High Pressure Banking – Things You Should Know

Many of the big banks have found themselves focusing on damage control recently, when employees of major Canadian banks came forward to blow the whistle on some of their company’s business tactics. It seems, according to the employees who spoke out, that many banks give their employees astronomical sales goals, and threaten job loss if these goals are not met.

A teller who spoke to CBC says, "It's not what's important to our clients anymore ... it's leading everyone into debt."

Now, it’s important to note that this isn't necessarily how things operate across all bank branches in Canada. But just in case, here’s how you protect yourself:

Check Your Statements Regularly

We advise this anyway, but you need to be checking and double-checking your statements. You need to check your account types, and how many of them you have. Some instances recounted by employees mentioned opening lines of credit and enabling overdraft. Check that everything is the same as when you left it and that you don't have your name on top of new products and services you never agreed to.

Try to Limit Your Banking to Online and ATM Banking

If you're worried about being upsold on services you don't need, or potentially having your limits changed, don't go into banks if you can help it. Use the tech that doesn’t have a mind of its own and listens to your commands without questions.

Consider Changing to a Credit Union

Canadian credit unions can be cheaper to bank with anyway, plus you get the sincere service of a small town diner. You’re a member to them, and not a customer, and when the credit union is doing well, you reap rewards. With credit unions across Canada all linked to the same ATM network, you get your low and no-fee deals no matter where you end up.

Chances are, you’re probably fairly safe at a Canadian bank and the instances of these things happening are fairly low, but it never hurts to protect yourself.

Have you ever had to deal with high-pressure sales at a bank? Let us know in the comments!