Kiss your free checking account goodbye.

[solanis]

That said, if you hold $500 in a negative-real-interest savings account, allowing the bank to leverage up and invest at typical rate of return, you are more than paying for the services you will be using.

yes, that's what leverage is. however, the current federal funds rate is like... 12 basis points. the margin on those accounts is infintesimal and probably not worth the headache. if those accounts were profitable in their current form, banks would keep them around.

[Headspace]

If you dont like your bank, just use a different one.

If your first bank bought out your new one... well, you dont have to use banks at all dummy. Its not cost efficient.

[Ksandra]

well, you dont have to use banks at all dummy. Its not cost efficient.

having no back is not cost efficient at all either, which is how they get you. You'll only find a few small businesses willing to pay their employers in cash, and for checks. Check cashing places take a huge amount out of the checks, and if you go to the bank the check was written on to cash it they'll charge you a fee for not having an account. When I worked for BoA (again 3 years ago) we charged $6 per check from non-customers.

So if you get paid once a week that's $24 per month, twice is $12. Where their basic account was $9 at the time.


Don't get me wrong, it's pretty smart for the banks to do this. I'm just pointing out that you can lose a lot more by not having any bank account at all.

[Ketna]

Just to throw in my own, WTH my bank (credit union) started charging me for what? story.

My family all uses Educators FCU because it was easy for us to transfer funds from family member to family member if needed, plus it allowed us to all bank together when we were younger. Just the other day my brother needed to borrow $20 for gas and since I was at work I jumped online and transferred $20 to my brother from their website. The next day I see that I was charged $3 for the transfer, and my brother only received $17 because he was also charged $3 for receiving the money... yeah I thought that was some bullshit. We didnt need to use an associate, or an ATM, it was all done electronic, there shouldnt have been a fee.

We have financed 5-6 vehicles, 3 credit cards, and maybe 5 personal loans over the past 12 years that I have been with them. I have already moved myself to another local CU, and I am encouraging my family to do the same. I understand that they need to make money to run, but that is done from interest. As long as there is competition and incentives I dont mind moving from bank to bank, as long as my account stays as fee free as possible and I am getting competitive APR for loans.

[bechyni]

Yeah went to the bank a few weeks back to open a savings account and was told this shit. I flipped over the desk robbed the place and deposited the stolen into my account to assure I would never go under the limit.

Sent from my single bed room in prison.

[Fhqwghads]

Fuck BofA right in their neck. I hate them with a fiery passion. Fucktards gave me the run-around for 7+ months while I tried getting a re-fi. After 3-4 reps over the course of that time I had to deal with, because they were either getting fired or moved to other departments, I told them to piss the hell off. Then they started in with the telemarketing calls. They called 2-3 times a day, at 9am, around noon, and then again at night. This went on with me answering the phone several times telling them to take me off their list, and them saying OK but it might take 4 weeks or so. A week later I was so fucking irate when they had called repeatedly that I told the person to put his fucking supervisor on the phone. After I got through with him the calls stopped.

I still have a checking account with them, but I'm going to switch. Their online service is a fucking joke, and I want nothing to do with them anymore. The only thing holding me up is I have so many auto-bill pays and direct deposit through them I'm dreading changing banks.

More on topic, weren't us taxpayers just bailing these fuckers out? And then they pay jack shit on taxes? While raking in multiple billions in profit? So their thanks is "you pay now" if they can't play investment broker with your money in your account? Gotta love this shit.

(Waits for "cool starry, bra")

[Ksandra]

Fuck BofA right in their neck. I hate them with a fiery passion. Fucktards gave me the run-around for 7+ months while I tried getting a re-fi. After 3-4 reps over the course of that time I had to deal with, because they were either getting fired or moved to other departments, I told them to piss the hell off. Then they started in with the telemarketing calls. They called 2-3 times a day, at 9am, around noon, and then again at night. This went on with me answering the phone several times telling them to take me off their list, and them saying OK but it might take 4 weeks or so. A week later I was so fucking irate when they had called repeatedly that I told the person to put his fucking supervisor on the phone. After I got through with him the calls stopped.

I still have a checking account with them, but I'm going to switch. Their online service is a fucking joke, and I want nothing to do with them anymore. The only thing holding me up is I have so many auto-bill pays and direct deposit through them I'm dreading changing banks.

(Waits for "cool starry, bra")

I felt likea filthy car salesman when I worked there. I know some of the things you were going through. The fire/turn around rate at that place is ridiculous. I was lucky, I never got fired even without making my goals. But I was a merchant teller and they have a hard time as is finding people willing to do that job as is.

But ya I'd have managers standing right behind me as I did transactions. I'll never forget getting a guy who came up to me with only a savings account. I asked if he wanted a checking, he said he just closed his a week ago 'cause he has no money and it's cheaper just with a savings. He had like $20 in his savings account.

I was reprimanded for not "getting the sale on a checking account" for that guy. I was so disgusted with the whole thing. I don't really blame the managers in a way though. It's like that kicking the dog syndrome. They were under just as much pressure over getting fired if the bank didn't make it's sales goals as I was, so they were taking it out on us.

This is why so much shady shit goes on over there too, the people are so desperate to not get fired they'll do underhanded methods to reach their goals. I had too much of a moral code to do it though lol. I probably never should have worked at a bank in the first place, but at the time I needed a jobby job since I just moved to cali. Definitely not for me though. Nothing worse than trying to find sneaky ways to take money from what people earned.

[Jaregue]

I've already noticed this with my bank. As soon as i turned 26 my student account turned into a regular one and they started charging me 8 bucks a month unless i have a direct deposit. or 15 transactions per month
This wouldn't be a problem, but i'm an unemployed student, who uses cash for everything. so the 8 dollar fees are just making my account go into the negative

[Militant]

Hopefully I'm ok for a while. My bank is not huge nationally but its pretty big in the region (TD Bank). I don't always have a balance over 1,500 in my checking account, but at least I do have a weekly deposit of over the 500 per week.

[aurik]

td bank is just as bad. Ironically, I've had nothing but good experiences with TD's canadian counterpart.

[ikariiiii]

zeitgeist: addendum?

[Yousir]

I was honestly going to leave Chase because of their fee changes but then I saw the "required $500 per month deposit" and I lol'd. It's not that big of a deal, but I don't really like it anyway.

[Velgadess]

I'm wondering if Chase is going to no longer consider wamu customers "grandfathered" in. I'll have to check with them to see. I had a free checking from wamu because I had someone paying me in the past who used wamu but didn't always have fund sin her account so I didn't want to get stuck with bounced check fees. I stuck with chase after leaving BoA since I already had the account there.

I'll probably switch to a credit union if they do start charging me...

I was with WAMU years ago. opened an account in the mid 90's. when Chase bought them out nothing changed. people were "grandfathered" in. about a year changes began. then no more free checking. left Chase and went to a local credit union

[Fhloston]

Guess this is a good time to open an account at the credit union across the street.

Edit: Why I haven't already is what blows my mind. Currently with WF..

[Yuri-G]

WF checking accounts are awesome. no fees, no minimum, free rewards program that combines points from check card AND credit card...

...if you work there.

[archibaldcrane]

I still love my Bank of America checking account. Branches and ATMs fucking everywhere, no-envelope deposits, never paid a fee for anything.

tl;dr lrn2bank

[Ksandra]

no-envelope deposits,

that's like every bank.

[Cantih]

Nowadays anyway. Wells Fargo only started doing that within the last year.

[BaneTheBrawler]

I am not the least bit surprised to see Wells Fargo on that list.

I have a theory about Wells Fargo. Each year, someone higher up in the food chain there suffocates by holding his breath too long. He realized, like many of his predecessors, that he was sharing air with other people. So he stopped. That's his air, and he's not going to share it with anyone. Wells Fargo executives quietly dispose of the evidence and hire someone else to head the Stupid department.

[solanis]

wells fargo's colors, aesthetic design, and name all make me think of some hipster country market in a suburb fitted out to look like a retro small town store.