The Notorious Banker

By James Baca

(FKA: Why Your Bank Sucks)

The Notorious Banker is a podcast from a banker who spent 13 yrs @ Bank of America in various roles, including manager. This podcast takes you into the greedy, seedy world... more

· Business

4.6

6262 ratings

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FAQs about The Notorious Banker:

How many episodes does The Notorious Banker have?

The podcast currently has 228 episodes available.

The Notorious Banker episodes:

April 08, 2021California Ponders Public Banking: Can't Be Worse Than Big Banks, Right?
I'm back after a brief hiatus dealing with a harasser (No, not a BofA Employee). Thank You for your patience and support with that bizarre issue last week.

Today's pod is a single topic spawned from an article by Margot Roosevelt of the L.A. Times

Article Here

A bill in California is going to be introduced into their state assembly in the coming weeks which will be able to offer basic financial services like checking, savings, debit cards and bill pay access at no-cost to people in California, targeting mainly low-income folks, or those who are underbanked or unbanked. It will be under the name BankCal is approved.
I discuss several topics in the podcast (It runs a little long, sorry)
How I think it can be great, but requires employers, landlords, and other companies to accept and buy into the new format for customers of this new entity

How infrastructure needs to be there (customer service, atm network affiliation, marketing and advertising)

The narrative that big banks "already have low-cost options for customers" such as Safebalance Advantage at BofA (Which I call the "Safe to say your balance is going to be chipped away to our Advantage Account), Clear Access Checking or Opportunity Checking at Wells (I call it the "Opportunity to Screw You Account") and Chase Secure Checking (Which I call the "Chase Away Insecure Checking") and how it's a total lie.

I speak about the fact that those accounts charge a flat fee, while richer folks have options to avoid fees easier, and the lack of overdrafts is a slight positive but doesn't stop bounced check fees at merchants when doing auto-pay

I touch on the Wells Fargo "Unauthorized Account" Scandal and how this was a catalyst for change

How Postal Banking was a topic of debate last year and why it won't work.

How big banks aren't commenting on this proposal

Use of money orders/check cashing services in communities of color and my experiences personally with that

My skepticism of the solvency of this project on just $5 million and it's self-sustainment with just "interchange" (swipe fees) on debit cards.

All My Links HERE
MY PATREON Page! For as little as $1, you can help James in his fight against big banks. http://patreon.com/NotoriousBanker
TheNotoriousBanker.com for detailed info on yours truly, and ways you can follow The Notorious Banker
The Notorious Banker is on TikTok - @NotoriousBanker - 5600 FOLLOWERS
Sponsors [email protected] - Advertise your business with a growing, cutting edge podcast.
Visit our Twitter Page @BankBetterGuy - Bank Advice, humor, observations, deals and VIGILANTE CUSTOMER SERVICE
VM - 575-322-4127 (3M MAX)
...more
1h
March 25, 2021Bank of America Manager Arrested For Stealing Nudes of Female Customers: Why it Happened & What Role Did BofA Play in Putting Clients At Risk?
This podcast is dedicated to all the amazing women I worked with at BofA who were always objectified.

I am upset about this story. In Houston, TX, Bank of America Relationship Manager (My old job) Juan Esteban Ramirez was arrested for stealing nude photos off the phones of his young female clients under the guise of being a helpful banker accessing information for his clients.
Now, I have a lot of comments about that case, but in the beginning, I discuss my views of being a young male banker in a college town with beautiful women showing up every day. I discuss how my interactions with them kinda fueled my energy to work there despite BofA's shortfalls, although I would never ever cross the line like this gentleman accused here.
We discuss the reporting from 3 News Outlets in Texas:
ABC 13 Houston Story on the incident (Shout Out @sumsumthn for posting the story last night)
KPRC 2 Houston Story on the incident
KPRC 2 Houston Story on the first allegations in January (A story missed by me... I'm sorry!)
Fort Worth Star-Telegram Story on the incident

My main discussions are on:
How Bank of America allowed him to continue to work with clients after the first allegations.

The fact that Bank of America training tells you to not handle customers' cell phones and devices

The grimy sales element of mobile banking which would enable a banker, desperate for sales, to even handle a phone

The idiocy of how he didn't realize sending a text message with 16 PHOTOS!!! would not be caught

How younger college kids are naive to bank processes and how normally they go to the bank with family/friends (1 victim here did)

How much will BofA pay these affected customers?

The phony "Trust" that comes with just wearing a damn tie and working at a bank

How it's likely these 2 victims are not the only 2 victims of this man.

The fact that BofA background checks allowed this man to work there, and how him being bilingual likely helped him get hired (Not that there's anything wrong with that. I lost my job because they retained 2 people who spoke Spanish over me in a border town)

Should his bosses be punished?

My TNB Interaction with a victim of a similar action in Phoenix and how I have talked about this for a year.

And more... It's a long one-segment podcast, but it's important to here. Make sure no associates touch your devices ever!

All My Links HERE
MY PATREON Page! For as little as $1, you can help James in his fight against big banks. http://patreon.com/NotoriousBanker
...more
59min
March 21, 2021 Stimmy Stimmy, Who Can I Turn To? $1-4-0-0-point-0-0!!! (I Got It!)
Just wanted to rant about a lot of the things we discussed in the past week as America waited for the #stimmy aka $1400 Stimulus Check.
I first discuss how it is this awesome communal experience with all people on Twitter discussing banking and money and everything else, and how I found it so cool from my perspective as a bank nerd!
There was so much misinformation from Bank of America's @BofA_Help Twitter in passing the buck to the IRS, and the IRS passing it right back.
I discuss in the first half, the lazy tropes that customers had in arguing about not getting their stimulus promptly, including the "They earned interest on our money." and of course, "We bailed you out!"
I elaborate on how lazy slams like that actually led to more of a public backlash against the bank, simply because they were responding like robots.
I discuss why people need to be more unique when it comes to being pissed at banks.
I discuss how viral a lot of the stimulus talk is, which was mostly done by people who don't follow banking news, which benefitted me into getting over 100 new followers and millions of impressions.
My tweet about CEO Pay that received 2.3 million views!
We also talk about how Wells Fargo's app was down on March 17, which was the anticipated Stimmy day for a lot of people, and how troublesome it was the a bank that preaches online banking as your primary method of interacting with them couldn't support a huge chunk of people simply checking their balance.
We also discuss how some haven't received it yet because of early 2020 tax filing and how we don't know why it impacted it or who to be made at.
I want to thank all my new followers on Twitter for finding me during all this craziness!

Plus, at the end, I discuss the Atlanta Mass Shooting a bit, and how it affected me, but how it affected me more after BofA had to tweet condolences laced with a pat on the back for donating money.

All My Links HERE
MY PATREON Page! For as little as $1, you can help James in his fight against big banks. http://patreon.com/NotoriousBanker
TheNotoriousBanker.com for detailed info on yours truly, and ways you can follow The Notorious Banker
The Notorious Banker is on TikTok - @NotoriousBanker - 5600 FOLLOWERS
Youtube Channel - Click Here
Sponsors [email protected] - Advertise your business with a growing, cutting edge podcast.
Visit our Twitter Page @BankBetterGuy - Bank Advice, humor, observations, deals and VIGILANTE CUSTOMER SERVICE
VM - 575-322-4127 (3M MAX)
...more
1h 5min
March 12, 2021 The Notorious Banker Recovers $45,000 for Dr. V - A Record Breaking Day
FIRST OFF... 3000 FOLLOWERS ON TWITTER!!!

Special podcast.
We will talk about all the news from BofA and Wells Fargo next pod.

But, yesterday, My #vigilantecustomerservice recovered a record amount of money for a Bank of America customers. Dr. V, a professor and overall amazing person was sending money via "wire" to pay the closing costs of his amazing new home.
Problem? Bank of America sent him information on how to do an ACH transfer, essentially a bill pay, which the other bank rejected.
While BofA offered an apology and it will be a few days to recover the money and "They'll put a 'note' on the account", they actually didn't help.
In 10 minutes, I did more for him than any BofA associate would have done and within hours, we got the money back in his account so he didn't lose the home.
He could have lose the home, sued, or worse, and BofA offered to put a note. BS!
I proved myself and my worth more than ever with this situation.
Plus, forgive the stream of consciousness rant I had at the end where in the same area of the US, the leadership of Bank of America picked on a disabled lady who wasn't allowed to cash her check, which forced her to starve! I did a podcast on it last week

Showed me that the "preferred" designation at BofA is merely a way of branding certain clients so the ones they want to please get help, and the others don't. No fault on the great Dr. V. He earned his way to where he is... But it shows that banks are there to keep certain folks down.
I have now recovered over $1.5 Million since April 2019 for big bank clients everywhere!

All My Links HERE
MY PATREON Page! For as little as $1, you can help James in his fight against big banks. http://patreon.com/NotoriousBanker
TheNotoriousBanker.com for detailed info on yours truly, and ways you can follow The Notorious Banker
The Notorious Banker is on TikTok - @NotoriousBanker - 5600 FOLLOWERS
Youtube Channel - Click Here
Sponsors [email protected] - Advertise your business with a growing, cutting edge podcast.
Visit our Twitter Page @BankBetterGuy - Bank Advice, humor, observations, deals and VIGILANTE CUSTOMER SERVICE
VM - 575-322-4127 (3M MAX)
...more
58min
March 04, 2021 Play Myste For Me: Bank of America Check-Cashing Policies Impact Low-Income TNB Follower + BofA Payday Loans Revisited + Financial Literacy to Graduate?
Great big podcast today:

First, I discuss an issue my follower and TNB listener Myste had with Bank of America and their new check cashing policy which went into effect in October. Basically, if you need to cash a check that's more than what you have in the bank, you will be forced to deposit it or go somewhere else.
What if that deposit that they make you do impacts your housing, food stamps, health care or anything else? What if I said it wasn't income earned, but an insurance reimbursement check that is familiar to the customer? Well, it doesn't matter to BofA who referred their 12 year client to a seedy check cashing service instead of doing it themselves!
I discuss the process and how Myste ended up reaching out to BofA who then slammed her down once more. Ugh. One of the few bad encounters TNB has had lately.
Image of Flyer Bank of America hands out explaining their new "Don't cash checks for poor people" policy

Plus today, we revisit BofAs upcoming Payday-Loan style lending called "Balance Assist". I discuss my recent convos with media types as I plan out a strategy to expose how this product is not consumer safe, as the rules lead to more overdrafts not on Bank payments, but on auto-pay type things like insurance, Netflix, etc.
I discuss my history with them and how it impacts the Native American, Hispanic and Black communities immensely
(Site promoting the product... scroll to the bottom to read the insane fine print)

Plus I talk about a possible bill in the NM State House where the mom of an ex-girlfriend of mine is introducing a bill which will require financial literacy as a requirement to graduate. Listen how I actually am NOT in favor of this for the simple fact that the teaching is going to be counterproductive to how banks are wanting to teach their customers how to bank, which is the total opposite of any book out there hyping teaching kids about money and banking. No defending banks here, just trying not to confuse kids.
News Article Here

All My Links HERE
MY PATREON Page! For as little as $1, you can help James in his fight against big banks. http://patreon.com/NotoriousBanker
TheNotoriousBanker.com for detailed info on yours truly, and ways you can follow The Notorious Banker
The Notorious Banker is on TikTok - @NotoriousBanker - 5600 FOLLOWERS
Youtube Channel - Click Here
Sponsors [email protected] - Advertise your business with a growing, cutting edge podcast.
Visit our Twitter Page @BankBetterGuy - Bank Advice, humor, observations, deals and VIGILANTE CUSTOMER SERVICE
VM - 575-322-4127 (3M MAX)
...more
1h 19min
March 01, 2021 A Tale of Two Wells Fargos in Birmingham + Chicago City Alderman Calls out Big Banks on Lack of Home Loan Lending in His Community
Interesting Subject Matter Today:

First, Wells Fargo announced a closure of one of its branches in Birmingham, AL. For the first time, I noticed the closure was in an upper-middle calls or higher neighborhood. Vestavia Hills has median incomes in the >$100k range, median home prices in the >$350k range, and is 87.7% White. It's basically the opposite of everything I was ever told about Alabama.
Buried in the story was the fact that Wells is directing customers to another branch in the well-to-do neighborhood, and it was mentioned that in the mostly Black (75%), working-class neighborhood on First Ave. in Birmingham, where median incomes are 1/4 of Vestavia Hills as well as home values, not to mention 1/2 the cost of homes in Alabama as a whole that a Wells Fargo was temporarily closed because of "Staffing issues".
Learn why it is important for that working-class branch to be open, and why that's the reason why Wells did nothing to try to get it to reopen!
Listen to why it's not that, and the ironic thing is that Wells Fargo will likely not reopen the Black neighborhoods bank, despite now having displaced workers from the closing branch. I talk about that, and the nature of these closures in greater detail than anyone else!
35 minutes of unique perspective

Plus, I discuss Alderman Matt Martin from the city of Chicago inviting and calling out big banks on their lending in communities of color in Chicago.

This is a subject I touched on during the George Floyd story, and now he brings it back.

Hear how all the banks ignored his invite to talk about their lending, and I briefly get into what I believe is the next generations method of "redlining" is and how the $1 Billion "Commitment" BofA made and the $15 Billion Commitment they announced recently is only just that... a "commitment", not a pledge they are following through on. I get into why!

All My Links HERE
MY PATREON Page! For as little as $1, you can help James in his fight against big banks. http://patreon.com/NotoriousBanker
TheNotoriousBanker.com for detailed info on yours truly, and ways you can follow The Notorious Banker
The Notorious Banker is on TikTok - @NotoriousBanker - 5600 FOLLOWERS
Youtube Channel - Click Here
Sponsors [email protected] - Advertise your business with a growing, cutting edge podcast.
Visit our Twitter Page @BankBetterGuy - Bank Advice, humor, observations, deals and VIGILANTE CUSTOMER SERVICE
VM - 575-322-4127 (3M MAX)
...more
1h 2min
February 23, 2021 Texas Residents Paying $10k for Electricity - STOP AUTO DEBIT NOW!!! + BofA Permanently Closes Temporary Closed Locations!!!
After reading many stories about how the victims of the Texas winter storm, freeze, and rolling blackouts were paying upwards of $17k for their electricity, including $1k for a few hours worth of power, I felt compelled to discuss one thing people need to do with their electric bill if they are not sure they will be gouged: Disable auto-pay which so many power companies recommend you do.
Autopay essentially locks you into an agreement which will cause you return item fees, overdraft fees, or overdraft protection fees by your bank, or even worse, drain your nest egg, despite the fact that some power companies said they will work with customers to pay installments.
I discuss the reasons why in the first segment.
DISABLE AUTO PAY ASAP.
Secondly, I discuss the recent phenomenon predicted by me of Bank of America branches permanently closing after being "Temporarily closed" due to what was perceived as Covid Staffing Issues. I made a prediction in early spring, as the virus started that most branches that were closed in heavily populated city-centers would be closed forever as a means of culling the 4500 branch network without making a huge hullabaloo about it.
The method of temp closing branches to inevitably get rid of them makes the clientele more sympathetic to BofA's plight as opposed to furious like my clients were with BofA when we closed in 2018. I discuss how employees in those branches were WFH recently, and in that time, their cost center (location) was changed, making them "new employees on a probationary period" so when the bank announces the closures, it makes the employees have to apply in order to land a future job with BofA, where most will be declined and lose their jobs permanently, without BofA having to announce a massive branch closure/job cuts publicly.
They are able to notify the OCC and not have to face the public like a public company should. It's really very intriguing.
This week, Issaquah, WA, Jackson, GA, Bradenton, FL, and Brisbane, CA were announced as permanently closing financial centers after being temp closed (My Tweet)
Plus a Listener Question about PIN numbers!
All My Links HERE} MY PATREON Page! For as little as $1, you can help James in his fight against big banks. http://patreon.com/NotoriousBanker TheNotoriousBanker.com for detailed info on yours truly, and ways you can follow The Notorious Banker The Notorious Banker is on TikTok - @NotoriousBanker - 5600 FOLLOWERS Youtube Channel - Click HereTwitter- @BankBetterguy
...more
1h 9min
February 15, 2021 Britney Spears: Understanding How a Conservatorship Impacts a Banking Relationship From My Experience...It's Not Simple + Listener Qs
I watched the Britney Spears Documentary this weekend with my wife when we were snowed in. It was very intriguing, and it led me to think about how people treated young women a generation ago, which influenced how I did as well. I discuss in this podcast how I am evolving my way of thinking the last couple years because of more recent events, and how the Britney situation is an untenable one for her because of past vitriol against her.
The main part of this podcast is the discussion about Conservatorship accounts that happen in a retail bank. One big reason Britney is dealing with a bank that is geared towards Wealth Management like Bessemer, who was mentioned in the doc, is because the paperwork and the "operations" of dealing with finances and conservators can be too complicated for a retail bank to want and/or have to care about.
I discuss the couple of conservatorship accounts I opened, and how difficult it was for me. I used to call them, along with similar style accounts, the "pain in the ass" accounts because of the long amount of time legal must vet account documents and legal papers before giving you approval.
I also discuss the limitations of a conservatorship checking account, and I somewhat debunk the theory that Britney is able to function day to day like normal as people implied in the doc. There are simple things you can't do with that type of account if you are a conservatee. Really complicated, but I try to make it interesting.

Wells Fargo PDF Pamphlet explaining what a client needs for a conservatorship account.

#FREEBRITNEY

Plus, I talk about my listeners assumption that I hate online banking and the one stupid thing I got yelled at for by far at BofA when I was there in Listener Questions. Submit yours @ [email protected] or [email protected]!

All My Links HERE
MY PATREON Page! For as little as $1, you can help James in his fight against big banks. http://patreon.com/NotoriousBanker
TheNotoriousBanker.com for detailed info on yours truly, and ways you can follow The Notorious Banker
The Notorious Banker is on TikTok - @NotoriousBanker - 5600 FOLLOWERS
Youtube Channel - Click Here
Sponsors [email protected] - Advertise your business with a growing, cutting edge podcast.
Visit our Twitter Page @BankBetterGuy - Bank Advice, humor, observations, deals and VIGILANTE CUSTOMER SERVICE
VM - 575-322-4127 (3M MAX)
...more
1h 12min
February 10, 2021 Tucker Carlson Stirs Up Hornets Nest, Points it at Bank of America + Listener Financial Q&A
Today's main topic, unless you have been under a rock in the banking world is Tucker Carlson, widely popular Fox News host, with millions of viewers every night, pointing his anger at Bank of America. Speaking on the aftermath of January 6th at the Capital, Carlson lobbed the accusation that Bank of America without hesitation, gave data which included purchase history, location data and other evidence of people in the DC Area on January 6th to the FBI.
This set off a shit-storm of people on Twitter (Link to Twitter Search Thread)
This led to me being insanely busy meeting new people with a new reason to dislike Bank of America.
My take: Bank of America did what every other bank would do, to be honest. I am not defending that, nor am I defending any Jan. 6 stuff. I discuss how the tracking of your location on the BofA app is used by Bank of America to routinely deny claims, and to lock you out of your account, so I know it to be used vigorously for other reasons. I discuss how with any app, bank, or any facet of life, you are no longer guaranteed privacy, as the user experiences of certain companies rely on this data, so it was only ineviatable that stuff like this could eventually be evidence.
I have a spirited discussion on this controversial topic without discussing the political part of it. Thank God.
I then also relaunch my q&a with my listeners and followers about general bank/financial/money advice. I answer two bank related questions today about secured credit cards and rebuilding credit, and another one about where the "maintenance" goes when you pay a maintenance fee, and how banking is a losing propisition for the majority of banks who take on low-value customers. Sad but true.
Email your questions to [email protected] or [email protected] and it may appear on the show.

All My Links HERE
MY PATREON Page! For as little as $1, you can help James in his fight against big banks. http://patreon.com/NotoriousBanker
TheNotoriousBanker.com for detailed info on yours truly, and ways you can follow The Notorious Banker
The Notorious Banker is on TikTok - @NotoriousBanker - 5600 FOLLOWERS
Youtube Channel - Click Here
Sponsors [email protected] - Advertise your business with a growing, cutting edge podcast.
Visit our Twitter Page @BankBetterGuy - Bank Advice, humor, observations, deals and VIGILANTE CUSTOMER SERVICE
VM - 575-322-4127 (3M MAX)

...more
1h 9min
February 03, 2021 Bank of America "Commits" $15B for Affordable Home Ownership That Will Be Impossible For Most To Get - Here We Go Again!!!
Bank of America is doing it again.
Today, BofA announced a "$15 Billion Commitment to Affordable Homeownership" for Low and Moderate income potential homebuyers. This is triple what they announced in 2019, with this commitment now going into 2025.
In the middle of Black History Month, BofA annouces a product that should in theory help communities of color thrive with the prospects of home ownership. But as I discuss in this podcast, there is more that meets the eye.
First off, the $15 Billion is a fake number in the sense that is what BofA is giving. It's not. They set an aggregate price of what they want to spend getting 60k homeowners in homes at a max average of $250k a home. That equals to $15B.

Secondly, BofA offering grants for closing costs and down payment with the $5B commitment only totaled $180M, which is about 3% of the actual total amount announced. Customers on the information aren't directly told of it being taxable, nor is it implied that they won't get the max of $17,500, but merely a number "up to" that amount, which makes BofA's spending even less!
I share with you my story as a homebuyer using a program similar to this in 2016 as an associate, and the pure hell someone in one of these loans will go through.

I also parse through this statement:
Low down payment loans are competitive, fixed-rate mortgages with down payments as low as 3%, requiring lower-cost – or even no – mortgage insurance. Today, nearly 85% of these loans go to first-time homebuyers.

"Competitive" means that low to moderate income people will be paying more!

I also discuss how they naturally tie it into the $1B commitment from the Floyd Issue of this past summer.

2nd Part:
I discuss BofA's resources on their home loan page. First, how only major metro areas are highlighted with the grant opportunity. I also talk about their Home Valuation Tool which lists my home at $25k more than where it is, thus pushing my theory of locking people into high $ loans is a goal. I also discuss how there is only 17 Foreclosed Homes for sale on BofA's website, and they all suck. Needless to say, It's a big convo to discuss.
All My Links HERE
MY PATREON Page! For as little as $1, you can help James in his fight against big banks. http://patreon.com/NotoriousBanker
TheNotoriousBanker.com for detailed info on yours truly, and ways you can follow The Notorious Banker
The Notorious Banker is on TikTok - @NotoriousBanker - 5600 FOLLOWERS
Youtube Channel - Click Here
Sponsors [email protected] - Advertise your business with a growing, cutting edge podcast.
Visit our Twitter Page @BankBetterGuy - Bank Advice, humor, observations, deals and VIGILANTE CUSTOMER SERVICE
VM - 575-322-4127 (3M MAX)
...more
1h 10min

FAQs about The Notorious Banker:

How many episodes does The Notorious Banker have?

The podcast currently has 228 episodes available.