In recent years, governments and special interest groups have exerted increasing pressure on financial institutions to restrict individual freedom, reduce privacy and exercise control over how people manage and spend their money. This trend includes not just banks but also the wider financial industry.
An example is the KYC or Know Your Customer requirements in which banks and other institutions are required to subject their customers to constant surveillance and mandatory reporting to government under the guise of fighting terrorism, fraud and organised crime.
This includes recently implemented requirements that require banks to ‘protect’ their customers from scams, in practice resulting in those who wish to withdraw or transfer money from their own bank accounts being interrogated and denied access to their money. Many banks have also implemented AI programs that seek to monitor your every move and could at any moment accuse you of wrongdoing based on an algorithm.
Individuals and groups are increasingly being debanked for ideological reasons, with those deemed to have controversial or problematic views having their bank accounts closed and even blacklisted from banking with little to no recourse. In the US, many gun businesses have been debanked or faced the prospect of debanking in recent years.
Politically motivated financial exclusion is not only restricted to banks. For example, over the past decade Paypal has frozen and closed online accounts for political reasons with the company admitting to working with politically driven special interest groups to identify politically ‘problematic’ accounts.
Some activist groups have turned to lobbying payment processors. Last year, Collective Shout, an authoritarian feminist organisation known for its puritan and pro censorship stance, lobbied major payment processors such as Visa and Mastercard to force various websites, developers and sellers to remove a range of online games it did not approve of.
Governments and special interest groups have exerted increasing pressure on financial institutions to restrict individual freedom, reduce privacy and exercise control over how people manage and spend their money.
How do individuals and society overcome this new control being exerted over our freedom and financial choices?
First, oppose invasive KYC policies. When doing this, it is important to point out not just the mass surveillance and intrusive questioning aspects of these policies, but also the disproportionate impact on those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Object to AI mandates or overburdensome requirements that can only be complied with using AI.
Oppose government policies that mandate or coerce the exclusion of certain individuals and groups from the financial system. Even if the individual or group is unlikeable or imperfect, it becomes a slippery slope that eventually affects you. In a healthy free market capitalist society, financial service providers have an incentive to serve all people.
Second, support infrastructure that is more resistant to censorship and control. For example, an artist who draws spicy artwork should have the option of accepting crypto currencies such as Bitcoin and allow people to send cash through the mail rather than internet payments that require the cooperation of credit card processors who may demand censorship.
Using systems similar to BPAY is another option that can allow people to bypass credit card processors. It is important to ensure people have options and to oppose legislation that restricts competition in the financial industry.
Third, make yourself resistant to debanking. Split your money between multiple banks. This makes it more difficult to debank you and reduces the risk of you having all your money frozen at the same time. Keep some money in cash. To determine how much, consider how much money would need to maintain your lifestyle or survive for a certain period of time.
Collect items that retain value such as gold and silver. Crypto currency is also an option, but be mindful that this requires access to technology and the internet which could be restricted by the government. Moreover, the value of crypto can sometimes fluctuate wildly.
Fourth, be informed about your rights regarding financial institutions, such as whether they prohibit certain types of transactions like buying porn and can legally deny you access to and seize your money, especially in the case of a financial crisis or bank collapse.
Lastly, oppose policies that make financial exclusion easier and more damaging. Preventing the implementation of a cashless society is vital - it doesn’t just empower the government to financially repress certain groups but also creates a state of involuntary bondage between citizens and financial institutions with citizens having less control over what is meant to be their own money.
By implementing these strategies and solutions, we can help protect individual freedom and privacy and make it more difficult for repression and control to occur via the financial system. The financial system must not be allowed to become a weapon of oppression.
