Financial transparency
Students across the U.S. are trapped. We face $1.2 trillion in loan debt, a mass sustained by the misguided policies and profiteering of large financial institutions.
These financial institutions have gained a foothold at universities. Agreements between them and universities allow them to market financial products to students using university logos and to hold exclusive rights to university space for ATMs and branches.
At best, these agreements limit student choice but give students convenient access to funds. At worst, they trap students in on-campus banking monopolies in which high fees are the norm. This university is no exception to these sorts of risky relationships. After months of petitioning university President Wallace Loh to release all contracts between Capital One Bank and the university, administrators gave the Student Labor Action Project access to the lease for campus ATMs.
The lease agreement revealed that Capital One holds “exclusive banking rights” at our university of more than 37,000 students. In addition, Capital One uses the university’s Terrapins logo alongside the phrase, “BANK LIKE A TERP. BANK ON CAMPUS!” to market financial products to students. This type of marketing encourages students to believe that the school recommends Capital One.
SLAP demands transparency in regards to this instance of co-marketing, and we continue to call for the immediate release of all current agreements between our university and any financial institution so that students’ best interests are protected.
Chris Bangert-Drowns is a sophomore biochemistry major and a founding member of the UMD Student Labor Action Project.
