[titzer]

I have a hard time believing any conclusion based on the premise that banks listen to their customers (depositors), given a long-standing behavior of anti-customer behavior like a plethora of fees, minimum deposit, and in general, sagging interest rates.

[7Figures2Commas]

The "sagging interest rates" are a product of Fed monetary policy, and much of the fee-generating behavior you describe has been motivated in some part by the Fed's monetary policy too. But please don't let that stop you from blaming the banks.

[titzer]

Who do you think comprises the Fed? It's a centralized banking entity.

[7Figures2Commas]

If you're suggesting that the member banks of the twelve regional Federal Reserve Banks have banded together to manipulate Fed policy so they can stick it to retail banking customers, please do yourself a favor and research how the Federal Reserve System operates. The policy decisions we're discussing are made by the Federal Open Market Committee and Federal Reserve Board. If you educate yourself as to their composition, you will quickly see that member banks, let alone a handful of large member banks, are not calling the shots.

[ZenoArrow]

AFAIK the shareholders of the Fed are not publically known, are you suggesting that the identity of these shareholders is public knowledge?

[7Figures2Commas]

http://www.federalreserve.gov/faqs/about_14986.htm

[ZenoArrow]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structure_of_the_Federal_Res...

"The U.S. Government does not own shares in the Federal Reserve System or its component banks, but does receive all of the system's annual profits after a statutory dividend of 6% on their capital investment is paid to member banks and a capital account surplus is maintained."

So part of their profits go to member banks. Who are the member banks that profit from these dividends?