Banking Using GameStop

Jason Kottke writes that an anonymous 4chan user has come up with a scheme to use video game retailer GameStop as a bank:

Does anyone else use Gamestop as a bank?

I got really pissed off with US Bank because I kept overdrafting my account even though I opted out, and the same thing happened with my credit union when I got a debit card.

Now whenever I get paid I go preorder a whole shitload of games. Whenever I need money, I go to the nearest gamestop and ask for my money back on a game I don’t want and make a withdrawal. The lines are shorter at gamestop than at the bank and I can trade in old games and have money go straight to my savings account. Gamestops are just as prevalent as banks in my town and I work at a mall so it’s even more convenient than running an errand to the bank or using an ATM and getting charged.

There are a lot of reasons why you should not do this. For one, as Bloomberg Businessweek points out, GameStops are not FDIC-insured, meaning if the company goes out of business there’s no guarantee a customer would get her money back. Other obvious problems: You could only take out money during store hours, and if you write a rent check you’ll still need a regular bank to process it. Plus, it’s just really weird for you to use a video game store as your bank.

Photo: Stephan Mosel

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