Boycotting the Royal Bank of Canada

By Charles Moffat - June 21st 2010.

CANADA - The Royal Bank of Canada is annoying me. They phone me every morning, between 8 AM and 11 AM, and typically leave a message on my cellphone asking me to phone them back. When I called them they didn't even know why I was calling them back. I've complained to them but they just keep phoning me anyway.

I don't even have an account with the Royal Bank. I have NEVER had an account with the Royal Bank or any other business dealings with them. And due to this morning "wake up call" they keep giving me (its been going on for a month now) I can promise you I will NEVER have any business dealings with the Royal Bank.

But there's other reasons to boycott the Royal Bank...

#1. The RBC is one of the primary investors in the Alberta Tar Sands, turning tar into oil and then into gasoline using a very expensive and environmentally damaging process (it takes a lot of water to filter the oil out of tar). Environmentalists are urging "Green Canadians" to close their Royal Bank accounts.

#2. The RBC invested $50 million in SCO, a company that is dissing the Linux operating system and is currently being sued by Red Hat and IBM. Linux users are urging other Canadians to boycott the Royal Bank.

#3. In 2008 the RBC changed their Lending Practices: Without warning, no written notification or customer agreement, the Royal Bank of Canada increases the interest rates of loans, mortgages, and VISA accounts. Interest rates are increased, terms and number of payments are changed without a written notice, violating existing agreements with customers and written signed contracts. This also effects students who have Canada Student Loans (pre-1999) with the Royal Bank. (This to me is the one which effects the most people, since quite a few people out there have a loan, credit card, etc. of some type with the RBC.)

#4. Much of the 2010 Olympics were held on stolen Native land in Vancouver, upsetting Native groups and sympathizers who feel the land should be returned to the Natives. The RBC was a major sponsor of the buildings built on Native land.

#5. The RBC has the largest number of Service Charges compared to other Canadian banks. They literally gouge customers as much as possible, knowing they are the biggest bank in Canada and many small communities only have 1 local bank: The RBC.

And there are doubtless more reasons to boycott Canada's largest bank. The Bank of Montreal and TD Bank are much better in my opinion. Just to compare there are:

123,000 websites mentioning a boycott of the Royal Bank of Canada.
131,000 websites mentioning a boycott of Scotiabank of Canada.
93,700 websites mentioning a boycott of the CIBC (Canadian Imperial Bank of Commere).
53,300 websites mentioning a boycott of the Bank of Montreal.
17,700 websites mentioning a boycott of TD Bank.

Such numbers are subject to change, but the point is still the same: Why bank with the Royal Bank when their reputation is the worst?