First we read that Iranians who have lived in Canada for years, and are citizens here, have had their bank accounts frozen without warning. ATM cards, debit cards, everything just stopped. Each individual had to go into the branch and retrieve their cash.

Supposedly this is due to sending remittances back home to Iran. However, my understanding is that the legal limit for this is something like $50,000. I doubt these people are or were sending back that much.

Next, I get a letter, ordinary mail, from TD Bank about my credit card. The letter arrives July 19, 2012. Enclosed is a “new account agreement”. This changes interest rates on the card, among other things.

The agreement comes into force on July 1. If I use the card or have a balance, I have agreed.

Note that my “agreement” is backdated by eighteen days. Note that I do have a balance on this credit card, a credit balance of eight cents.

So, now for the dumb question #1: Should I pull this credit card? I don’t use TD for anything else, but have had this card since it was a Guaranty Trust credit card, one of the few (at that time) which had no fees. When TD took over the card, they honoured the original agreement. Gradually it has become an ordinary card: the same predatory 2.5% surcharge for changing foreign currency, for example, as everyone else.

Dumb question #2: should I encourage you to pull your credit card?

Dumb question #3. If Canadian banks are going to p..s on Iranians, why is TD leading the “charge”? Is it because the natural leader, RBC, is one of the 20 banks that set LIBOR, and that entire exercise is under scrutiny? seems to have been manipulated? See articles on Barclay’s for more on this.