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Folks banks need to make money and contrary and a lot of folks are costing them money so they don't need their accounts. They have laid out the conditions to avoid the fee so the choice is up to the individual to pay the fee, move their account or meet the minimum terms. If a person walks in a bank on Friday and deposits a check for $1,000 dollars and then proceeds to write $900 in checks and has their balance down to $100 by Monday when and how has the bank had the opportunity to come close to recovering the cost of doing business with that person? Oh yeah and on Tuesday they withdraw $50 from the ATM machine. Banks are for profit enterprises and are merely targeting their market niche.
Right.
"Free" checking is available because the funds in the bank can be used to make money, or the "Free" checking has to be subsidized via expenses from other areas.
I believe the average checking account costs the bank $250--$300/year.
Folks banks need to make money and contrary and a lot of folks are costing them money so they don't need their accounts. They have laid out the conditions to avoid the fee so the choice is up to the individual to pay the fee, move their account or meet the minimum terms. If a person walks in a bank on Friday and deposits a check for $1,000 dollars and then proceeds to write $900 in checks and has their balance down to $100 by Monday when and how has the bank had the opportunity to come close to recovering the cost of doing business with that person? Oh yeah and on Tuesday they withdraw $50 from the ATM machine. Banks are for profit enterprises and are merely targeting their market niche.
Back in the good old days banks made their money by loaning out your money to other folks and collecting the interest. All of these fees only start popping up in the last twenty years or so as a way to make even more money. So I feel little sympathy for the poor mega-banks that can't rake in endless amounts of cash. It's quite funny to hear my grandfather who used to work in the banking industry rant and rave about how greedy the banks have become.
Last edited by evaofnc; 07-10-2012 at 06:36 AM..
Reason: z
Wow. They're seriously trying to kick me out of their bank. I've been a customer since 2004 (First Union). We moved everything, including our direct deposits after the Wells Fargo merger but kept the account open for a secondary account for budgeting purposes...all my clothing and other misc. entertainment comes out of that account. Makes it easier to see if there is money to spend or not. Anyway, I'm closing it now. Thanks for the heads up.
I've been a customer of Wachovia since 1997 I can only imagine the amount of money they made off me over the years. But I have no problem kicking them to the curb for another bank. Their customer service had been getting steadily worse over the years anyway.
Its a money grab - WF is betting that it will make more money charging its customers for being customers than it will lose by doing so.
Actually, it is more like a pruning of un-profitable clientele, with an eye on the short term rather than long-term outlook.
They are betting the attrition will be low-profit yield customers.
True but they'll be losing a lot of other customers in the mix as well. I meet the requirements to not get a fee, but I'm not going to keep that account open if god forbid one day my financial situation changes. Won't want to be kicked when I'm already down.
i got that email (im in va though). it doesn't really bother me bc i have the direct deposit, too. most banks have some sort of fee unless you have a minimum balance or some other crap. i've been with them for two years now and so far i haven't paid a single fee. i've made about $40 in interest, too.
Actually, it is more like a pruning of un-profitable clientele, with an eye on the short term rather than long-term outlook.
They are betting the attrition will be low-profit yield customers.
I think it's a mistake to do it to existing Student Checking customers. I believe this is the quickest way to ensure that once they're not students and are making more money, they'll be banking elsewhere.
We moved from another big bank about six months ago now & wish I had done it sooner.
We are with Latino Credit Union. It was a one time 'joining fee' of $25 that went to their scholarship fund, so I had no problem with that. Each month we pay $2 for all of our accounts (two savings, checking & CDs). The interest we make across all the accounts (yes, we actually make interest on our checking account ) is more than that, so in my mind it is the same as free.
And as others mentioned the service is still there. They have the old-school Christmas Club accounts, a change machine in the lobby that we can use for free & people working at the bank who are polite & helpful. Additionally we can use other credit union (like SECU) ATMs with no fee (they all seem to have a joint agreement with each other on the no atm fees).
Another option, if you can live without an actual physical bank would be something like ING. Totally on line, no brick buildings to go into. We have several savings accounts and one checking account. Interest rates are slightly better than regular banks and it is easy to access on-line. When you need the $$ it takes a couple days, but transferring between banks is easy & free. We actually like that it takes a couple days since it keeps us from making impulse buys with that $$. They also have a network of ATMs that are free. I know the one in the Mobil by our house is one of them and we've never had a problem using it or with getting hit by any accidental fees.
I understand that the banks need to make $$ and that we need to pay for the services we get, but between a mortgage, equity line & credit cards they are making plenty of money off us. They don't need to take more for my checking account.
I think it's a mistake to do it to existing Student Checking customers. I believe this is the quickest way to ensure that once they're not students and are making more money, they'll be banking elsewhere.
Maybe.
But in two years, they will unveil promotions.
Consumers have short memories, and will flock in for a free toaster with their free checking...
Not unlike raising prices to have a BOGO sale....
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I can only imagine the amount of money they made off me over the years. But I have no problem kicking them to the curb for another bank. Their customer service had been getting steadily worse over the years anyway.
) is more than that, so in my mind it is the same as free. 
