check mate

Check cashing places are very creative at extracting numerous fees from poor people, helping to keep them poor. But part of the blame lies with banks, which generally stay away from poorer neighborhoods, making check cashing places the only viable option for some people.

See Check Mate, an expose by the Internets Celebrities, which I found via Freakonomics.



Some quotes from the video:

"Debt drives the economy. Poor people drive the economy."

"I just can't wrap my mind around the idea of paying someone for my own money."

"The thing is with banks, is that, they're not always so nice to the poorer customers. There's this whole apparatus of fees and charges that, one follows after the other that you can find yourself very easily caught up in."

"You know you've made it when you go from check cashing spot fees to ATM fees."

"Banks in and of themselves don't have a responsibility to go to areas that are not profitable."

"Debt is the new money."

"It used to be a sin to be in debt; now, it's just, sort of, a way of life."