Being a citizen of a third world country (India), this sounds all too surprising to me. Looks like banking in the US is pretty shitty for the poor.
Out here, banking works like a charm. At least, most of the nationalized banks. Nobody pays the banks anything, and they get a little interest on savings/deposits accounts. OD is not outrageously charged. Internet banking and ATMs are very friendly and totally inexpensive. Almost everyone has easy access to banks; with co-op banks and urban banks offering accounts with minimum limits of 500 INR (~9 USD), everyone can make use of banking institutions. Only those people with lots of black money would want to keep much of their stash away from banks to avoid tax authorities.
I am happy that at least our folks got basic stuff like banking right.
Out here, banking works like a charm. At least, most of the nationalized banks. Nobody pays the banks anything, and they get a little interest on savings/deposits accounts. OD is not outrageously charged. Internet banking and ATMs are very friendly and totally inexpensive. Almost everyone has easy access to banks; with co-op banks and urban banks offering accounts with minimum limits of 500 INR (~9 USD), everyone can make use of banking institutions. Only those people with lots of black money would want to keep much of their stash away from banks to avoid tax authorities.
I am happy that at least our folks got basic stuff like banking right.