Does anyone remember what it was like back then? The Volksbanken or Raiffeisen Bank as the alternative to the Sparkasse, which belonged to the city or the district. Of course, there were private banks too - but those were only for the wealthy and companies. The rest of us went to the Sparkasse or Volksbank. And in my region, that's where the Volksbank was. Those were people like you and me. They didn't take you for a ride - a loan was sometimes (rightly) rejected because the income situation didn't allow it. Investment advice was aimed at actually investing money sensibly and safely, as a reserve for bad days. And the home financing - that was designed so that you could keep your own home afterwards.
Today, all of that is just a fairy tale. It was once upon a time. And it's not coming back. Today, Volksbanken massively send out Easy-Credit letters - with which ordinary households are saddled with even more expensive loans. And in case of problems, a debt restructuring loan is quickly at hand. And the home financing? It doesn't matter if you're broke, the bank has the house. And investments? Preferably the riskier stock funds, because that's where the banker gets a higher commission.
Why am I writing this? Because it's been bothering me for a long time. Because it's disgusting. And because I received a letter from my Volksbank today that brings it all back to mind, which is almost symptomatic: the joyful news that my credit card fee is now dependent on my turnover. Not presented in a way that I, as a frequent user, get a small bonus (which I already have a hard time reconciling with the cooperative idea, but whatever). No, it is explicitly offered to me as a cost-saving measure. Yes, exactly, I can save the amazing 20 Euro annual fee if I only spend 3000 Euro a year with the credit card. Isn't that a real bargain? Consume! Consume! Let's consume until we're stupid, then the politicians will be happy, the economy will be doing well, and we'll just file for personal bankruptcy.
By the way, the number of personal bankruptcies has increased significantly in NRW compared to previous years.