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Old 07-30-2010, 01:15 PM
 
Location: Boise, ID
8,046 posts, read 28,398,890 times
Reputation: 9470

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I have free checking, no minimum balance at Wells Fargo. In 16 years, the only "fee" I have ever been charged is to buy checks. They cost about $7 for a box, which lasts me for about 6 or 7 years. I don't make much for interest, at all, but there are no fees either.

My parents have multiple business accounts at Wells Fargo. They get charged a $2 fee every month because they get copies of checks back. That's the only fee of any kind. Of course, if you bounce a check, there is a fee for that, but that is a penalty for messing up, not a "use" fee.

We also have a business account at Washington Federal, and it doesn't get any fees charged either.
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Old 07-30-2010, 03:42 PM
 
Location: southwestern PA
22,341 posts, read 47,322,635 times
Reputation: 47414
Quote:
Originally Posted by jtur88 View Post
When you hire the bank to hold your money for you, they charge you a fee for this service. Put it under your mattress, which will not charge you a fee.

I DO "hire the bank to hold your money for you"... it's called laddered CDs, and they do NOT "charge you a fee for this service".

I'd have to be nuts to put it under a mattress.... still no fee, but no interest either.
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Old 07-30-2010, 05:57 PM
 
Location: Right where I want to be.
4,507 posts, read 9,038,208 times
Reputation: 3360
Quote:
Originally Posted by jtur88 View Post
When you hire the bank to hold your money for you, they charge you a fee for this service. Put it under your mattress, which will not charge you a fee.
They do not simply hold my money...they use it and make a profit from doing so. That I would be charged fees when they are already earning a profit from 'holding my money' seems wrong to me.

That is like me keeping my lawn tractor in my neighbors garage...all the while he is using my mower for his lawn care business. Why should I pay him to store the tractor when he is profiting from using it?

The bank is getting a benefit from me doing business there...I keep a generous minimum balance, etc. The only reason to charge me more fees is greed.
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Old 07-30-2010, 11:46 PM
 
Location: The Chatterdome in La La Land, CaliFUNia
39,031 posts, read 22,971,174 times
Reputation: 36027
Quote:
Originally Posted by pandapandaas View Post
I was thinking about this today at work (I work at a credit union) while I was looking over our fee schedule. Does anyone else find it a bit asinine that (some) banks require people to pay to access their own money? I'm talking about paying to use an ATM, transfer money between accounts, wire money between financial institutions, use a debit card to pay for transactions, etc.

Of course, if you have common sense, you can get around paying those fees by using branch specific ATMs and using a debit card as a credit card, or just using cash for everything...but it still seems so absurd for a company to have the balls to tell someone "Yeahhh if you want access to the money that you earned, we're gonna need our share too." Screw that.

How do you feel about this issue? What are other items you can think of that you can't believe people are charged for? I think that I read a while back that an airline was going to start charging people to use the bathroom or something? If that's true, I would fall on the floor from laughing so hard.

Thoughts?
Although I think they are excessive, I realize that the bank is providing a service by processing your ATM withdrawal through another bank's ATM. Yes, it is your money but NO, they are not obligated to process a transaction with bank A just because you opted to use bank A's ATM versus your own bank's machine. If you wish to avoid those fees, simply use your bank's ATM machines and/or withdraw your money while paying for groceries. I use ATM machines that are not owned by my bank only in emergencies.
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Old 07-31-2010, 02:43 AM
 
106,061 posts, read 108,035,793 times
Reputation: 79628
try building a vault , or hiring a guard to watch your money as well as insuring it. see what that cost you a year....

the fact that banks pay us anything to baby sit our money is amazing...

yea they loan it out and make money but the fact it is what would it cost you on your own to do all of the above.
the reason i say that is i once owned gold eagles which fidelidy investments stored for me in the bank of delaware. you had to see what that cost .
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Old 07-31-2010, 06:05 AM
 
20,793 posts, read 61,147,762 times
Reputation: 10693
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallysmom View Post
I think the more important question is why aren't you paying fees? Are you working around the bank's fee schedules? Do you keep enough money that fees are refunded?

The reason I say this is because I'm reading that more and more banks are going back to charging for services. The absolutely free checking with no strings attached is going the way of the do-do bird.

Back when I was at a small business oriented bank, we had tons of business checking accounts. Business checking is an odd duck of an account. A business checking account has to earn the bank profit to offset its fees in order to be free. And business checking accounts got charged for EVERYTHING. Every check processed had a fee, every check deposited had a fee, when we counted the cash we had to tell the proof how many bills we counted -- fee. All the change handed out -- fee. A copy fee, a this fee, a that fee -- the fee schedule was a page and half long.

The overwhelming cast majority of accounts we had made the bank a profit and as such were not charged. But the bank accounted for the fee income, and some of these accounts were tallying up 700 bucks a month in fees -- they were just more than 700 bucks a month more profitable.

Right now, we have accounts that are staked on us doing all our business with our bank. We have a business account, a personal account, a HELOC and a home loan which they sold off, but we get credit for doing through them. If I decide to close one of my accounts, all the others won't be free to me.

My ATM access is technically free, because the fees charged are refunded at the beginning of the next checking cycle.
I don't pay fees for anything, I get free checks, I can use any ATM I want and if that ATM is a non-bank one that charges a fee, my bank refunds that fee to me (I get 5/month and I think I have used it 2 times in I don't know how many years because I can always find an ATM that is free or connected to my bank). We have a couple checking accounts and savings accounts, our kids have checking accounts and savings accounts and none of us pay fees for anything. Why, because we have been long time customers of the bank and qualify for their no fee, personal banking stuff.
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Old 07-31-2010, 07:10 AM
 
106,061 posts, read 108,035,793 times
Reputation: 79628
i have a cma account at fidelity investments as my core. i pay no fees, have my pay check direct deposited, pay my bills thru it and they pick up the atm fees.

since im also a private access customer they have a host of other amenities as well they throw in...

i still use local banks but i do very little with them except deposit checks until they clear or cd's. all the banks are linked and i can move money back and forth at will.

its been 25 years now i have been using fidelity as my core checking account.
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Old 07-31-2010, 07:29 AM
 
Location: The DMV
6,563 posts, read 11,216,199 times
Reputation: 8602
Quote:
Originally Posted by pandapandaas View Post
I was thinking about this today at work (I work at a credit union) while I was looking over our fee schedule. Does anyone else find it a bit asinine that (some) banks require people to pay to access their own money? I'm talking about paying to use an ATM, transfer money between accounts, wire money between financial institutions, use a debit card to pay for transactions, etc.

Of course, if you have common sense, you can get around paying those fees by using branch specific ATMs and using a debit card as a credit card, or just using cash for everything...but it still seems so absurd for a company to have the balls to tell someone "Yeahhh if you want access to the money that you earned, we're gonna need our share too." Screw that.

How do you feel about this issue? What are other items you can think of that you can't believe people are charged for? I think that I read a while back that an airline was going to start charging people to use the bathroom or something? If that's true, I would fall on the floor from laughing so hard.

Thoughts?
Wait - you work at a financial institution (or in any service business) and you don't under stand this?

Not sure what your job at the CU is.. but lets put it this way - in addition to your current job, would you also answer phones for the contact center, make collection calls, help investigate fraud, maintain the online banking system, service the ATM, cash checks for members, empty trash at all branches.... for no additional pay?
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Old 07-31-2010, 07:32 AM
 
13,811 posts, read 27,351,964 times
Reputation: 14244
I saw it costs an average of $300 per year to upkeep a typical checking account. I think that was a Bank of America PR person on a financial show. So when people say they don't pay fees, they are either subsidized by others or paid a much lower interest rate on their money.

And I agree, as Americans we have come to feel entitled to cheap things. Bank accounts, cars, food, airline tickets, discounts for everything is the name of the game. And when asked to pay full price we balk.
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Old 07-31-2010, 07:32 AM
 
106,061 posts, read 108,035,793 times
Reputation: 79628
like i said see post #15
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