Have you ever noticed…

I noticed a pattern when I checked our bank accounts online. (In the illustration above, the most recent transaction is on top.) The bills paid on any particular date are paid in the following sequence: Biggest amount first, second-biggest amount next, followed by the third-biggest amount and so on. Why? It’s simple. Say for example the balance in your account is $1,000 and ten checks come in and nine of the checks are small enough that they all could be paid, but one of them is close to $1,000. When they pay that large check, the following nine checks bounce. Nine bounced-check charges! Happy bank. Very unhappy customer.

The practice is rampant; it’s unlikely you can switch banks to get an ethical one. Ethics? Banking? Don’t make me laugh!