MPC Hill Blast: ‘Banks Have Never Had It This Good’
“Banks have never had it this good” — American Banker
For close observers, that headline from the American Banker is not a surprise.
Anyone watching knows that banks being part of the two credit card groups structured as cartels by Visa and Mastercard is great for their bottom lines.
Not only that, but they win with inflation because they charge a percentage-based fee for every credit card transaction. Visa has admitted it multiple times:
Visa: "Inflation has been positive for us." (Read it here.)
Visa: "We're a beneficiary of inflation." (Read it here.)
The American Banker article includes comments such as:
"Banking is entering its Renaissance age."
“The industry is incredibly profitable, it has a pliant set of federal regulators, and it is in the midst of a hopping credit cycle.”
(Note: The most recent numbers show banks collected more than $160 billion in interest payments in 2024.)
“JPMorgan Chase made more money in the last three months than any U.S. bank has ever made in any other three-month period.”
“JPMorgan paid out $4 billion in dividends and bought back $6.2 billion worth of shares. …Citi spent $5 billion on dividends and buybacks.”
“In fact, the only part of the banking industry that isn't booming is employment.” — Banks are making record profits and employing fewer people.
These are things that can happen when an industry is allowed to operate like a cartel that is unchecked by the market. Here are more numbers:
Total annual fees collected by big banks in 2024: $8.7 billion
Banks collected $17.0 billion in late fees in 2024.
Banks also collected more than $6 billion in non-sufficient funds and other fees in 2024.
Total cardholder revenue: $191.7 billion
Then, of course, there is another $198 billion on swipe fees.
When is enough finally enough?
COMPETITION IS BETTER FOR EVERYONE
IT'S TIME TO PASS THE CREDIT CARD COMPETITION ACT