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Pete Visclosky wrote me back today in response to the letter I wrote him yesterday. I was very pleased to get his response so quickly. Not only that, but it was personalized and he is on the same page as me and a lot of people I know.

I’m glad to be able to post Pete Visclosky’s views on the Wall Street Bailout. I haven’t seen anything in the paper about it and his websites are absent any opinions on the matter. So, consider this directly from the horses mouth and spread the word.

Check out my letter from Pete Visclosky about the Wall Street Bailout below.

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Dear Jonathan:

Thank you for contacting me to express your concerns regarding government assistance to distressed financial institutions. I share your concerns, and I am outraged that American taxpayers are being asked to bail out those whose avarice created the crisis that we now face.

In 1991, Representative John Dingell stated that repealing the Glass-Steagall Act regulations would usher in a “golden age of thievery.” Mr. Dingell has been proven correct.

In response to the growing number of firms experiencing loss because of a lack of regulation, a lack of oversight, the greed of financial executives who often make sums in excess of 250 times the income of the average American worker, and bad judgment, President Bush is asking Congress to consider a hastily crafted $700 billion legislative package that would establish a system to bail out certain financial institutions using taxpayer money.

This Administration, which will soon leave office and never have to deal with the catastrophic financial dislocation they have caused and the long-term consequences of its request, is asking Congress to make a decision within seven days on whether to levy a $700 billion liability on you and every other taxpayer for at least a generation. I have the gravest reservations over the President’s bail out proposal and the arrogance of his suggesting that Congress act within a week to undo a disaster that has crescendoed over the last decade and enriched countless Wall Street executives and speculators while impoverishing multitudes.

The problems in our current financial system are not temporary aberrations in an otherwise healthy system, and may not be so easily addressed. Given the gravity and systematic nature of these problems, I believe that Congress should be deliberate and conduct a comprehensive examination of alternative solutions.

Be assured that I will consider any proposal with the greatest of caution, and I will assess its impact on you and every citizen that I represent.

Thank you again for contacting me.

Sincerely,

Peter J. Visclosky
Member of Congress

Well, it’s been almost two months since the transition of First National Bank of Valparaiso customers to 1st Source Bank. For me and many other customers it’s been an unmitigated disaster.

I won’t recount the horror story we’ve already experienced. You can read about my FNBV Disaster here. But I can assure you, it’s gotten worse.

One of the nice things about FNBV was that if you screwed up on your ledger and your account got overdrawn, they charged a flat $25 fee no matter how many transactions there were. This was freaking great, especially when you live paycheck to paycheck.

Well, 1st Source Bank is not so kind. Without asking FNBV customers, they transitioned us all into accounts that charge $32 PER transaction. $252 in overdraft fees is not a mistake I plan to make again.

Their customer service has gone down the tubes. Former FNBV tellers are apologetic but there is nothing they can do.

Security is also terrible, our bank account was breached through fraud (someone is riding the Chicago El on us). And even though it was fraud, the bank made us do all the work to straighten it out. Including filing a police report IN Chicago and signing nearly 16 forms to have the transactions reversed. Not to mention canceling out debit cards and freezing our account. They argued that since we were former FNBV customers, they were not liable for the fraudulent transactions on our old NFBV cards. Nice, excellent customer service there.

My parents experienced a similar security breach last month as well.

My wife was in line at the grocery store and overheard people complaining about the buyout. 1st Source Sucks is the general consensus. The people my wife encountered were cashing their paychecks at Wal-Mart to avoid them. Even my landlord has had nothing but problems since the transition and is looking for a new bank.

And so are my wife and I. We’ve decided to quit banks in general. We opened accounts at Allegius Credit Union. I like the idea of owning a share in my bank and having a say in how it’s run. Hopefully they’ll appreciate us a lot better than 1st Source. Check out my views on Credit Unions on my other blog, Austerity Blog.

We certainly won’t miss 1st Source Bank. But we do miss FNBV.

What I said last week:

“I have to hand it to 1st Source Bank though, they seem to be on the ball. The absorption of FNBV accounts seems to have been planned out with military precision.”

I spoke too soon.

Friday, June 6th was just like any other day. I was breathing a sigh of relief when I woke up. It was payday, I now actually had some money.

I went to Dunkin Donuts and treated myself to breakfast. When they swiped my FNBV card, it would not go through, despite repeated attemps by the clueless cashier. I had to hand back my breakfast.

Once I pulled away I immediately got on the phone with the bank to see what the problem was. They had no idea, only that I wasn’t the only one calling. I called my wife and she had been having the same problem.

I got an especially frantic call during her lunch when her card would not go through after she had already eaten. FNBV eventually called back saying there was some problem with something, blah blah, it would be fixed at some point, nothing they could do. They assured me that the card should work at an ATM.

It was my last day at my job, so I left early. I was starving, hadn’t had anything to eat at all. I get surly when I’m hungry, traffic was not helping me keep a good mood. I stopped at several ATM’s and all of them told me that my FNBV card was invalid. I stopped at a Walgreens to get a snack, card denied. Once again had to hand back food.

Later that evening, I went to three seperate ATM’s including two FNBV ATM’s and I kept getting the same error message. It was too late to get to branch to make a withdrawl. My wife and I wanted dinner but couldn’t buy anything, we had no money, it was all in the damn bank.

The next morning, I went to a newly branded First Source ATM machine and of course, the card was invalid. Had to drive into Valpo, could not find an open branch. Most were closed because of the transfer while other brances I knew of had been closed in the restructuring. Thankfully, I found an open First Source bank and explained the situation. I withdrew every penny I could.

Then the next day when I tried to enroll in the new online banking service, it was all screwed up as well and I had to get on the phone with them to have everything straightened out.

Way to go guys. I’m not impressed at all. If I could find a new bank, I would.

Sigh.

Goodbye FNBV, you are certainly very missed right now. And you were very missed on Friday when I missed three whole meals.

First Source Bank, you owe me breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Did any of you have problems with the FNBV to First Source Transfer?

It is very rare that people love their bank. But I must admit that I love my bank, First National Bank of Valparaiso. I came to FNBV after being chewed up and spit out by Chase Bank, whose lack of customer service and general disdain for the consumer banker, drove me away. I’d heard good things about the local bank.

I’ve had nothing but a positive experience with FNBV. Their customer service is top-notch. They are always extremely helpful and nice. Whenver there is a problem, they actually want to fix it. And get this, when you call them for help, someone actually answers the phone on the first ring. No endless phone tree trying to get someone who may have something to do with your particular problem.

Sadly, on June 6th, a venerable Porter County institution will finally be fully absorbed into it’s new owner, 1st Source Bank, and cease to exist. I was very saddened to hear that the family that owned the bank for many years finally sold out.

The future worries me. Will the new stewards of FNBV be as kind an attentive as the old ones? We’ve already seen some of the negative effects of the merger. Many convenient branches have been closed for good. There have been a few layoffs. One can only hope that they don’t start raising fees, holding deposits and generally throwing the middle finger at their customers.

If a bank loses it’s local roots, will it still be loyal to the locals? I hope so. I’d hate to have to find a another bank. There’s something quaint about banking at a small local bank. It’s important, when living in a small town, to keep local businesses and local roots. Valpo may be growing by leaps and bounds, but I still think it’s a small town, a feeling I hope doesn’t change anytime soon.

I have to hand it to 1st Source Bank though, they seem to be on the ball. The absorption of FNBV accounts seems to have been planned out with military precision. On June 6th, everyone’s accounts will be switched to new 1st Source Accounts, account numbers will change, but the old ones will still work for the immediate future. New debit cards will be issued, which is fine with me, my current one isn’t working very well anymore. The old checks will work fine.

There will be a new online banking system. I hope it’s as simple and spartan as the current FNBV system. I just want to see my balance and move money around, fancy graphics are not needed for such tasks. I’ve already got my info packet that details the whole transfer. I’m a little worried that there isn’t anything in the packet about the acount fees, I hope they’re the same and don’t go up.

If 1st Source drops the ball and screws us all over, there’s gotta be another local bank around that will be a go substitute.

Which local bank do you guys recommend, just in case?