests are only in creating greater and greater wealth for their CEO’s.

Because META BANK doesn’t understand the real purpose and role in what customer service should be, as consumers/customers, we must demand bank reforms that actually protect us from Banking Practices such as those currently practiced by META BANK.

The Corporate Psychopath

By Paul Babiak, Ph.D., and Mary Ellen O’Toole, Ph.D.

corp-psycho.jpg
© Thinkstock.com

Psychopathy is one of the most studied personality disorders. It consists of variations of 20 well-documented characteristics that form a unique human personality syndrome—the psychopath.

Many of these traits are visible to those who interact with the psychopath who possess some or all of these characteristics. For some, superficial charm and grandiose sense of self make them likable on first meeting.

Their ability to impress others with entertaining and captivating stories about their lives and accomplishments can result in instant rapport.

They often make favorable, long-lasting first impressions.

This personality disorder is a continuous variable, not a classification or distinct category, which means that not all corporate psychopaths exhibit the same behaviors.

Beneath the cleverly formed façade—typically created by psychopaths to influence their targets—is a darker side, which people eventually may suspect. ( META BANK’s advertisements were designed to address my needs as a customer, but the product really wasn’t designed to meet my needs. Then META BANK Lied to me. Is META BANK only hiring people who don’t mind lying? Certainly, after a while those people who must do the dirty work for META BANK by lying to their customer base will come to realize that they are only salaried employees and that  the CEO’s are making a real fortune from this scam. I saw the dark side of the PREPAID BANK CARDS very clearly and in a very negative way… I want to protect others.)

They can be pathological liars who con, manipulate, and deceive others for selfish means.( Wow! That is what META BANK does!!!) Some corporate psychopaths thrive on thrill seeking, bore easily, seek stimulation, and play mind games with a strong desire to win. ( MIND GAMES with a strong desire to win… That is exactly how I was treated by META BANK as their customer and why I feel so compelled to speak out to warn other consumers.)

Unlike professional athletes moved by a desire to improve performance and surpass their personal best, psychopaths are driven by what they perceive as their victims’ vulnerabilities. ( As a former META BANK customer/victim, I have observed that META BANK targets their publicity to customer’s self noted vulnerable areas… Often times, META BANK uses the customer’s desire to protect their financial welfare, promises them that security and then scams that same customer once they have possession and control of that Customer’s cash money. META BANK hasn’t improved their product to meet customer’s real needs; META BANK only changes the wording in their publicity to move the same product using a new name, but it is the same old scam all over again.)  

Little research exists on their inner psychological experiences; however, they seem to get perverted pleasure from hurting and abusing their victims. ( I believe that META BANK seeks out customer’s by making false promises and giving those potential customers misleading information to hook them in. META BANK changes their name and then does the same scam over and over again…. Of course, META BANK enjoys this scam and is indifferent to the people they scam. META BANK was indifferent to my needs as a customer and lied to me…. It was when they so boldly lied to me about many things and kept expanding the list of lies that I began to question what was really  going on within META BANK…. Then I read about Boesen and Pickhinkle, both of whom I felt got royally scammed by META BANK and then after Boesen committed suicide META BANK went after his estate. Years later META BANK was still trying to drain more assets out of the widow Boesen had left behind… I see META BANK/META FINANCIAL SYSTEMS as  a major con of our times.)

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI) research indicates that psychopaths are incapable of experiencing basic human emotions and feelings of guilt, remorse, or empathy.1  ( This is most likely the case for META BANK because once they have scammed one customer, they simply move on to the next. META BANK doesn’t learn from their mistakes so they can improve their services for their customers. OH NO!!! META BANK is inspired by their own success at lying to only lie more and to continue. The average person would feel remorse and any problems relayed to them by customers would be addressed, but META BANK only keeps doing the same scam over and over again.)

This emotional poverty often is visible in their shallow sentiment. ( Wow that described my experience with META BANK? META PAYMENT SYSTEMS which is after all really nothing but a collections agency. It had become obvious to me that to get the partner corporate entity to buy into promoting their product that META BANK had wined and dined that entity just so they could sweet talk them into scamming all of their customer base. This partnership gave META BANK full access to all of the customers with whom the partner  had been building a rapport for many years… I could no longer trust that corporate partner, and I severed all ties with them after many years as their customer… sad really… META BANK indicates that they have all of the collection aspects of the relationship in place as part of the publicity to that corporate partner… I never would have become a customer of META BANK if a trusted local partner hadn’t been the one selling me the PREPAID CARD….. META BANK had also lied to that corporate partner who initially sold me the prepaid card, but the scam was being pushed off onto me… That corporate partner wouldn’t believe that META BA NK could abuse me in such a way because the card had worked so well for them… Well, that was just apart of the bigger scam, and META BANK is a scam operation.)  

They display emotions only to manipulate individuals around them. They mimic other people’s emotional responses. Some lack realistic long-term goals, although they can describe grandiose plans. The impulsive and irresponsible psychopath lives a parasitic and predatory lifestyle, seeking out and using other people, perhaps, for money, food, shelter, sex, power, and influence.

Psychopathy is a personality disorder traditionally assessed with the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R).2 Often used interchangeably with psychopathy, the term sociopathy is obsolete and was removed from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) in 1968. Currently, there is no formal diagnosis of psychopathy in the DSM-Fourth Edition-Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR); however, it is being considered for the 2013 DSM-V list of personality disorders.

Façade

It is fascinating that psychopaths can survive and thrive in a corporate environment. Day-to-day interactions with coworkers, coupled with business policies and procedures, should make unmasking them easy, but this does not always hold true. Large companies’ command-and-control functions ought to make dealing with them simple and direct; however, this may not be the case. ( META BANK’s customer relations are convoluted. Their publicity is basically a lie. META BANK Makes money for their CEO’s who are incredibly rich!!!)

Psychopathic manipulation usually begins by creating a mask, known as psychopathic fiction, in the minds of those targeted.

( Because of the way that METABANK representatives lied to me and tried to push blame on me for their actions , which I believe were intentional that allowed META BANK to hold my $5,000.00 and to keep me from having access to my own money… I believe that there is Pschopathic manipulation present in META BANK.)

In interpersonal situations, this façade shows the psychopath as the ideal friend, lover, and partner. ( How else would such a person get by and be kept by META BANK? Also I believe that this person or group of people may actually be rather high ranking at META BANK)

These individuals excel at sizing up their prey. ( META BANK is best at studying the needs of the American Consumer and perhaps consumer’s in general and they market the identical product using many new names designed to meet the real needs of their targeted customer, but META BANK really has only one kind of prepaid bank card and META BANK retains the right to change all of the rules whenever they see fit and as often as they see fit without notice to their customers…. What kind of a real relationship is this? … The design relies on publicity targeted and crafted to appear to meet consumer’s real needs, but that is part of the scam.)

They appear to fulfill their victims’ psychological needs, much like the grooming behavior of molesters. ( META BANK says in their publicity that by using their PREPAID BANK CARDS that this is safer for customers; it isn’t safe at all for customers given how META BANK takes over and fully controls a customer’s money and keeps the customer from being able to access their own cash money while META BANK has free use of the customer’s money; in this way the PREPAID BANK CARD works like an interest free loan to META BANK while doing nothing at all to protect consumers…. META BANK gets corporate partners to market their card for them, most likely with promises of increased revenue, but that partner corporation will lose their former customer base who will find that META BANK is impossible to deal with. META BANK has obviously courted those corporate partners. Their employees are issued gift cards, and then asked to push the prepaid cards to their customer base. For the employees they can honestly say that the cards work quite well because for them they do. So they can sell the cards with a straight face and with great sincerity. The customers who are issued prepaid cards that may look like those that the employees have are actually issued prepaid cards with a different numbers and the contact phone number on the back will bring each to their designated customer service representative. The customers will find great difficulty using the cards and in dealing with META BANK who has told customers that they haven’t used the card correctly… this has been repeated over and over again per customer’s online complaints to that effect.)

Although they sometimes appear too good to be true, this persona typically is too grand to resist. They play into people’s basic desire to meet the right person—someone who values them for themselves, wants to have a close relationship, and is different from others who have disappointed them. ( Wow!!! This is even how META BANK’s PREPAID CARD Publicity reads… Customers are studied and then marketed to based on those customer’s most vulnerable areas what ever they are because META BANK has a card for all of those vulnerable areas. Actually the card is the same; the publicity for the card is modified to appear to meet the needs of the customer. It has always been the same prepaid card that META BANK has offered just with a new name.)

Belief in the realism of this personality can lead the individual to form a psychopathic bond with the perpetrator on intellectual, emotional, and physical levels. At this point, the target is hooked and now has become a psychopathic victim.

Corporate psychopaths use the ability to hide their true selves in plain sight and display desirable personality traits to the business world. To do this, they maintain multiple masks at length. (I had wondered how this worked, but it would seem that the people who are behind the scam by which META BANK operates may convey a very congenial face to the world or they send a newly hired employee to speak to the public… that new employee doesn’t even know that what they have been given to say is a con and that they have been given only partial information… SEE: LISA BINDER who spoke to the press about the Dubai Assassination Using a  META BANK PREPAID CARD. )

The façade they establish with coworkers and management is that of the ideal employee and future leader. This can prove effective, particularly in organizations experiencing turmoil and seeking a “knight in shining armor” to fix the company. ( This knight in shining armor must exude confidence that draws people to them… I feel so sorry for the employees of META BANK… Pickhinkle is in prison for bank fraud/embezzlement or CD fraud, but what were her supervisors doing while she did this scam? I think that she was as much a victim as the enactor of the crime… just my opinion from the outside looking in. She indicated at her trial that she was following directions… I believe her.)

Con

How is it possible for psychopaths to fool business-savvy executives and employers?

They often use conning skills during interviews to convince their hiring managers that they have the potential for promotion and the knowledge, skills, and abilities to do an outstanding job. ( It may be in the very higher/higher eschelon of META BANK where the con actually began, but the way META BANK’s operates is a scam of their customer base through the use of misleading information, publicity that has little basis in facts and by lying to their customer base, per my own experience.)

Using their lying skills, they may create phony resumes and fictitious work experience to further their claims. They may manipulate others to act as references. Credentials, such as diplomas, performance awards, and trophies, often are fabricated.

“Psychopathic manipulation usually begins by creating a mask,known as a psychopathic fiction, in the minds of those targeted.”

Once inside the organization, corporate psychopaths capitalize on others’ expectations of a commendable employee.

( I believe that META BANK does this through employee reward systems)

Coworkers and managers may misread superficial charm as charisma, a desirable leadership trait. A psychopath’s grandiose talk can resemble self-confidence, while subtle conning and manipulation often suggest influence and persuasion skills.

Sometimes psychopaths’ thrill-seeking behavior and impulsivity are mistaken for high energy and enthusiasm, action orientation, and the ability to multitask. ( Meta Bank advertises for employees who can work in a fast changing and fast paced work environment…. no mention is made of honesty, integrity or the ability to work well with their customer base…. META BANK’s value system is skewed.)

To the organization, these individuals’ irresponsibility may give the appearance of a risk-taking and entrepreneurial spirit—highly prized in today’s fast-paced business environment. Lack of realistic goal setting combined with grandiose statements can be misinterpreted as visionary and strategic thinking ability; both are rare and sought after by senior management. An inability to feel emotions may be disguised as the capability to make tough decisions and stay calm in the heat of battle.

Damage

Evidence suggests that when participating in teams, corporate psychopaths’ behaviors can wreak havoc.

In departments managed by psychopaths, their conduct decreases productivity and morale. These issues can have a severe impact on a company’s business performance. ( I had felt that the reason that METABANK employees lied to me, bold and brazenly lied to me as their customer originated in the higher ranks among their CEO’s. The mind set is a really sick one at META BANK that would permit them to lie to their customer in such a brazen way…. Had they never seen that they were lying? META BANK had mailed me a check at my home address and then said that I ( pleased note that META BANK was pushing the blame off on the consumer/customer base) had never given them my address. META BANK had a canceled check with my correct mailing address on it… Why did META BANK feel the need to lie? I saw through the lie, but once META BANK has your money, you have lost all control and even complete accessibility to your own money.)

There also is the risk for economic crimes to be committed. For the corporate executive and the criminal justice professional, the issue is the possibility of fraud. ( It was clear to me that META BANK had designed the prepaid bank card as a way to keep money from consumers. The way that the idea was put in place was to scam their customer base rather than to serve them… META BANK’s mindset is really sick.)

Today’s corporate psychopath may be highly educated—several with Ph.D., M.D., and J.D. degrees have been studied—and capable of circumventing financial controls and successfully passing corporate audits.( META BANK’s corporate pyschopath may actually have a law degree and be dedicated exclusively to pushing META BANK’s agenda.)

Investigation

Investigators should familiarize themselves with the typical traits and characteristics of psychopaths. They must understand the manipulation techniques used to create and manage the psychopathic bonds established with victim organizations. ( I can assure you as a former META BANK customer that there is something very wrong with the way that META BANK does business. The red flag for me was META BANK’s desire to push the blame off on me and to boldly lie to me… there is something very sick in the dynamics and internal practices at META BANK.)

Their reputations, as judged by those in power with whom they have bonded, known as patrons, often provide added protection from closer investigation.

As a result, the investigator may need to build a case with management for the use and broad application of more sophisticated techniques.

Psychopaths can be expert liars often immune to traditional deception-revealing techniques. Some practice avoiding detection in anticipation of being caught and interrogated. Therefore, investigators independently should corroborate any information provided by these individuals.3

Psychopaths often compartmentalize their behavior, enabling them to present themselves differently to various people. ( META BANK obviously wined and dined their partner corporations in order to get those partner corporations to push their META BANK PREPAID CARD. As a META BANK PREPAID CARD HOLDER, I was taken advantage of and misused.Because of this, I feel compelled to speak out  to try to protect other consumers.)

This can help them hide their manipulation and control over victims.(META BANK wanted and wants full control of customer’s money. It is an interest free loan to META BANK. META BANK has offered classes to other banks to show them how to do this same scam. Then if they are all doing it and basically they all need to do it in order to be able to survive, it may appear that the underlying principles of the META BANK CARD are usual and normal, but in reality it is only an expansion of the same scam. This time, since “Everybody is doing it” there is an added sense of legitimacy to the original scam.)

Coworkers may have knowledge or suspicions about the psychopath’s actions that can be useful to the investigator. However, they either may fear repercussions or fall under the influence of the psychopathic bond. (I don’t know what the deal is at META BANK internally, but from what I have observed, there is a major problem. META BANK needs for others to imitate their practices when in fact these practices are very harmful to the general public.)  

If investigators establish rapport and trust with coworkers, information that will make their work easier may be forthcoming. The difficulty comes when these associates are persons of interest. Fortunately, some companies have hotlines for employees to report coworker fraud and other complaints. This information provides an invaluable source of leads.

Corporate psychopaths with exceptional verbal skills make crafty interviewees.( I have felt that META BANK is very skilled at creating publicity on line… it is just too good to be true that any entity could actually meet a customer’s real needs. META BANK has customers self identify according to their own perception of their most vulnerable places. Then META BANK sells the same prepaid bank card using a new name but the same old prepaid bank card after hooking the customer.)  

This ability provides an opportunity embraced by many of them to fool law enforcement officers. In these cases, investigators should proceed with caution.4 Specific interview strategies should focus on exposing psychopaths’ vulnerabilities. Possession of a sense of superiority and lack of empathy can enable them to boast about the brilliance of their latest fraud scheme. They often believe that only someone equal in intelligence to them could understand their actions. Strategies specifically designed to elicit such boasting can result in a wealth of information for the investigator.

Corporate psychopaths are successful because they single out and isolate their targets.(META BANK’s customers are often sought out online and never come face to face with META BANK employees. Frequently META BANK customers must pay extra to phone META BANK . I was handed from one person to the next after having been put on hold. The scale of META BANK’s scam, by using many different names, is great and therefore a serious problem.)

They sometimes manipulate several victims at the same time. Investigators never should assume they are immune to a psychopath’s approach. One conversation may be enough for the bond to be established. Investigators must know themselves so that psychopaths’ attempts at bonding fail. It is valuable for investigators to allow psychopaths to believe they have established rapport with someone inside law enforcement.

“Corporate
psychopaths use the ability to hide their
true selves in plain
sight and display
desirable personality
traits to the
business world.”

Investigators must work as a team, communicate openly, and take all observations seriously. This is necessary for personal self-defense, proficient investigative work, and successful prosecution.

Officers must take heed to avoid being impressed with a suspect’s credentials and success. ( I think that META BANK has given large amounts of cash to re-election campaigns in Iowa to buy some credibility.)

Occasionally, when psychopathic white-collar offenders are identified, they seek out the media and give interviews. They may believe their skills of persuasion are effective enough to convince the public that they have done nothing wrong and are being targeted unjustly by law enforcement. To prevent serious problems with the investigation and prosecution, investigators must remain prepared for all possibilities.

Conclusion

Psychopathy, one of the most studied personality disorders, can cause numerous problems for investigators. Therefore, law enforcement officers must become familiar with psychopaths’ traits and characteristics, prevent psychopathic bonds from forming, corroborate information, and take all observations seriously. Investigators must know themselves, work together, communicate with one another openly, and be prepared to deal with the corporate psychopath.

Endnotes

1 Functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI) registers blood flow to functioning areas of the brain.

2 Hare’s Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) is an assessment tool. Psychopathy, as determined by the PCL-R, is indicated by an overall score of 30 or above out of a possible 40. Many point configurations could result in the overall score, determined by adding up the total points for each of the 20 individually listed traits.

3 Research on psychopathy and lie-detection equipment has yielded conflicting results and remains inconclusive.

4 Once established that a perpetrator truly is a psychopath, reviewing the videotaped interrogation can be a lesson in their subtle, yet sophisticated manipulation techniques. This is the same method used by psychopathy researchers.

Additional Resources
P. Babiak, “When Psychopaths Go to Work,” Applied Psychology: An International Review 44, no. 2 (1995): 171-188
P. Babiak, “Psychopathic Manipulation at Work,” in ed., C.B. Gacono, The Clinical and Forensic Assessment of Psychopathy: A Practitioner’s Guide (Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 2000): 287–311
P. Babiak and R.D. Hare, Snakes in Suits: When Psychopaths Go to Work (New York, NY: Harper/Collins, 2006)
P. Babiak, “From Darkness into the Light: Psychopathy in Industrial and Organization Psychology,” in ed., H. Hervé and J. Yuille, The Psychopath: Theory, Research, and
Practice (Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum and Associates, 2007)
P. Babiak, C.S. Neumann, and R.D. Hare, “Corporate Psychopathy: Talking the Walk,” Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 28, no. 2 (2010): 174-193
H. Cleckley, The Mask of Sanity (St Louis, MO: Mosby, 1982)
J. Coid, M. Freestone, S. Ullrich, “Subtypes of Psychopathy in the British Household Population: Findings from the National Household Survey of Psychiatric Morbidity,”
Soc Psychiatry Psychiatra Epidemiol 47, no. 6 (2012): 879-891
R.D. Hare, Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us (New York, NY: Guilford Press, 1999)
R.D. Hare, Hare Psychopathy Checklist Revised, 2nd ed. (Toronto, ON:
Multi-Health Systems, 2003)
M.E. O’Toole, “Psychopathy as a Behavior Classification System for Violent and
Serial Crime Scenes,” in ed., H. Hervé and J. Yuille, The Psychopath: Theory, Research, and Practice (Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum and Associates, 2007): 301-325
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by mrnd5 on December 1, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in 'Not cheaper for the students', agreements with 520 campuses that enroll more than 4.3 million students, and begin talking about change in the actions of Meta Bank and banks like it. Ask for Bank Reforms to Protect Consumers!!! Please focus your energy on this. We need all of your help we can get., Bank Reform and Proper Regulations are Needed, Banks have created all the rules for PREPAID CARDS, Big Corporations and Banks run the world, but it is still Meta Bank's same service and poor quality, Colleges and banks rake in millions from the fees, Complaints Against Meta Bank, Consumer Advocate, Consumer Alert, Consumer Rights Advocacy, Consumer Rights- consumers have no or few protections from predatory banking practices, Consumers act to protect themselves and others from further bank fraud and customer abuses, Consumers are Vulnerable: Help each other, Consumers being forced to use plastic, Consumers Demand Bank Reforms That Serve Their Real Needs, Consumers Join Forces to Protect Each Other from Bank Scams and Frauds, Consumers must speak out, Consumers Start Talking and Learning Real Facts About Banking, Customer's being scammed by Money Network, David and Goliath -the consumer and METABANK's prepaid debit cards, Don't Invest in META BANK, don't take on more debt to pay off the first debt, Economic Servitude needs to be studied and abolished in the USA, even clear-cut cases of fraud where victims are protected from liability by consumer protection laws can cause significant hardship, Gift Cards May be Suspended After Purchase and without notice, Holiday Gift Cards: have hidden fees, How did the assassins pay for their Meta Bank/Payoneer Pre-Paid Cards? Where else were these cards used?, Internal Audit Committee at Meta Bank, Internal Audits not able to cope with problems related to prepaid bank cards, Is Lisa being set up by Meta Bank to take the next fall for their actions? Watch for the next developments., marketing is basically Meta Bank's major strength just behind collections, Meta Bank and Banks like it are the source of the bad economy - stop talking about any politician at any point in history, Meta Bank charges customers for spending their own money, Meta Bank denied one man his right to a fair and impartial trial. What kind of a world citizen is Meta Bank? We are tired of fighting the wars that Meta Bank causes., Meta Bank is nothing but a publicity scam, Meta Bank never accepts responsibility, Meta Bank never made any promises to their customers in their legal documents, Meta Bank operates using many different names, Meta Bank Scams Americans, Meta Bank sells VISA and Mastercard Pre-Paid Cards, Meta Bank uses empty verbiage, METABANK designed the prepaid bank cards, METABANK practices are dragging the economy down, METABANK's publicity says that their prepaid card will meet your specific needs but in reality they are the exact same card just using different publicitty, Money Network is META BANK, NBPCA is a scam on the American public, Netspend/Meta Bank makes life miserable, payment cards that carry hefty costs, Pre-paid Bank Cards don't work, PREPAID BANK CARD FRAUDULENT PRACTICES, PREPAID CARDS are not adequately regulated, PREPAID CARDS are not consumer friendly, PrePaid Name Brand Bank Card Association a non-profit is a scam, seek revenue growth for themselves not you the customer, Stay Out of Debt, Stay out of debt- don't get loans to pay off loans, Steve King (R-IA) received large campaign donation from James S. Haahr of Meta Bank, Suspicious Activity is within Meta Bank's internal practices and policies, The cards and accounts are marketed aggressively using college letterhead and websites carrying the endorsement of colleges., trying to manage regulatory regulations - still don't understand the problems they have caused, We are all vulnerable to predatory practices of banks like METABANK, What were Meta Bank's supervisors and internal auditors doing? Did they even exist? Why doesn't Meta Bank's Higher Ups ever know anything and have to push the blame around all the time?, Xoom and Meta Bank are one in the same, You may be dealing with Meta Bank under a different name
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Posted by mrnd5 on December 1, 2012

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