AIG Bank

Last Updated on Saturday, 19 May 2012 22:13

AIG Bank is part of the services provided through American International Group Inc. You may be more familiar with them offering insurance, but they have another branch that offers banking services; certificate of deposits, home equity, mortgages, and savings accounts.

Although this is mostly a credit card website we also like to review banks in general in case we find something deceiving in their overall business practices. A quick glance over their services seems like they are average when compared to other banks.

The main reason for this article is the news of the bailout and how it is being spent. A few days ago, (at the time of writing November 29, 2008) AIG announced there would be no bonuses this year for their seven top executives, and there wouldn’t be any pay raises next year for fifty more executives. Paying executives bonuses every year is common corporate practice, but since many companies are receiving bailout money in order to stay afloat, I figured that those same companies would cut back on frivolous costs. I thought for a moment maybe corporate greed was finally waning.

But today I read an article courtesy of Huffington Post that AIG will be paying cash rewards to over one hundred thirty managers to stay with the company. This also includes a three million dollar retirement payment to Jay Wintrob. Not only did they lie and say they weren’t going to give their top executives bonuses, but to many others as well. Clearly they have learned nothing from their near bankruptcy experience, which is exactly why the government shouldn’t bail out ridiculous companies such as this. Corporate America is a survival of the fittest, and obviously they didn’t make the cut.

I was outraged to say the least, when I read the news. To think that they will be wasting money like this when they should be cutting back on costs is absurd. If I was a customer of AIG bank I would cancel my account over this news, and I would refuse to be a customer of any bank that received bailout money and still spends like they are making money hand over fist.