Canadian banks debank customers who question woke policies
Scotiabank is closing the accounts of customers who question its totalitarian woke policies, a process known as “debanking.”
Canadian banks drop customers with disfavored views
An elderly Toronto resident told Rebel News Friday she was shut down by Scotiabank after she made a suggestion about the company’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies. The customer, identified only as “Jane” for fear of further repercussions from banking institutions, had proposed the bank include senior citizens in its “inclusion” guidelines instead of restricting them to “members of the LGBTQ+ community.”
Jane then received a letter from Guy Morin, the bank’s manager.
“After careful consideration, The Bank of Nova Scotia . . . has decided to end our relationship with you,” the email read. “We understand it will take time for you to make arrangements with another financial institution, therefore we are providing you this advance notice of the date on which each of your accounts and other products/services will be closed. Our decision complies with the conditions in the agreements you have with us.”
The incident is not a rarity for Scotiabank, which also reportedly debanked Gary Duke, an Albertan customer who asked if the bank could remove the rainbow flag from its app after the conclusion of “Pride month.”
Other Canadian banks have been known to close accounts when customers expressed disfavored opinions. In 2022, several financial institutions blacklisted clients who were known to support the Freedom Convoy, an organized protest against the Trudeau administration’s harsh COVID-19 restrictions.
British banks
The practice is also not limited to Canada. Last year, the British banking industry was exposed for regularly dropping customers who hold the wrong political views. The scandal broke after British politician Nigel Farage revealed that Coutts Bank closed his account over his support for figures like President Donald Trump, InfoWars host Alex Jones, and unvaccinated tennis champion Novak Djokovic. Public outrage led to the resignation of top banking executives.
US banks
US banks have also been known to debank Right-leaning customers, both voluntarily and in tandem with the federal government.
Chase Bank
In May 2022, Chase Bank abruptly closed the account belonging to the National Committee for Religious Freedom (NCRF), a nonprofit aimed at safeguarding freedom for all religions. No transactions had raised any red flags. NCRF made some calls and discovered the decision had come from the “corporate office” and that a note in their file forbade staff from providing any clarity as to why their account was closed.
Chase eventually told NCRF that it would restore the organization’s account, but only if it divulged its donors, the political candidates it planned to support, and other unnecessary information.
In 2021, a Chase-owned credit card processor notified the pro-life organization Family Council that “we can no longer support your business” because it was considered “High Risk.” But the nonprofit met none of the qualifications for the High Risk category.
WePay, a payment gateway owned by Chase, also refused service to a conservative group because it felt its views supported “hate, violence, racial intolerance, [and] terrorism”.
Also in 2021, Chase abruptly closed former Trump National Security Advisor Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn’s bank account for “reputational reasons,” according to The Heritage Foundation.
JPMorgan Chase is one of six “too-large-to-fail” banks that have been slowly becoming “financial legislatures”.
“The major banks, financial management firms, and insurance companies are de facto deciding how we will be able to live. They are becoming our new legislatures,” said New Hampshire State Rep. J.D. Bernardy.
Wells Fargo
In January 2023, Wells Fargo suddenly closed the account of Brandon Wexler, a well-known gun dealer who had been with the bank for 25 years. The bank suggested it will no longer do business with firearms dealers when it told Wexler it was too “risky,” according to The Reload.
In 2020, Wells Fargo suddenly closed Republican Senate Candidate Lauren Witzke’s bank account without explanation.
Bank of America
Bank of America, of its own volition, decided to track its customers who may have been at the US Capitol on January 6 and report them to the FBI. Following the Capitol breach, payment processor Stripe stopped processing payments for Trump’s campaign and anyone who was at the Capitol that day.
In October 2022, Bank of America also shut down the bank account of a popular conservative influencer and refused to provide an explanation.
American Legislative Exchange Council Chief Economist Jonathan Williams predicts that if enough progressive pressure is brought to bear on the financial system, it would mean “having people’s freedoms eroded without any legislation ever having to be passed, whether it’s companies with a radical take on ESG [Environmental, Social, and Governance corporate responsibility score] or FICO [Fair Isaac Corporation] personal credit scores.”
