Understanding Money: Learn to handle investments and finances successfully, invest intelligently instead of saving, stock trading for beginners, ETF and index funds – win with assets by Simone Janson

Understanding Money: Learn to handle investments and finances successfully, invest intelligently instead of saving, stock trading for beginners, ETF and index funds – win with assets by Simone Janson

How Banks Manipulate Your Customers: The
Tricks of Financial Sellers
// By Simone Janson
In the last financial crisis, people around the world demonstrated against the
machinations of banks. Especially as a small investor, it is important to find
out about the lousy tricks and persuasion skills of banks.
Banks delete video clips
A WISO documentary entitled “The Bank Always Wins” was about the
tricks that banks used to save unsuspecting people, especially pensioners,
from their savings and assets. The video on YouTube was shortened by a
few minutes because of a legal dispute between ZDF and Stadtsparkasse
Bremen
But how can it happen that banks bring people for tens of thousands of
euros by pushing them into an unsafe investment?
Cleverly manipulated
The answer is: clever sales tactics and targeted manipulation. In the
following, I would like to demonstrate how such a conversation works and
how the banks react to complaints using my own example.
For in March 2008, half a year before the Lehman crisis, I was forced into a
doubtful investment in a consultation. Although it is only a small part of my
money and also my losses will hopefully be limited.
A surefire business?
A fact remains, however, that the investment turned out to be anything but
the promised good business. A smooth lie, then! And: the trained bank
adviser used targeted manipulation mechanisms that made me sign the
conversation protocol as well as the contract.
But in turn: In March 2009, I received a letter from Citibank, now Targo
Bank, asking me to give me a 50 Euro credit if I went for a consultation.
That sounded good: 50 Euro - and I wanted to take care of my investments
in times of high interest rates anyway.
Only a few crosses ...
Supposedly, one is particularly susceptible to manipulation, if one believes
to be immune to it. That's how it happened to me. I had been dealing with
Postbank's somewhat dubious investment products shortly before, and I
thought I was ready.
It started with the risk profile, which the consultant created for me in the
conversation and according to which I am indeed safety-conscious, but lean
towards a few experiments. As a naive consumer one is inclined to
underestimate the importance of a few crosses - you know that, yes, if any
surveys are made.
The bank secures itself!
The results are also contradictory: It is true, for example, pension funds and
non-pension funds are crossed (probably because I had already heard), but
also at the same time that I had made corresponding transactions had never.
Nevertheless, the Bank does not refrain from invoking any later complaints
that my investment was the corresponding profile.
Sales tactics
The consultant was not a somewhat blatant salesman, but clearly trained in
building a personal relationship: He looked nice, like someone you like to
chat with and trust. And in the first place honey was smeared on my lips
during the entire consultation:

Understanding Money: Learn to handle investments and finances successfully, invest intelligently instead of saving, stock trading for beginners, ETF and index funds – win with assets by Simone Janson