My father had always been cynical of private sector banks. And I had been critical of him on this as very word bank means trust. "I bank upon you". It is beyond my imagination that a bank holding trillions in money of millions of people will play cheap. After this incident, it will take a while before my "trust others" level reach to what it was.
A banker friend once told me that they are paid so well not for their skills but for their integrity. After some thought, I found him correct. But point then was their role in million dollar transactions.
Isn't the recent banking collapse proof enough that justified corporate greed in the end result in nothing but failure. Banks collapsed because they were allowed to leverage 33 times their cash reserve i.e. 3% default was enough to wipe them out. In their infinite greed banks ended up leveraging themselves this badly and result is known to everyone.
Coming to my story. I asked ICICI to send my amortization chart as I needed that for accounting purposes. To my great surprise my 20 year loan was now a 40 year loan!! Has anyone ever heard of a 40 year bank loan? But this was not it. For next 20 years I was only paying interest and after that my EMI would start including principal of what I thought I was paying. To simplify, I was scheduled to pay only interest for next 20 years.
Now my problem is bigger than this. How many people actually cares to check this? My lose is only of not paying four month's principal after discovering this. What about people who are not tech savvy and are trusting of banks? More I thought about this, more it sounds like a scam. Even if one in five people turned out to be ignorant (I am not sure if trusting is right word anymore) than... I am out of words.
Although, this change was made without any permission from me or even giving me any notification. I am asked to send a mail and wait for eight business days before correction (can't call it change) can be made. I am truly feeling sick. I request everyone who is reading this to spread the word.
I feel sorry for people who make their livelihood knowing well in advance that their decisions although will hoard money for the organization but will also end up conning someone. I feel sorry for those organizations who commend this behavior as I am certain they are not being built to last.
To clarify: Before others ask me if my loan is now 40 years. No. I got it rectified. But what about people who have no idea about these changes. Banks should be changing only the interest rates as they are floating and not the tenure. Not without customer knowledge at least.
A banker friend once told me that they are paid so well not for their skills but for their integrity. After some thought, I found him correct. But point then was their role in million dollar transactions.
Isn't the recent banking collapse proof enough that justified corporate greed in the end result in nothing but failure. Banks collapsed because they were allowed to leverage 33 times their cash reserve i.e. 3% default was enough to wipe them out. In their infinite greed banks ended up leveraging themselves this badly and result is known to everyone.
Coming to my story. I asked ICICI to send my amortization chart as I needed that for accounting purposes. To my great surprise my 20 year loan was now a 40 year loan!! Has anyone ever heard of a 40 year bank loan? But this was not it. For next 20 years I was only paying interest and after that my EMI would start including principal of what I thought I was paying. To simplify, I was scheduled to pay only interest for next 20 years.
Now my problem is bigger than this. How many people actually cares to check this? My lose is only of not paying four month's principal after discovering this. What about people who are not tech savvy and are trusting of banks? More I thought about this, more it sounds like a scam. Even if one in five people turned out to be ignorant (I am not sure if trusting is right word anymore) than... I am out of words.
Although, this change was made without any permission from me or even giving me any notification. I am asked to send a mail and wait for eight business days before correction (can't call it change) can be made. I am truly feeling sick. I request everyone who is reading this to spread the word.
I feel sorry for people who make their livelihood knowing well in advance that their decisions although will hoard money for the organization but will also end up conning someone. I feel sorry for those organizations who commend this behavior as I am certain they are not being built to last.
To clarify: Before others ask me if my loan is now 40 years. No. I got it rectified. But what about people who have no idea about these changes. Banks should be changing only the interest rates as they are floating and not the tenure. Not without customer knowledge at least.
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