“Well, I just got de-banked.”
I received a call from a gentleman I’ve known a long time over the weekend. He was chuckling as he shared with me his dealings with Wells Fargo last week. He maintained one of his business checking accounts at the bank.
Wells Fargo had sent him a letter back in January. The letter advised him that the bank didn’t believe his mailing address to be legitimate. Then it demanded that he update his mailing address… or else the bank would close his account.
The thing is – the mailing address is legitimate. So he read the letter. Then he updated his address.
But since it happened to be the right address, he simply moved the mailbox number from line two to line one. He figured this would signal to them that they did indeed have the correct address for him – and he thought nothing more of it.
Until last week, that is. He received an email from Wells Fargo alerting him to the fact that they closed his business checking account. Naturally he called the bank’s customer service right away…
The customer service representative advised him of what had happened – he failed to update his address per the bank’s demand in January, so they closed his account. He interjected…
Gentleman: “Hold on – I did in fact update my address after I read that letter.”
Customer Service: “But you just input the same address. You didn’t change it…”
Gentleman: “Doesn’t that indicate to you that it’s the right address? I mean, you sent the letter to that address… I received it… then I acted upon it.”
Customer Service: “I’m sorry, but I don’t have any additional insight. I’m just telling you what it says in the system here.”
Gentleman: “Okay, but what about my money? What is Wells Fargo doing with the funds that were in that account?”
Customer Service: “Oh, don’t worry! We are mailing those funds to you via a certified check.”
Gentleman: “Mailing me… to what address?”
Customer Service: “The address you have on file.”
Gentleman: “Umm, the one you closed my account over because you don’t think it’s real? Doesn’t this seem a little off to you…?”
Customer Service: “Um… well… I’m sorry, sir, I’m just telling you what’s in the system here.”
I couldn’t help but laugh as he was telling me this story. I mean, Wells Fargo’s stated reasoning is completely illogical… and that’s immediately obvious.
But this does raise a serious question – what’s really going on here?
I mean, we’ve seen some recognizable figures get de-banked in recent years over what the mainstream narrative considered to be controversial statements. But that’s not what’s happening here. This gentleman isn’t in the public sphere.
So what’s going on here? And is this the start of a larger trend?
I don’t know. But I think it’s a good time to make sure we’re up to speed on what’s happening in the world of money and finance…
More to come tomorrow.
-Joe Withrow
P.S. Several prominent macroeconomic trends are colliding as we speak. I’m not sure where this de-banking instance fits in – or if it does. But we take a dive down the rabbit hole of what’s happening on the global stage in my book Beyond the Nest Egg. You can find it on Amazon right here.