Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I don't know where to begin. I'm afraid the temperature in the room is going to come down a touch with the next line of questioning.
Mr. Fruitman, it would seem to me that what we have before us is a tremendous opportunity for the banks to respond in a fashion by which they might gain an advantage over some of their competition. The banks compete for clients, and there's no question they compete for clients. I sat here for about 30 seconds and came up with a couple of buzz terms. I'm sure everybody's heard them: “banking can be this comfortable”; “you're richer than you think”; “putting you first”; and “save your money”. These guys spend a fortune trying to attract clients.
If I were the representative of a credit union, I'd love some of the promotion that we'd get out of this. Everybody's learning that the way to compete with the chartered banks is to run with lower fees and to be more welcoming as far as using other competitors' machines.
Isn't this an opportunity? Wouldn't the consumers association see this as an opportunity for the banks to perhaps compete on a different level?