Banks profiting in food stamps and luxury hotels

Written by Biloxi

When you thought banks make profit from just bank and investment products, you may want to think again. There are millions of Americans that are struggling to put food on the table from these tough times. Many Americans have turned to food stamps. What we didn't know that JPMorgan Chase is one the largest processor of food stamp benefits in this country. In fact Chase has been profiting from the food stamp business since 2008 when the bank took a leadership role in providing assistance to major emergencies:

NEW YORK, November 12, 2008 -- J.P. Morgan today announced that during the past year it assisted California, Indiana, Louisiana, Nebraska and Washington in providing assistance to victims of natural catastrophes. Disaster Food Stamp Program funds totaling nearly $250 million were distributed to more than 710,000 households via J.P. Morgan's Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards.

"EBT and debit cards are an effective payment mechanism during disaster situations as they provide benefit recipients with immediate access to assistance," said Laurie Neill, managing director of Public Sector Solutions, J.P. Morgan. "J.P. Morgan is proud to have helped our state government clients prepare for and react to major emergencies effectively."

In response to hurricanes Gustav and Ike in September 2008, J.P. Morgan's EBT cards were used to assist Louisiana in deploying one of the largest Disaster Food Stamp Program benefit issuances in U.S. history. More than $208 million in emergency benefits were issued to 609,595 households.

DSS Interim Secretary Kristy Nichols said, "In the wake of the two hurricanes, DSS worked with Florida and J.P. Morgan to implement the first-ever technology partnership between states for issuing Disaster Food Stamp Program benefits."

Teams from Louisiana, Florida, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service (USDA-FNS) and J.P. Morgan worked together to develop a system that links the two states, should Louisiana encounter technical issues in future emergency situations.


In addition, JPMorgan Chase and other banks got federal subsidies that were meant to help poor communities to build luxury hotels:

Since 2003, some of the world's biggest financial companies, including Goldman Sachs, U.S. Bancorp, JPMorgan Chase and Prudential, have taken advantage of a federal subsidy that will cost taxpayers $10.1 billion — and most of the public has never heard of it.

Investors have used the program, called New Markets Tax Credits and created in 2000, to help build more than 300 upscale projects, including hotels, condominiums, office buildings and a car museum, on streets far from poverty, according to Treasury Department records released through a federal Freedom of Information Act request.


An it makes you wonder how Chase and other major banks continue to make record breaking profits in a bad economy and the worst unemployment in this country.