E(lsewhere)-Loan

This won't take long...

Those of you sitting in the Continental 48 and Pacific-touching 2 can access a lil ol' website called E-Loan. Been around a while, has developed a schizoid reputation for excellence in service and screw-the-pooch heavy-handedness. (Do your own research: You'll see.)

The basic premise of E-Loan is that of its myriad competitors: Invert the bank-client relationship for common loans. The usual, traditional, historical bank loan relationship is that of powerful overlord versus hat-in-hand petitioner. Banks acting like they own the world and the little people sweating out the bank's carnivalesque profiteering. All legally proscribed, of course.

Then comes this thing called the Internet and power shifts to the client, the consumer, the click-to-leave user who can cross borders in an instant. Suddenly, banks find it useful to compete for clients anywhere. Theoretically, consumers benefit when "banks compete for your business," as an E-Loan rival sloganeers.

Back in 2005, who buys E-Loan for about $300 million? Popular, Inc. Based in Illinois.

But if you clicked on the link, you're way ahead of Me... because Popular, Inc. is none other than Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, the largest local bank and a steaming pile of offal blocking the parkway of progress of Our people. Long story short: They make Our economy a virtually-centralized, one-bank-to-rule-them, Third World sumphole.

Ya think E-Loan was bought to offer the power of the people to Us? By a bank that has majority or near-majority control locally of mortgages, car loans, construction loans, personal loans, high-interest loans, credit cards and ATM transactions, as well as government transactions?

Ya think?


The Jenius Has Spoken.