All posts in category Customer’s being scammed by Money Network

Permissiveness of US Laws on Lobbying and Campaign Financing and the Major Problems that go Hand in Hand With That

The Spread of Oligarchy; The Distribution of Assets;

Who Controls Your Money

The ultra-rich are world’s new dictators

Democracy at risk as oligarchy spreads

Oct. 26, 2013 9:26 PM  / ASSOCIATED PRESS

Written by  Christian Caryl

Foreign Policy

Caryl, the editor of Democracy Lab, is a senior fellow at the Legatum Institute and a contributing editor at Foreign Policy. He is also the author of “Strange Rebels: 1979 and the Birth of the 21st Century.”

WASHINGTON — Earlier this month, the investment bank Credit Suisse published its annual survey of global wealth. The bank’s report is filled with illuminating findings, but one in particular caught my eye. It has to do with the distribution of assets in Russia, where, as the report notes, a mere 110 people own a mind-boggling 35 percent of the country’s entire wealth. At the same time, 93.7 percent of Russians are worth $10,000 or less.

As the report notes, this makes Russia the country with the greatest wealth disparities in the world. Americans, who are now increasingly concerned about deepening inequality in their own country, might seek some consolation from this dismal conclusion.

Even under present circumstances, wealth in the United States is still spread a lot more evenly than that.

Things could be worse, right?

Well, maybe. But I see little cause for jubilation. Russia is merely the most extreme case of a worldwide trend that potentially represents one of the greatest threats that democracy faces today: the spread of oligarchy.

The problem isn’t just that some people in today’s world are fabulously rich. It’s that disproportionate wealth increasingly goes along with disproportionate power.

Russia, again, offers a textbook example of the dangers. Back in the 1990s, a handful of politically well-connected business tycoons managed to profit from their close relations with Boris Yeltsin’s Kremlin by taking advantage of the privatization of the country’s industrial jewels — above all its vast oil wealth. Those magnates weren’t shy about exploiting their economic power to political ends. They bankrolled Yeltsin’s re-election as president in 1996, controlled ministerial appointments, and dictated government policy. No wonder these businessmen-cum-politicians were soon dubbed the “oligarchs.”

(”Oligarchy” is Greek for “government of the few.”)

One of them, the recently deceased, arch-Machiavellian Boris Berezovsky, engineered the rise of an ex-KGB officer to the prime ministership. Vladimir Putin ultimately proved less than grateful, though. Once Putin became president in his own stead, he was quick to cut his erstwhile patron down to size, forcing Berezvosky into exile.

Putin curtailed the power of other Yeltsin-era tycoons, too (most notably Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who now marks his 10th year of imprisonment in a labor camp), but in their place he raised up a new group of businessmen — many with ties to the old Soviet security services — who owed their fortunes to him. One of them, another KGB alumnus named Igor Sechin, who heads the country’s largest oil company, is regarded by some as the second-most powerful man after Putin himself.

But this isn’t only Russia’s problem.

As has now become apparent, globalization and the powerful economic forces it has unleashed have awarded unparalleled wealth and power to a tiny new elite. 

Call them what you will: the superclass, the plutocrats, the “global meritocracy.”

What they exemplify is the nexus of wealth and political power. And that’s a problem that is increasingly vexing voters in places from London to Kuala Lumpur.

It’s a challenge that takes different forms.

In China, membership in the ruling Communist Party is often the easy road to wealth. Many of today’s political scandals center on the antics of well-connected “princelings,” the descendants of senior party officials who embody the country’s peculiarly potent blend of Marxist-Leninist crony capitalism. Thanks to some remarkable digging by enterprising journalists in recent years, we’ve learned some astonishing things about the scale of privilege enjoyed by the extended families of notables such as President Xi Jinping and ex-Prime Minister Wen Jiabao.

But this hardly comes as a surprise.

When you consider that the People’s Republic is governed by the seven members of the Standing Committee of the Politburo of the Communist Party, you’re talking about a tiny number of families who exercise unchecked control over one of the world’s largest economies. In such a setting, it’s only natural that political and economic power are mutually reinforcing.

The situation in China is, of course, the outcome of an economic liberalization program steered by an autocratic elite.

In the countries of the developed West the situation is rather different. The number of players is larger; wealth and political influence are more widely distributed.

But that is presumably small comfort to, say, the Americans who have emerged as losers from the country’s latest Gilded Age. ( Oh and Americans don’t like losing, in case you hadn’t noticed.)

Economic equality in the United States grew steadily during the first three decades of the period following World War II, but ground to a halt amid the stagflation and increasing international competition of the 1970s.

As economist Joseph Stiglitz notes in a recent editorial:

“Last year, the top 1 percent of Americans took home 22 percent of the nation’s income; the top 0.1 percent, 11 percent. 

Ninety-five percent of all income gains since 2009 have gone to the top 1 percent. 

Recently released census figures show that median income in America hasn’t budged in almost a quarter-century.”

At the same time, the extraordinary permissiveness of U.S. laws on lobbying and campaign financing has allowed wealthy elites to gain immense sway over the political process.

By now, anyone who follows American politics has heard the stories about the vast sums of cash spent by conservative business magnates like the Koch Brothers; less often discussed, perhaps, are the rich Democrats, such as George Soros or Tom Steyer, who are happy to leverage their wealth to shape policy.

But even less visible are the big corporations and industrial associations who can purchase lawmakers and fix legislation to boost their own bottom lines.

One recent academic study calculates that 40 percent of political campaign contributions in 2012 came from one-hundredth of 1 percent of U.S. households. That figure probably reflects the new economic elite’s growing awareness of its own political power — not to mention the apathy among other segments of the population who feel increasingly divorced from meaningful participation.

The erosion of alternative power centers, such as labor unions, undoubtedly contributes to a sense of rising cynicism and disengagement. It all serves to undermine the promise of America’s democratic system. (Given this context, it’s no wonder that the U.S. Supreme Court is once again weighing the question of limits on individual contributions to political campaigns.)

As a result, the United States is now experiencing a remarkable discussion of the causes of the new inequality and its political consequences. Authors from George Packer to Tyler Cowen are stirring impassioned debate about the perceived breakdown of the American social compact. The new book from economist Angus Deaton, “The Great Escape,” includes a memorable quote from the lawyer Louis Brandeis: “If democracy becomes plutocracy, those who are not rich are effectively disenfranchised.”

Can we stop the trend?

  •  Some — like Cowen, who believes that current inequality is largely a function of technological change — are skeptical.
  • Others insist that we can counter the drift towards government by the few with smart policies designed to level the playing field — above all in education, infrastructure and health care.
  • Measures to limit the role of money in politics probably wouldn’t be a bad idea either (presuming we can find some that actually work). For those who still believe in the primacy of the market, the package might also include measures designed to promote genuine competition in the place of today’s corporate welfare for politically plugged-in superfirms.

This certainly doesn’t mean giving up on capitalism.

As development economists point out, globalization has brought relative prosperity to many around the world who couldn’t even dream of it before. (Think, for a start, of all those Chinese peasants who can now afford three meals a day — unthinkable in times past.) Overall health and development indicators have improved dramatically over the past 50 years.

None of this, however, obviates the need to ensure that the extraordinary benefits accruing to the superstars at the top don’t end up disenfranchising the rest of us. Otherwise the future looks dark.

********************************

Balance of power, being able to control our own money, having access to clear and accurate information about banking practices so that what we do as individuals allows us to make informed and educated decisions, genuine decisions, about our own assets and lives are reasonable requests. Otherwise the future looks dark.

Our experience using METABANK crossed over into the dark zone. We were lied to. Our own cash money was kept from us. METABANK took our cash money first and then made up some far fetched story that was so easy to see through that it was disgusting. Seeing immoral and criminal acts, being lied to and being taken advantage by a power banker which is how METABANK has been acting, not only in the USA, but on a global scale is so extreme that we must speak up and out against how METABANK operates.

Consumers must align, join forces and work collectively for solutions to the problems created by METABANK and any other entity that wants to use consumer’s money as an interest free loan for themselves. METABANK operates as a usurer, a loan shark, in the greediest and most self-centered sense of that has ever existed.

METABANK began as a “THRIFT BANK” which catered to the poorest and most economically fragile citizens from whom they charged exorbitant interest rates and then moved into “COLLECTIONS” which is really what METABANK is all about, the enforcement of collections. METABANK sets up all the rules by which they operate and also retains the right to change the rules without notices. METABANK operates as a scam of consumers. No safe guards are in place to protect consumers from predators like METABANK. Only you as a consumer can protect yourselves.

If we hadn’t been so badly scammed by METABANK as their former customer, we wouldn’t feel so compelled to write this blog…. The reality is that METABANK abused us as their customer so we feel that all we can do is to alert others to prevent from happening to them what we had foisted upon us as a customer of METABANK. We are trying to put into action the “Golden Rule.” If only METABANK had treated us the way we would have liked to have been treated as customers

#1 We would have been pleased with the service we received from METABANK

#2 We would still be doing business with METABANK

#3 We would be endorsing the kind of product offered by METABANK       ………… BUT WE ARE NOT  !!!!!

BUT BECAUSE WE WERE SO ABUSED BY METABANK, WE CANNOT ENDORSE ANY PRODUCT OR SERVICE COMING OUT OF STORM LAKE, IOWA.

CONSUMERS, BE WARNED!!! Don’t become a customer of MetaBank. Unfortunately, Meta Bank operates using many different names and they use a partner company to market their prepaid network branded bank cards.

Because METABANK is the largest processor of the Network Branded Prepaid Bank Cards, it will be difficult for you to know if you are a customer of METABANK or one operating in the same manner as METABANK. METABANK has offered classes to other banking entities in their methods so as to normalize their practices.

We are curious about the placement of METABANK advertisements.
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by mrnd5 on October 27, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Banking, Consumers align to protect yourselves, Consumers are Vulnerable: Help each other, 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 suffer at the hands of METABANK, Creating Easy Preys Doesn't Make METABANK's Practices Moral, Customer Complaints Abound Regarding how METABANK treats them., customer service of METABANK, Customer's being scammed by Money Network, Disabled Veteran abused by METABANK, Do not give up control of your own money by using a prepaid card, Dollar General Pre-paid Card is Meta Bank, Don't Invest in META BANK, Don't use PREPAID BANK CARDS of any kind, Economic Servitude needs to be studied and abolished in the USA, fast paced banking systems, fees related to gift cards, fees required to talk by phone to NETSPEND, Financial Regulatory Reforms Needed, Get Debit dot com is Meta Bank, 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, 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?, Human Rights, Internal Audits not able to cope with problems related to prepaid bank cards, Jackson-Hewitt and METABANK are partners, Just Curious About Meta Bank's Ad Placement, marketing is basically Meta Bank's major strength just behind collections, Meta Bank, 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 operates using many different names, 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, META FINANCIAL GROUP INC fails to address customers' real needs, METABANK, 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 are still complaining about the abuse they have received from METABANK, METABANK Customers complain about METABANK's mistreatment, METABANK designed the prepaid bank cards, METABANK fails to hear and to respond appropriately to customer's real needs, MetaBank is corrupt, METABANK operates using many different names, METABANK uses false awards- false testimonials, METABANK uses the rules for their own gain, METABANK's practices are narcissitic, METABANK's publicity is a lie and filled with false promises, metabank.com, Money Network is META BANK, More behind META BANK's scam than we may have previously realized, NBPCA is a scam on the American public, Nothing and no one has yet been able to put a stop to META BANK's scam, Outrageous practices within MetaBank, Predatory Practices of BankMeta.com, PrePaid Bank Cards bad for consumers, PREPAID CARDS promoted by METABANK, PrePaid Name Brand Bank Card Association a non-profit is a scam, Protecting Your Customer Base, Publicity or Factual, Put yourself in charge of your own finances, Real Customer Service Builds a Genuine Customer Base, rebate cards, Rules Designed BY METABANK for the benefit of METABANK, Scams by banks like METABANK, seek revenue growth for themselves not you the customer, self-centered, self-serving, Staying Competitive at What Expense, Steve King (R-IA) received large campaign donation from James S. Haahr of Meta Bank, Storm Lake IOWA, 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, 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, Why does METABANK lie to their own customers?, You may be dealing with Meta Bank under a different name
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Posted by mrnd5 on October 27, 2013

https://mrnd5.wordpress.com/2013/10/27/permissiveness-of-us-laws-on-lobbying-and-campaign-financing-and-the-major-problems-that-go-hand-in-hand-with-that/

Pay Power is METABANK and METABANK’s practices fail consumers repeatedly

Had METABANK not taken advantage of us, made us very vulnerable, and lied to us and to the Better Business Bureau of Des Moines, this blog would never have been created.

But the fact remains that METABANK lied to us, the partner company that sold us their product and to the BBB of Des Moines, IA. METABANK took our money, our cash money because that is the only way that a card can be loaded/re-loaded, and then kept us from having access to our own money when we needed it the most. This action made us even more vulnerable than if we had been paying directly using cash. The prepaid card only is a money making gimmick that serves to make the METABANK CEOs outrageously rich… This is not a sustainable pattern for the US Economy.

Why you don’t want a PAYPOWER VISA DEBIT issued by METABANK tm

#1 Pay Power is a METABANK product.

#2 The gimmick of attaching a direct deposit that will give you the added bonus of a $20 credit isn’t enough of an incentive given the fact that you will actually be giving complete and full control of all of your assets over to METABANK, an unknown and anonymous entity that you found online.

#3  The concept of a direct deposit is okay, but it has been so abused by METABANK that in their hands it becomes like a weapon against METABANK’s own customer base.

#4 Many customers, that is former customers of METABANK, have complained for years now that METABANK keeps them from being able to access their own money when they need it the most. METABANK’s customer representatives have lied to customers repeatedly for the reasons that the customers aren’t able to access their own money. The control that METABANK wields over their customers’ accounts has gone far beyond what can be considered normal and appropriate. METABANK’s customers are a huge cash cow for METABANK and create a “living hell” for customers who must give METABANK cash money.

#5 METABANK promises to provide safety and security, but this isn’t for their customers. METABANK is working to get safety and security for themselves. Once METABANK has control of all of your assets, your cash money, then you will discover that you can’t access your own cash money. You have been taken in by false promises.

# 6 METABANK is really a collections agency and not a bank in the sense that we have always thought of banks. METABANK relies on the consumers’ previously held impression of banks as being the safest place to keep  their money. METABANK is a Member of FDIC and that statement may lull customers into thinking that METABANK will be in a fiduciary position to protect their customers’ assets…. METABANK is not and has never been able to deliver a quality product for protecting their customer base.

#7  METABANK relies on partner companies and internet ads to get  new customers so they can keep doing the same old scam to a new batch of consumers. METABANK relies on getting a new batch of customers of whom they will then begin to take advantage for their own personal gain and at the expense and misery of the METABANK customer.

#8 Marketing strategies of METABANK involve the creation of new names for the same scam on consumers. This is one way that METABANK endeavors to get around the law… METABANK “is always one step ahead of the law.”

#9 METABANK creates all the rules governing their services or as it turns out for consumers ” a lack of real service accompanied by abuses.”

#10 METABANK helped to create the “Non-Profit” NPBCA to advocate for PREPAID CARDS in DC by using Rupli and Associates. It is a way for METABANK to make themselves appear to be legitimate…. What METABANK does with the prepaid cards is to abuse consumers. The cards are designed so that METABANK has control of your cash money. Customer Fees are attached to opening up the cards while METABANK is getting an interest Free Loan from those who can least afford to give out loans.

#11 METABANK is a “thrift bank”… This term is used to indicate the lowest level of customer service and the highest level of fees for the consumer.

#12 METABANK indicates that “No Credit Check” is required, but consumers have indicated that META BANK does a credit check anyway, but without your knowledge. METABANK is consciously looking for the more vulnerable people to give them loans at a very high interest rate.

#13 By creating a direct deposit from your salary/payroll check or government check that is affiliated with a METABANK debit card, you are becoming an economic slave for METABANK. As a consumer, you must understand that you are establishing a state of economic servitude for yourself by entering into a contract with METABANK.

#14 METABANK/NBPCA is like a Cancer: they are offering training sessions around the USA. Just look at their schedule of up-coming events. You may believe that you are not going to be affected by METABANK, but it may be that you already are one of their customers. The training sessions serve the purpose of normalizing the type of actions and the way that METABANK has scammed their customer base for a period of years now.

#15 METABANK created an organization that purportedly examines customer service and that organization gave METABANK a best customer service award…. While customers continue to complain about how they were abused and taken advantage of by METABANK.

#16  METABANK never accepts responsibility for the problems they have created for others, their own customer base. By design this cannot be a sustainable way to do business, but  in the meantime, as consumers, we don’t want to become METABANK’s next victim as their system comes to a head and fails. METABANK is using a get rich quick scheme. It is not a long term solution for any bank or their customer base.

#17 METABANK has as its parent company META PAYMENT SOLUTIONS and META FINANCIAL GROUP INC… METABANK really isn’t at its core a bank in the conventional sense that will protect their customer base’s assets in a mutually beneficial arrangement. Empty promises are used to lure in customers; METABANBK has no intention of providing those services. Years of consumer complaints have proven this to be true. METABANK advertises for employees who are willing to work in a fast paced, ever changing scenario and who can deal with angry customers. METABANK expects “angry customers” because at the heart of what they are doing, even METABANK knows what they do is a fraud and an abuse of their own customers for their own get rich quick scheme.

All that we can do is to try to warn others about this problem:

METABANK relies on the internet and partner companies to push their prepaid card.

METABANK makes promises and implies services they have no intention of ever giving their customer base.

METABANK relies on keeping their customer base at a distance. Customers have been charged for phoning METABANK. Many customers say that they get the run around from METABANK when they phone. It appears to consumers that the METABANK phone representatives have been given a list of reasons for why consumers can’t access their own money. The underlying message is always that IT IS THE CUSTOMERS’ FAULT FOR WHY THE METABANK PREPAID CARD DOESN’T WORK

METABANK has never shown any kind of real and genuine response to their customers’ complaints. The customers complain about the identical mistreatment and METABANK has never ever actually addressed their customers’ input nor their real needs. METABANK’s publicity says one thing, but the actual customer service will be totally different and horrible.

Please be advised to ” DO NOT BUSINESS WITH METABANK” or with any other bank or partner trained by METABANK

The old saying that your parents used to tell you that “just because everybody else is doing something, it doesn’t make it right”…. METABANK and the NBPCA may provide training events to promote and to normalize what they are doing, but what METABANK does and how METABANK operates is immoral and an abuse against society and humanity in general for their own personal gain… Consumers are being warned to no do business with METABANK or any entity that has been influenced by METABANK.

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by mrnd5 on February 21, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Advocate for your needs and concerns as a consumer, 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 Regulatory Reforms are Needed, Banking, banking in Storm Lake IOWA, BankMeta lies to keep customers from their own money, 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, being manipulated, Big Corporations and Banks run the world, but it is still Meta Bank's same service and poor quality, 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 align to protect yourselves, 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 Need To Save Money And Stay Out of Debt, Consumers suffer at the hands of METABANK, Corrupt Practices found within METABANK, Customer Complaints Abound Regarding how METABANK treats them., Customer Service isn't listed as being one of META FINANCIAL GROUP INC areas of interest or studied skills, Customer's being scammed by Money Network, Customers of METABANK continue to complain about how they have been mistreated by METABANK, Customers' Scammed Repeatedly By METABANK, Disabled Veteran abused by METABANK, Do not give up control of your own money by using a prepaid card, Does METABANK believe their customer base are unworthy?, 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, electronic banking, End Overdraft Fees, fast paced banking systems, fees related to gift cards, Fight Corruption, Financial Regulatory Reforms Needed, Get Debit dot com is Meta Bank, gift card payment systems, Gift Cards are an interest free loan to an unknown bank, Gift Cards May be Suspended After Purchase and without notice, herd behavior, Holiday Gift Cards: have hidden fees, http://wwwbankmetacom/Contact, Human Rights, If in debt, Internal Audit Committee at Meta Bank, Internal Audits not able to cope with problems related to prepaid bank cards, J. Tyler Haahr, Jackson-Hewitt and METABANK are partners, Jackson-Hewitt tax preparation services to be avoided, Just Curious About Meta Bank's Ad Placement, Just try to save, marketing is basically Meta Bank's major strength just behind collections, Meta Bank, 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 bilks their customer base, Meta Bank charges customers for spending their own money, 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 Scams Americans, Meta Bank sells VISA and Mastercard Pre-Paid Cards, Meta Bank uses empty verbiage, META BANK: Creating all the rules in their own favor, META FINANCIAL GROUP INC, META FINANCIAL GROUP INC & PREPAID CARDS FAIL CONSUMERS, META FINANCIAL GROUP INC fails to address customers' real needs, META FINANCIAL GROUP INC is by design created to make money for their CEOs, 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 average employees earn wages below the poverty level, METABANK causes the late fees for customers, METABANK CEOs make huge annual incomes, METABANK customers are still being scammed, METABANK customers are still complaining about the abuse they have received from METABANK, METABANK Customers complain about METABANK's mistreatment, METABANK designed the prepaid bank cards, METABANK donates large amounts of money to re-elect Steve King, METABANK fails to hear and to respond appropriately to customer's real needs, 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 PREPAID CARD, METABANK uses both Pyramid and Ponzi Schemes, METABANK uses false awards- false testimonials, METABANK uses shills- stooges to market their product, METABANK's partner company provides METABANK with access to their customer base, METABANK's practices are narcissitic, METABANK's publicity is a lie and filled with false promises, 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 mules get METABANK PREPAID CARDS to work for them, Money Network is META BANK, More behind META BANK's scam than we may have previously realized, Narcissism of Storm Lake IOWA, NBPCA is a scam on the American public, Netspend/Meta Bank makes life miserable, Nothing and no one has yet been able to put a stop to META BANK's scam, Ordinary customers can't get the METABANK PREPAID CARD TO SERVE THEIR NEEDS, Partner company - Jackson/Hewitt uses METABANK's PREPAID BANK CARD - avoid this scam, payment cards that carry hefty costs, Please help to stop the immoral banking practices of META BANK, Predatory Practices of BankMeta.com, PREPAID BANK CARD FRAUDULENT PRACTICES, PREPAID CARDS are not adequately regulated, PREPAID CARDS are not consumer friendly, PREPAID CARDS promoted by METABANK, PrePaid Name Brand Bank Card Association a non-profit is a scam, Scams by banks like METABANK, seek revenue growth for themselves not you the customer, self-centered, self-motivated, self-serving, Stay Out of Debt, Steve King (R-IA) received large campaign donation from James S. Haahr of Meta Bank, Stop Meta Bank, Storm Lake IOWA, Success shouldn't be about profits - People mattter, Suspicious Activity is within Meta Bank's internal practices and policies, This is not a sustainable pattern for the US Economy., Tricked by METABANK's publicity, Truth, Two problems found in METABANK's "No Credit Check" Cards, Usury, Western Union and MetaBank have joined forces, 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?, Where There Is Smoke There Is Fire, Why does METABANK lie to their own customers?, 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 February 21, 2013

https://mrnd5.wordpress.com/2013/02/21/pay-power-is-metabank-and-metabanks-practices-fail-consumers-repeatedly/

Making a budget, Paying using only cash… Easier and safest approach at this time

Budgeting simplified to allow us to save and to spend using cash only!!!

10 Ways to Simplify Your Budget

Every Tuesday is Finance & Family Day at Zen Habits.

I’m always looking for ways to simplify my finances (I’m weird like that, I know), and recently I’ve been scrutinizing my already-simple budget to make it even simpler.

I thought it would be helpful to share some of the ways to make your budget as simple as possible.

The goal is to

  • reduce headaches,
  • eliminate the need for complicated tracking schemes,
  • and reduce the time you spend on your budget and finances to about 15-20 minutes per week.

I can’t claim these ideas are original, or that I haven’t discussed them in various places before, but in my experience, they work. They’re simple and powerful.

Let’s first look at setting up a budget.

If you haven’t done it yet, it’s probably because budgets seem intimidating to you, or they are too much hassle to set up and maintain.

Those are both valid points — which is why you should follow this simplified plan if these things apply to you. Now, there’s plenty of fancy software out there for setting up budgets, but I don’t think they’re necessary. A simple spreadsheet will do — and if you can create a SUM formula to add up the total of a column of numbers, you have all the spreadsheet knowledge necessary.

1. Create a simple spreadsheet for your budget, if you haven’t already, and start by listing your income and your monthly expenses. Estimate, in round numbers, how much you spend on each expense every month. You can adjust later, but it’s better to err on the side of too high a number, rather than putting a low number and breaking your budget.

Now let’s look at ways to create a simple budget:

2.  60 Percent Solution. There are many ways to structure your budget, but the simplest I’ve found is the 60% solution. Basically, this budget asks you to fit your regular monthly expenses within 60% of your gross income, so that you have room for savings (long-term and short-term), retirement and spending money (“fun money”). These are the things that most often break a budget, because most people don’t budget for them.

Now, your percentage will vary, but the percentages given here are just rough guidelines:Fewer categories.

A lot of budget software asks you to fill in a million categories and subcategories. Those can be useful if you want to track all that stuff, but I don’t. I recommend simplifying: just use broad categories like food and gas and spending and utilities. Use what works.

  • 60 percent: Monthly expenses — such as housing, food, utilities, insurance, Internet, transportation. This is the part most commonly thought of as a budget.
  • 10 percent: Retirement — and if you’re doing it right, this is being automatically deducted from your paycheck for a 401(k) investment.
  • 10 percent: Long-term savings or debt reduction. It’s best to invest this in something such as stocks or an index fund, and this can serve as your emergency fund. But if you are in debt (not including a home mortgage), I would advise that you use this portion of the budget to pay off your debts, and even draw some from the other categories such as retirement to increase this to about 20 percent for now. Once your debts are paid off, you can switch this to long-term savings. You still need to have an emergency fund, but while you’re in debt-reduction mode you can either create a small, temporary emergency fund out of the money from this category or the next.
  • 10 percent: Short-term savings — this is for periodic expenses, such as auto maintenance or repairs, medical expenses (not including insurance premiums), appliances, home maintenance, birthday and Christmas gifts. For this savings account, be sure to spend the money when you need it — that’s what it’s for. When these expenses come up, you will have the money for them, instead of trying to pull them from other budget categories.
  • 10 percent: Fun money — you can spend this on eating out, movies, comic books — whatever you want. Guilt free.

3. Pay bills online. As much as possible, pay your bills online. These would be most of the bills in the first category above — utilities, rent or mortgage, cell phone, Internet, etc. If you can’t pay electronically, have your bank send out a check to the vendor. Make these payments automatic, so you don’t need to worry about them.

4. Automatic savings. Make your savings automatic as well. Every time your paycheck is deducted, have a scheduled transaction transfer a set amount from checking to savings. Use a high-yield online savings account such as Emigrant Direct, HBSD, or ING Direct.        [I am not familiar with any of these companies so I cannot endorse them…. They were in the original article… Please note though that you are not being sent to bank at METABANK. There is a very good reason for that.]
5. Cash. For everything else, use cash. If you’re doing automatic bill payments and savings deductions, the only things you’ll likely need cash for are gas, groceries and fun money. Withdraw these amounts in cash twice a month, rather than using checks or credit cards. The reason is that it’s simpler — with cash, you don’t need to worry about overspending, or tracking how much is left in that category. You can see how much is left. Leave the credit cards for when you absolutely need them — traveling, for example.
6. Envelopes. If you use cash for three categories, for example, use three envelopes. This is an old-fashioned system, but I use it because it works. I have an envelope for groceries, gas and fun money. If I’m going grocery shopping, I bring the groceries envelope. I know how much is left in the envelope before I go grocery shopping. I spend the cash for groceries, and then can easily see how much is left now. Simple, and no tracking necessary. When the money is gone, you’ve spent your budgeted amount. If necessary, you could transfer cash from one envelope to another, and there’s no need to adjust your budget.
7. 15-20 minutes a week. Now, the budget and spending plan I’ve outlined above is fairly simple and headache-free — but you shouldn’t assume that it doesn’t need any maintenance.
You should devote 15-20 minutes a week to ensuring that your finances are in order. Just this little amount of time each week will greatly simplify your financial life, reduce headaches, and prevent any messes from occurring later. Set a day and time when you take a look at your finances each week.
Set aside 30 minutes, just to be safe. Now take 5-10 minutes to enter your transactions into your financial software (I use MS Money, because it came with my computer, but a spreadsheet or other financial software will do fine).
If you’re following the plan above, all you’ll need to do is go online, look at your bank account, and enter your deposits, bills paid, ATM withdrawals (only do this twice a month!), and any other fees. It shouldn’t take long.
Now spend another 5-10 minutes to review your budget and make sure that all bills have been paid that should be paid. If not, pay them.
It’s that simple. You’re done. Now go back to reading your blogs.
8. Fewer accounts. Some people have complicated systems set up with lots of different accounts. I say simplify. You don’t want to be checking a million different accounts. You should have one checking account and one or two savings accounts (one for emergency fund and one for periodic expenses). You could have a bunch of investment accounts if you want, but I’ve found it simpler to just have one. I lose diversity, but my fund is already pretty diversified.
9. Dump credit cards.
[Dump all  bank cards period…. Get rid of all those plastic nooses!!!!] Multiple credit cards are also a headache. Simplify by just having one. Or do what I do — have none.
This will draw the usual outraged or preachy reaction from those who really love their credit cards, but I don’t care.

 

I don’t like credit cards. Call me old fashioned.

 

They charge high interest and they’re potentially dangerous (if you run up a high bill and an expense comes up that you need to pay for which means you can’t pay your credit card bill on time, you now are stuck with high-interest credit card debt).

 

Use a debit card if you need to.

[NO, NO, NO!!!!!  

……We cannot advise using a debit card  either because this amounts to being an interest free loan to a bank and often the consumer is charged activation fees for these cards on top of giving out an inbterest free loan…

…This is the biggest gimmick to come about in centuries… Clever marketing makes the debit card sound like a way to keep yourself from over spending, but the way that METABANK operates internally means that customers are kept from being able to access their own money when they really need it. Some have complained that they had to get a loan to even be able to pay routine monthly bills. METABANK is operating  a fraud on their customers. They lied to me about why they felt they should keep me from accessing my own cash money…. METABANK made themselves into the “PREPAID CARD POLICING SYSTEM.” However, it is METABANK who is doing a major scam…..

…All that we can do is to warn others not to use any kind of METABANK PRODUCT]

10. Pay all bills at the same time. It often just takes a simple call to get a vendor or creditor to change the due date on your bills. If you can get all your bills to be due on, let’s say, the 10th of the month, you can do all your bill paying at once. For some people, this will mean they will need to do a bit of scrimping to get ahead enough so that they can afford to make all their month’s payments at the beginning of the month, but it’s worth it. You can pay all your bills and be done with it.
[Because the product that METABANK, a PREPAID CARD, didn’t work at all from a consumer’s perspective for us and many others who complain regularly about how they have been kept from being able to access their own money once they gave METABANK cash money to place on a prepaid card, we feel compelled to alert other consumers that the METABANK PREPAID CARD isn’t good for customers/consumers.]

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by mrnd5 on February 5, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Bank Reform and Proper Regulations are Needed, BANK REFORMS NEEDED TO BE CAREFULLY REGULATED, Bank regulators shut down MetaBank payday loans, banking in Storm Lake IOWA, 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, but it is still Meta Bank's same service and poor quality, Complaints Against Meta Bank, Consumer Advocate, Consumer Alert, Consumer Rights Advocacy, Consumer Rights- consumers have no or few protections from predatory banking practices, Consumers align to protect yourselves, 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 Need To Save Money And Stay Out of Debt, Corrupt Practices found within METABANK, Creating Easy Preys Doesn't Make METABANK's Practices Moral, Customer Service isn't listed as being one of META FINANCIAL GROUP INC areas of interest or studied skills, Customer's being scammed by Money Network, Customers of METABANK continue to complain about how they have been mistreated by METABANK, debit card fraud is always a possibility, Don't Invest in META BANK, Don't pay using a debit card, don't take on more debt to pay off the first debt, Don't use PREPAID BANK CARDS of any kind, Economic Servitude needs to be studied and abolished in the USA, fast paced banking systems, Fight Corruption, future oriented, getting out of debt, Gift Cards May be Suspended After Purchase and without notice, Holiday Gift Cards: have hidden fees, How to make a budget and to save money, Just try to save, marketing is basically Meta Bank's major strength just behind collections, Meta Bank charges customers for spending their own money, META BANK doesn’t serve the general public, Meta Bank is nothing but a publicity scam, Meta Bank never accepts responsibility, META BANK same poor service as always, METABANK CEOs create and require all of the rules, METABANK CEOs make huge annual incomes, METABANK customers are still complaining about the abuse they have received from METABANK, METABANK Customers complain about METABANK's mistreatment, METABANK is a collections agency and not a bank, MetaBank is corrupt, METABANK lies to their own customers, METABANK operates using many different names, METABANK practices are dragging the economy down, METABANK PREPAID CARD, METABANK uses both Pyramid and Ponzi Schemes, METABANK uses false awards- false testimonials, METABANK's partner company provides METABANK with access to their customer base, 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 and Spending Wisely, Narcissistic practices found to be within METABANK's operation, personal finance, PREPAID CARDS are not adequately regulated, PREPAID CARDS are not consumer friendly, PrePaid Name Brand Bank Card Association a non-profit is a scam, Saving Money, Scams by banks like METABANK, Stay Out of Debt, Stay out of debt- don't get loans to pay off loans, Success shouldn't be about profits - People mattter, Suspicious Activity is within Meta Bank's internal practices and policies
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Posted by mrnd5 on February 5, 2013

https://mrnd5.wordpress.com/2013/02/05/making-a-budget-paying-using-only-cash-easier-and-safest-approach-at-this-time/

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

https://mrnd5.wordpress.com/2012/12/01/the-corporate-psychopath-i-found-them-at-meta-bank-when-i-was-one-of-their-prepaid-bank-card-customers/

Business Report for META Bank

December 03, 2009

EA SPORTS Launches Prepaid Visa Debit Card with Rewards

(“With Rewards” is a hook you in phrase, used to get the most benefit for METABANK… What does “With Rewards” really imply??? Think about this carefully and thoroughly because it means a lot for the consumer and ultimately for the partner company.)

Electronic Artshas announced that it has “made it easier for loyal gamers to buy their favorite EA SPORTS™ titles with the launch of the first-ever EA SPORTS branded prepaid debit card. The reloadable prepaid debit card enables users to receive a percent back from every purchase at thousands of brick-and-mortar and online retailers to redeem points (“EA SPORTS Rewards Points”) that can be used to purchase select EA SPORTS game titles.” (“Gamers” have a partnership with META BANK)

November 02, 2009

Western Union Launches Prepaid Visa Gift Cards

Western Union has launched a new Visa prepaid gift card and greeting card offering enabling consumers to send the gift of money using Western Union branded prepaid gift cards available athttp://www.WesternUnion.com.

(A friend of mine was scammed through a money transfer via Western Union… Know to whom you are sending money when using Western Union.)

August 11, 2009

A Look at Meta Payment Systems

Meta Financial Group has reported its financial results for its third fiscal quarter of 2009. Included are the results of its Meta Payment Systems business unit, one of largest prepaid card issuers in the US. MPS quarterly revenue grew by 68%, up from $10.3 million in fiscal 2008 to $17.4 million in 2009. Non-interest income for the quarter more than doubled from $7.6 million in fiscal 2008 to $15.7 million, or 107%, in 2009. MPS said the growth in non-interest income was spread among its prepaid and credit programs. ( META BANK was in the midst of a major law suit for CD fraud in 2009 and then there was the suicide of Boesen who had received far too many loans from METABANK… how does that happen????)

May 14, 2009

A Look at Growth in Prepaid at Meta Payment Systems

One of the leading network-branded prepaid card issuers in the US is Meta Payment Systems, a subsidiary of Meta Financial Group. MFG reported financial results for the first quarter 2009 earlier today – and included a business segment breakout report for MPS. MPS’ results included quarterly net income of $3.5 million and revenue of $36.4 million, up 139% from the same quarter last year. MPG also reported the filing of eight patents during the quarter (three provisional and five non-provisional and international) and 32 patents since the inception of MPS relating to the addition of functionality and ancillary products to prepaid cards.

(Prepaid Cards give an interest free loan to a bank or some other entity like META PAYMENT SYSTEMS. Trust me, META BANK wouldn’t ever give out an interest free loan to anybody. However, they have created a system where they can get an interest free loan from the most financially vulnerable people in our society. META BANK’s success depends on the suffering of the most vulnerable people in our society. Please do not encourage this scam to continue. META BANK sets up all the rules and retains the right to change them without notice. Then, there is also the issue that META BANK Representatives are trained to lie, and they do. META BANK has control of your money already so even if they are lying, you still don’t have your money, but META BANK does so they can lie and change the rules as long as they have people who “donate” their hard earned money to the METABANK scam. False advertising and misleading information designed to hook in partner companies who are trained to push the META BANK PREPAID CARD on the general public further the scam.)

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by mrnd5 on September 13, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Bank Regulations must be enforced, Bank Regulatory Reforms are Needed, Big Corporations and Banks run the world, Complaints Against Meta Bank, Consumer Alert, Consumer Rights- consumers have no or few protections from predatory banking practices, 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, Customer's being scammed by Money Network, David and Goliath -the consumer and METABANK's prepaid debit cards, debit card fraud is always a possibility, 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, Get Debit dot com is Meta Bank, 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, Higher One has agreements with 520 campuses that enroll more than 4.3 million students, Holiday Gift Cards: have hidden fees, Internal Audit Committee at Meta Bank, Meta Bank, METABANK practices are dragging the economy down
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Posted by mrnd5 on September 13, 2012

https://mrnd5.wordpress.com/2012/09/13/business-report-for-meta-bank/

Consumers complain about Money Network/Everywhere pay.com

Bank only with a locally owned bank and with bankers with whom you have a personal rapport. 

You must be able to go into the bank in person and talk free of charge to the bankers there.

Don’t find banks on line

 

Mikey, I am so sorry for your experience. I am trying my best to warn the general  public. Thanks for your input and good luck!!!

 

 

I have a Money Network prepaid Visa which is also Metabank. I havehad it now for a little over 3 years and I used it for everything from paying bills, buying groceries, even making payments to my Capital One Master Card. I also have my Income Tax refunds deposited directly on the card. Last month when I went to load the card it was declined, I figured maybe a computer problem or the company was updating info. I tried again the next day, same thing, declined. I always load my card where I bought it from, 7-11, I never go anywhere else. Last week I tried again, declined so I called Customer Service (Everywherepay.com) explained my problem, the service rep. I spoke with did something on her end and told everything was O.K. but to call back if I still had problems. Tonight I tried loading card again, still declined so immediately called Everywherepay, this time the service rep. told me the reason for not being able to load my card was because they did not renew their contract with 7-11 stores, so I asked where else I could load my card at, I gave her my address and zip code and was very shocked to hear that there was nowhere in my general. She also told me that my debit card was no good anymore even though the exp. date is 04/2013. So now I have to change all my info with my creditors, and find a new debit card company. MetaBank/Everywherepay.com Shame, shame, for shame. You could have at least sent out notices informing us of this situation. “BAD BAD BAD Customer Service practices. Never again will I use anything with the logo “MetaBank or Everywherepay”.
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by mrnd5 on December 5, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in but it is still Meta Bank's same service and poor quality, Consumers align to protect yourselves, Customer's being scammed by Money Network, Meta Bank operates using many different names
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Posted by mrnd5 on December 5, 2011

https://mrnd5.wordpress.com/2011/12/05/consumers-complain-about-money-networkeverywhere-pay-com/