Clark talks a lot on the show about how banks treat customers like dirt. He often recommends trying a credit union or smaller bank instead. But there is another option he often overlooks. If you have a healthy chunk of change, you can do your banking with a stock brokerage company. Merrill Lynch, the nation’s largest brokerage firm, started this in the late 70s and called it a “CMA” or cash management account. It was the company’s version of being your bank, and it has become very popular. People are treated very well and get much higher rates on accounts. You can also borrow against your account at much lower rates than what you’d normally get. This “margin loan borrowing” can be risk, though. So, you never want to borrow more than 25 percent of your account. But if you’re frustrated with your bank and need the convenience of a big firm, consider this. Banks hold only about 12 percent of our assets these days. Most of our money is with brokerage houses and mutual fund services because they offer such better service.