SEO Advice & Commentary

Prop 203 passes in Arizona and this is a major leap for those users of medical marijuana. Arizonans have been fighting for this for years and it has finally passed! We’re waiting on our legislature to organize and finalize the law. This should be a major opportunity for new business owners.

Prop. 203 allows Arizona citizens to register with the Arizona Department of Health Services and obtain up to two-and-a-half ounces of medical marijuana every two weeks for medical illnesses. If you happen to live far away from a dispensary you can now grow your own medical marijuana so that you’re not burdened with the long haul to a dispensary. This medical marijuana is intended for use solely to treat and/or alleviate symptoms associated with what the state deems as a “debilitating medical condition.” Though the list of conditions is vast, it includes and is not limited to: Agitation of Alzheimer’s Disease, Amyotropic Lateral Sclerosis, Cancer, Crohn’s Disease, Glaucoma, Hepatitis C, HIV/AIDS, Nail Patella, Cachexia or Wasting Syndrome, Severe Nausea, Severe & Chronic Pain, Seizures and Severe Muscle Spasms.

April of 2011 is when most Arizonans should start seeing dispensaries around town. Phoenix is a large area and consist of many cities including Tempe, Scottsdale, Glendale, Mesa, Phoenix, Cave Creek, Peoria, Sun City, and tons of others. These cities should have quite a few Arizona Dispensaries based on the amount of people that live in the Phoenix area.

Allowing Arizona citizens to medicate themselves in peace is quite a big step for the State of Arizona. There are some that criticize the passing of Prop 203 – mostly accusing it of being a loophole for people to obtain and smoke marijuana for fun and not for medical use. It’s obvious that these people already obtain marijuana through other illegal methods that only contribute to the survival of the marijuana ‘black market’ and Mexican Drug Cartels. There are several other states with a long history of such laws in place, such as Colorado and California, as a foreshadowing of what will become of Arizona. The problem in these states is not with the marijuana laws, more so it has to do with the loose reigns set around physicians who are allowed to recommend marijuana to any patient who has $150 to shell out. It is the hope of most citizens that Arizona puts strict regulations on users that are using medical marijuana for fun or recreation. This will likely increase the penalties of smokers without medical marijuana cards.

We’re hoping that Arizona treats its patients and its citizens with class. The true medical marijuana user wants to use in peace. These people aren’t dealers or druggies. They’re often functional citizens with disabilities related to a medical condition.

Anyone do business or Bank with Compass Bank?  They’ll Rip You Off!

As some of you are aware, I own several online businesses and literally have hundreds of transactions through my accounts every month.  One of my smaller businesses that has been up a few months opened an account with Compass Bank.  Compass Bank has, for the lack of a better term, a “unique” system for doing deposits and withdrawals.  This system landed them in a lawsuit by a company named “Fat Butter” (your guess is as good as mine) and involved a claim that BBVA Compass rearranges the order of deposits and withdrawals in order to maximize the number of times they’re able to hit an account with NSF Fees.  Furthermore, it is claimed that BBVA Compass also holds charges briefly (a day or two) and then allows them to go through if your account happens to go below $0 so that you can rack up even more $38 NSF Fees – something I haven’t knowingly experienced myself.

Since most of my payments are credit cards over the internet I get daily deposits from my merchant company in varying amounts depending on how much product I sold 2-3 days before.  I have no idea why, but it usually takes 2-3 days for the money to hit my account after I have charged a credit card.  This isn’t a big deal as long as it is consistent (and it is).  So, every morning, first thing, I have deposits in my account from my merchant account.  One would think that because my deposits from my merchant company are electronically transferred first thing in the morning I would have money in the account daily.   It is of note that I check my balance every morning and the deposits show up on my account every morning -  the money is there correct??  Compass Bank doesn’t see it that way.

Here’s an example of what one might assume happens in a normal checking account on a given day:

Morning Balance : $1000

6 a.m. – Deposit – Merchant Account Deposits $1000.
1 p.m. – Withdrawal -Various Fed-Ex Charges (lets say 10 x $8) $80.
2 p.m. – Withdrawal – Vendor Check $300.
3 p.m. – Deposit – Cash Deposit $500.
3 p.m. – Withdrawal – Supplier Check $900.

Ending Balance:  $1220

On March 1st, a Monday, I have $1000 in my bank account.  I have a $900 check I wrote to a supplier.  I have various fed-ex charges that are billed once every 2-3 days (10 charges of $8.00 for ease of numbers) . I also have a $300 check I wrote to a contractor.  I have $1000 in merchant credits to be deposited and I also go to the bank and deposit $500 in cash that I received from a customer over the weekend.

$1000 + $1000 – $80 – $300 + $500 – $900 = $1220.   Correct?   Not by Compass Bank’s math.  No, Compass Bank has another way of doing the math and maximizing their profits on the NSF fees.  As stated, Compass Bank very cleverly chronologically reorganizes deposits and charges so that if  it is possible for your account to be below $0 it will reflect a negative balance.   This little trick ensures that you will be charged the highest number of NSF fees possible (at a whopping $38 EACH).   What they have done is examine all withdrawals for the day and then rearrange them so they are all put through before your deposits are put through.   Even CASH deposits are posted AFTER all withdrawals.  Compass cleverly withdrawals amounts from highest to lowest before allowing any deposits to be posted to the account.

Here is how Compass Bank does its Math:

Morning Balance : $1000

3 p.m. – Withdrawal – Supplier Check $900.
2 p.m. – Withdrawal – Vender Check $300.
2 p.m. – NSF FEE $38.
4 p.m. – Withdrawal – Fed-Ex Charge $8.
4 p.m. – NSF FEE $38.
4 p.m. – Withdrawal – Fed-Ex Charge $8.
4 p.m. – NSF FEE $38.
4 p.m. – Withdrawal – Fed-Ex Charge $8.
4 p.m. – NSF FEE $38.
4 p.m. – Withdrawal – Fed-Ex Charge $8.
4 p.m. – NSF FEE $38.
4 p.m. – Withdrawal – Fed-Ex Charge $8.
4 p.m. – NSF FEE $38.
4 p.m. – Withdrawal – Fed-Ex Charge $8.
4 p.m. – NSF FEE $38.
4 p.m. – Withdrawal – Fed-Ex Charge $8.
4 p.m. – NSF FEE $38.
4 p.m. – Withdrawal – Fed-Ex Charge $8.
4 p.m. – NSF FEE $38.
4 p.m. – Withdrawal – Fed-Ex Charge $8.
4 p.m. – NSF FEE $38.
4 p.m. – Withdrawal – Fed-Ex Charge $8.
4 p.m. – NSF FEE $38.
6 a.m. – Deposit – Merchant Account Deposits $1000.
3 p.m. – Deposit – Cash Deposit $500.

Ending Balance:  $840

Yes.  $840 is a stark difference from $1220 isn’t it?   Guess what?  I was just robbed!

Let’s talk a little about Compass Bank’s customer service and how they justify their theft.  First, Customer service (if that’s what you want to call it) at Compass Bank states that they do not have the technological capability to arrange deposits and withdrawals in chronological order.  That’s odd, as they’ve been able to figure out how to hold all of my deposits and take the withdrawals first.  Seems to me that they’re able to arrange at least something.  In fact, if they wanted to be honest about it don’t you think they would give me at LEAST my early morning deposit that happens EVERY day and my CASH deposit that I put in their bank before they take out checks and misc expenses?  It’s also troublesome that they’re able to arrange the withdrawals from highest amount to lowest amount to come out first so that if at any point the larger amounts put me below $0 the smaller amounts hit me with a $38 NSF Fee EVERY TIME!  If they’re able to arrange the numbers in that fashion why aren’t they able to arrange them in the opposite order?  After all, isn’t it logical that if I have money electronically deposited first thing in the morning that the money should be available before electronic debits are taken out?

You might argue that I should simply make sure I have more money in the account than what is being withdrawn.  Well, that’s true.  My rebuttal is that I do have money to cover the expenses – my bank just hasn’t given me credit for it yet!

It’s pretty simple.  Compass Bank says it doesn’t have the technology to arrange fees in chronological order, but they do have the technology to arrange fees from highest to lowest and arrange withdrawals before deposits.   They also make sure that the money coming out electronically is taken out immediately and the money coming in electronically is held until all withdrawals are taken out – effectively leaving you with the lowest balance possible in order to collect NSF fees and penalties.

The ultimate solution is to either put $5000 in the account and never let your balance go below that or switch to another bank that actually does your banking in chronological order.  Wells Fargo has excellent online banking that is far superior to anything Compass ever thought about having.  The only time I got NSF charges from WF is when I deserved them. Furthermore, their customer service is top-notch in my experience.

NSF Fees typically  happen to all of us at one point.  If I deserve it I pay the price, but If I’m robbed I have to complain!