Pointed Discussion

he exchanges money at a profitable rate

With doubling season this isn't a have bad card because that is one mana to gain 6 life.

While you're wasting time with banking, your opponent will be smashing you with real creatures. A waste of time and mana, albeit a somewhat interesting one.

@Ace8792: Actually, it's only a net gain of 5 life, since it deals 3 damage to you when it enters the battlefield, and since you can only activate his ability during your upkeep, when he'd get another 2 counters. 8 counters - 3 damage = 5 net gain of life. However, it's at sorcery speed, requires a turn of waiting, and is vulnerable to removal.
tl;dr version: bad card, don't use it.

Rating this abomination of a card more than half a star is a sin against the universe.

Huh, that guy's nose looks a little big... oh geez. >_>

Yeah, the card's pretty awful, too. I like how you get "interest," but geez is it ever not worth it, especially if it gets killed- 3 life down the toilet. Some investments just aren't worth it.

Remember, kids: life is money.

Without timing restrictions this would be fantastic.
Anyways, this artwork is interesting.

Wizards has realized that life gain is only good when paired with something else, like damage, a decent sized body, or in copious amounts for very little mana. This card is everything good life gain is not: it hurts you first, it has the potential to be killed (in which case you Lightning Bolted yourself for nothing), it is quite slow if you want to net even 3 life, and the fact that its ability can only be used during your upkeep makes it useless in combat as well. Sure, it's cheap, but its uselessness in battle makes it a liability more often than not.

Interestingly enough, you could think of Cathedral Sanctifier as an evolution of this idea. While not amazing, it is much better than this card.