Bank of America Paying Back Some of Bailout Money
By vmenard
@vmenard (895)
United States
September 1, 2009 11:05am CST
Bank of America is set to repay some of the bailout money it received from the government, how big of them.
BOA is ready to repay $20 million of the $45 million to try and get from under the scrutiny of the government.
As credit card companies continue to look for ways to squeeze every penny out of consumers, it's nnice to know they can borrow money and pay it back when they feel like it.
I wonder if I call Bank of America and ask for a bailout and tell them I'll pay back half when I can and the rest if I can, could I get a loan?
1 person likes this
2 responses
@owlwings (43897)
• Cambridge, England
1 Sep 09
You are being very cynical.
If I were in charge of a bank to whom the Government had LENT money (yes, it was 'given' but actually loaned), I would want to get out of that arrangement as soon as possible.
There is no doubt that many banks made some BIG mistakes (and that is why the world is in the mess we are in) and that the US Government - and many other governments - chose to 'bail out' certain banks. Now that the crisis is drawing to a close, it is only right and proper that those banks should pay back what they were given.
What I find worrying is that any government (the US and the UK in particular) had money to bail out those banks. In fact, they don't. It's all borrowed (or fabricated) money and all of the deals are paper deals. Most governments are already heavily in debt to someone or other (in the long term, it is to the banks that they are bailing out, I believe).
Yes, I'm sure that you'd get a loan - at the rates BOA specify, of course - provided that you could provide sufficient evidence that you really have the money to cover it but it just happens to be in promissory notes and property and what not that you can't realise just now but which will hold good until whenever.
@vmenard (895)
• United States
1 Sep 09
Yes I guess I am being very cynical, I have a problem with Bank of America, because unlike many of the banks who've paid back their loans, Bank of America wants to pay back just enough to loose the "exceptional" aid recipient tag.
It's one thing to need and take help from the government, but it rubs me the wrong way when a bank tries to further take advantage of the situation. Bank of America can afford to repay the $45 at this time, they just choose not to.
@owlwings (43897)
• Cambridge, England
1 Sep 09
That's what loans are all about. There have been occasions when I have had a mortgage at a far lower rate than I could borrow elsewhere and, even though I could have paid it off, I chose not to and bought a car (for example) for cash instead because the finance for a car would have been at a MUCH higher rate!
@kingparker (9673)
• United States
5 Aug 11
Very unlikely, because those big banks wouldn't allow the risk of default, so even though you got a superior credit score on your report, you still very unlikely to get a loan though. Just keep in mind, those banks aren't so easy to borrow money now. Rather, try to get some money from prosper, or peer to peer lending clubs.
