The Co-operative Bank's smile.co.uk homepage currently includes a fun survey:
Who do you turn to for money advice?
- my old dad
- a financial adviser
- mags and newspapers
- my mates
- no one - I make my own mind up
Their survey overlooks one option offered in the bank's latest Keep Smiling email newsletter, which I received yesterday:
Your money and the stars
Take a look at Astro Anns predictions for the future. Whether its your finances or your love life you need a little guidance on, our resident Astrologer is at your service.
Yes, that's right: the Co-operative Bank—an organisation which prides itself on its ethical policy—has evidently decided that it is not unethical to treat its customers like fucking idiots by offering them the services of a soothsayer.
To make matters worse, the link provided from the email newsletter to the bank's astrology page contains embedded information in the form of a unique id code which will presumably allow the bank to monitor (through a program entitled mon.aspx referred to in the link) the clicking of the link. In other words, not only is the Co-operative Bank treating all of its customers like fucking idiots, but it is also tracking which ones actually are fucking idiots. I can see why this might be seen as extremely useful business intelligence.
I don't have a bank account with Smile, only a few ISAs. I will be moving them to another bank forthwith.
