Are Banks the Anti-Charity?
Christmas time is often a time of year when people think about charities. For the past several years, my immediate family has donated to charities in lieu of Christmas gifts. Earlier in the month, when I was researching charities, I was also in the process of switching banks, and it got me thinking.
Charities are organizations whose primary purpose is to collect money from people who have more than they need, and redistribute it to those in need.
Meanwhile, banks primarily collect money from those in need (through loans, mortgages, etc.) and redistribute it to those who already have more than they need (through GICs, mutual funds, etc.) while making a profit on the spread (the difference in borrowing and lending interest rates).
So at the most basic level, it would seem that banks are the organizational polar opposite of charities.
Perhaps I’m missing something here. What do you think?
