A strange thing happened to me when I went to the bank yesterday.

My bank is/was the failed Washington Mutual Bank, but although it was taken over by Morgan Chase, it kept the same WaMu signs and logos up until yesterday. I actually drove by it looking for the WaMu sign ignoring the Chase sign when I realized I had to back track. When I got there the parking lot was full and this was before three in the afternoon. I started to wonder if there was a run on the bank of people removing their savings. When I finally found a parking place, I went inside to deposit my paycheck. Well groomed women in business suits were working the long line to the tellers inviting people to a party with food and drinks at the end of the month as a new open for business type of affair. Of course when I came home, I looked up on the Google to find out if Chase had been one of the banks to receive bail out funds. It was.

Now I know a party at our branch isn't the same as a week in Las Vegas in luxury suites for a seminar, but I started multiplying in my head all the parties at all the banks, across several states that have been taken over. More peculiar than that there is nothing in writing about the party. Usually, a sign in the lobby and flyers on the counters announce such events. There is nothing, not on the website, no ads, nothing. They are doing strictly word of mouth which of course made me suspicious that they don't want any authorities tipped off.

What do you guys think?

All I have is free checking and if they start charging me I'm going to a credit union bank.

The REAL parties using your money are ones you haven't been invited to.

are doing this. Flyers and advertising please, not someone walking up to me and inviting me to a party. I almost expected the woman to open her jacket and show me some watches I could get cheaply.

when I go to my WaMu branch in Las Vegas later this week. The last time I was there (January) everything seemed like business as usual. They have been saying that changes are coming on their website.

They've had mini street festivals outside the subway station (the bank is across the street). Given away free hotdogs and burgers, sodas, and other promotional stuff. They've also been very aggressive courting local businesses. When our organization moved out here they had a catered lunch in our conference room with a pretty nice spread. They've also had donuts and begals sent over on two seperate occasions. They had some pretty good offers and several of my co-workers signed up for checking or savings accounts...so apparently it's working.

my bank has tightened up loans because they can`t borrow money and they have`t a clue if this bailout is going to work. that`s the biggest problem banks want to loan,people want to borrow,but no one knows if tomorrow will be better.

of all the hysteria that's been going on for the last 6 months. This is a 'new' bank to your area. If they spend a couple of hundred bucks to invite customers to keep their money there, so what? There are costs to doing any business and I would think that bankers and bank employees acting 'normally' might take some of the panic away.

Wouldn't trust them.

Repossess the place, party balloons and office towers and all, and use the money to start a "good bank", one that will actually loan to regular people at reasonable rates, and not turn their assets into shit we all need to buy back to prop the place up.

Or at least helps explain how Paulson got Bush to cry wolf again and lying the whole time. Baffling the "people" again with BS. We are just now beginning to see what a free market can do to a country. Yet the repubs get up there in front of a microphone and blame this whole mess on the Dems??!!

down and digest it word for word, but the jist I get is that they want to keep their depositors and get new customers but they aren't loaning any money of consequence or repackaging mortgages to keep people in their houses?

We've been WaMu customers for many years, and while shopping for rates on home loans, I called them on Tuesday. The first strange thing was the answering recording - no indication of what business it was - just, "Thank you for calling. If you know the number you want, press 1, if you want hours/location, press 2, if you want to speak to someone locally, press 3." Still no mention of WaMu/Chase; I pressed 3. A person I've talked to many times in person and on the phone answered and said there wasn't anyone who could speak to me about mortgages, but that "someone" would call me. They've always had loan officers at this branch and assured customers when Chase took over that that wouldn't change. Nobody ever called back, which leads me to believe your deductions are correct - Chase took the taxpayers $$ but aren't loaning any.

The radio ads say something about a "new account smell".

:argh:

Audits used to be de rigueur, and pretty obvious.. Maybe most of it's done by computer now, but "back in the day" when bank auditors showed up at our bank, they just swooped in, and hung out with us all day long, going over everything....maybe that was it:)

auditors to pre-anticipate the state auditors and force us to get our files and books in order, just in case. I don't think banks are audited anymore to tell the truth. That's part of the reason we are in this mess. Auditors would have spotted the toxic assets right away and forced the bank to do something about them.

when the feds showed up, people were always nervous as a cat in a room full of rockers..:)..even though we always passed with flying colors:)
We used to even have "fake robberies"..just to test the lobby personnel ..those were scary..

and I would refinance it with another company as soon as I could... if I only had a job!

All I can do is laugh at the irony as I send out my resumes.

And quit subsidizing the corrupt and insolvent banks.

http://www.ncua.gov/

Be an owner in your bank and have a say.

my account I have to wait for a good time to do it when I can afford to be working out of two accounts until things get transferred over. But I agree with you. It's time for more communal thinking in whom we do business with.

Its taking me some time to get everything moved over as well.

But I'm already feeling much better about where our money is, and who it is being lent to. Plus, the local credit unions just have better rates and better service.

I never understood why we need these monster banks anyway. Let them all fail as far as I'm concerned.

I never saw so many banks opening..its unreal..but then when you look around the neighborhoods the for sale signs in people's lawns and forclosure signs out number anything I have seen in my 56 years as well!

Businesses are closing daily..doors locked and white paper filling the windows showing the stores have folded..but banks are sprouting up daily..everywhere here in Fl..and i am hardly the only one seeing it..it has become the topic of conversation everywhere here!

for homeless shelters when they go bust so the people who have been foreclosed on have a place to stay.

but they are going up like flys on stink!!

I even noticed a gas station that has been closed for about 5 months, a dang bank sign just went up and they are doing construction to make it another ..you guessed it..bank!