Wachovia's Haiti relief profiteering comes under fire
Monday, February 1, 2010
Bank making money off donations to help earthquake victims
Even as they struggle with the far-reaching impact of the economic crisis, millions of working people around the world have made a personal sacrifice to support relief efforts in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti on Jan. 12.
For Wachovia, Haiti's earthquake tragedy means
good business. |
The corporate managers at Wachovia Bank, for their part, haven’t been quite as moved.
The bank has become the target of irate customers who have launched a campaign against Wachovia’s profiteering off of donations to Haiti. Wachovia continues to charge a 3 percent fee on international transactions destined to the relief effort.
According to the Huffington Post, 21-year-old student Heather Lynn created a Facebook page denouncing Wachovia after the bank charged a transaction fee on her $10 donation. Her page attracted more than 200 followers in a matter of days.
“I just don’t understand how a bank can make a profit from a tragedy, let alone get away with it,” Lynn said. (Huffington Post, Jan. 29)
Responding to the firestorm of criticism, Michael Klosterman, a spokesperson for Wachovia’s parent company, Wells Fargo, said the bank’s $350,000 in donations and pledges to Haiti more than make up for the profits from transaction fees.
How generous! How kind!
Never mind that Wells Fargo received $25 billion from taxpayers as part of the federal bailout. Never mind that, following its acquisition of Wachovia, Wells Fargo posted a record $3.17 billion in profits for the second quarter of 2009. The banking giant—the fourth largest in the country—reaped $12.3 billion in profits for the year.
Wachovia’s practices may be repulsive, but are hardly surprising. For these corporate profiteers, nothing trumps their bottom line.
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