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More of the same. I cannot fathom the number of people who just seem to continue to make the same mistakes when it comes to managing their money.
DH and I have been banking with those "big monster mega banks" (some consumer guy radio guy calls them this ) for decades with absolutely NO issues. We always know how much money we have (or don't have) in our accounts at any given moment.
You can talk about ethics all you want to, but banks are out to make money. You may not like it, but it is legal.
You can talk about ethics all you want to, but banks are out to make money. You may not like it, but it is legal.
Banks are in business to make money. I can understand when banks are sneaky and charge hidden fees and people get upset, but if you're careless with your money and end up paying fees because of it, then it's on you. Personally, I bank completely for free. I pay no fees or charges because I keep sufficient balances, use only my bank's ATMs, and pay my credit card balance monthly.
I've maybe over drafted twice in my life. Both times, I see it as MY FAULT, NOT THE BANK'S. The reason it happened what due to my stupidity in paying something out of an account that I was able to close (and thus had a low amount) and incorrectly choosing the wrong account on a credit card payment.
For me it was never a matter of "I don't have the money but I'm going to buy/pay for this anyhow and hope for the best (?)" but an issue with transferring funds/using the wrong account. I payed the $35 penalty or whatever, and hit myself over the head a few times.
I don't see how it could be the bank's fault, if the terms were explained to the customer beforehand...
- Add overdraft protection to your checking account. This protection usually comes with no annual fee and you only pay interest if you use and don't payoff within the month
- Keep a better eye on your balance and what you spend and only spend what you have in your account
Why is it evil on the bank's part? Did the individual fail to check his or her balance? Looks to me it was that way.
So why is the bank wrong in charging someone for not keeping his or her part of the deal because after all they did get a paper explaing these types of fees, correct?
To me this simply reflects what percieve a pervasive attitude it is not my fault if I do not read and keep my part of the bargain. The bank should pay for my mistake and/or laziness for not checking how is my account.
That really is the bottom line. However, instead of admitting personal fault we find so many people singing with them us how mean and greedy the banks are. I must note I am not saying banks do not take advantage of customers but even then the customre KNEW what the rules are though.
I have never had any problem with a bank since I was a teenager because I simply check what is my balance all the time and budget my money. It is a very simple concept.
At one point in time, prior to the debit card, when it was checks that were "bouncing", I would definitely say it was the fault of the consumer, not the bank. Was the bank fully capitalizing on the mistakes of the consumer? YES. Was it the consumer's fault? YES.
However, in this day and age, I am more likely to say "evil bank" for several reasons.
Not everyone is granted overdraft protection because it is essentially a line of credit. Now, in the instance where someone is not granted an overdraft, the bank should not be clearing transactions where there is not enough money to cover them and then charging fees for this service. This happened to me years and years ago when the very first debit cards came out. I did argue the fee with the bank and they removed it, luckily.
I am now with a credit union. A few years ago, after some errors in my check register , I did have transactions that exceeded my available funds. The credit union covered them for me and charged me accordingly. I called them up to discuss it with them, and thanked them for covering my transactions but told them that I would have preferred it if they simply denied the transactions so that I would have immediately become aware of the situation, and that frankly I wouldn't have cared if my check to CVS had bounced and my name was mud with CVS, because I only write about 15 checks per year at this point since everything is online now. I was also irritated because I had plenty of money to cover my transactions in my savings account. So, they were very helpful in setting up my account so that if I ever had transactions that exceeded the funds in my checking account the money would be pulled from my savings account automatically. This was an excellent solution as far as I am concerned.
Quote:
Originally Posted by suzie02
Part of it is education. Most people assume that if they do not have enough money in the bank the would get declined.
It should get declined. You are using your DEBIT card, not CREDIT card. There is no reason that it shoudl not be declined. Oh, yes, there is one reason, so the banks can collect these hefty fees.
And the practice of clearing the largest transaction first so that people have multiple smaller transactions, each generating it's own overdraft fee should be outright illegal.
Transactions should be debited chronologically, not by size in order to generate the most revenue for the bank.
Quote:
Originally Posted by suzie02
Most people who use debit cards do so because they can not handle a credit card and the banks know this.
Comparing apples to oranges. People use their debit cards because they want to use their OWN money to pay for things, while not carrying cash, not because they can't handle a credit card!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by ChunkyMonkey
Yes, both are at fault. But the banks clearing the largest expense first rather than chronologically makes me lean toward "evil" banks. I don't buy the "consumers want those important expenses to be cleared first" argument since overdraft protection still applies. This way, they get to have more fees.
Comparing apples to oranges. People use their debit cards because they want to use their OWN money to pay for things, while not carrying cash, not because they can't handle a credit card!!
I agree with your post except with this part. I think everybody should use their credit cards and pay them at the end of the month. It will create less charges than using a debit in case of an error That false sense of financial freedom with debit cards is what banks are capitalizing on. Most wealthy people use credit cards not debit cards. People need to think with their heads not with their hearts, no one cares if you are using your own money.
I agree with your post except with this part. I think everybody should use their credit cards and pay them at the end of the month. It will create less charges than using a debit in case of an error That false sense of financial freedom with debit cards is what banks are capitalizing on. Most wealthy people use credit cards not debit cards. People need to think with their heads not with their hearts, no one cares if you are using your own money.
That is true however if people are not keeping track of what's in their checking account, they are not going to keep track of what they spend on their credit card, and that can easily exceed what they will be able to pay at the end of the month.
Add to that the fact that with a debit card you can practically get a day to day balance of what you've got in there, and view it online in many cases, compared with getting a statement once a month from the credit card company.
I prefer debit over credit any day, but then again I don't really have a problem with overdraft, esp. since my account will go straight to savings. So I've got no issue with fees. The only exception is one credit card I have that gives cash back. Any large purchases I definitely use my CC so I can get the benefit of the cash back.
This reminds me of another point, because I was about to add that DH uses the CC most of the time, where I use the Debit. I can see where people would get into trouble with their Checking account if they have two people in the family running around with a Debit card. Now that is a recipe for disaster!
We who belong to a finance forum know this but the average Joe doesn't.
Have you ever heard of people saying they can not balance a checkbook? I have. Some people are just ignorant and/or stupid. Banks know this and take advantage of that. I think the transactions should be declined if there is not enough money in the account.
People are ignorant and stupid so banks have an obligation to protect them? What the heck kind of looney logic is that?
It's the bank's fault I overdrafted.
It's Wall Street's fault I took out a bad loan.
It's the car's fault I ran out of gas.
It's General Mills fault I ran out of cereal.
People are ignorant and stupid so banks have an obligation to protect them? What the heck kind of looney logic is that?
It's the bank's fault I overdrafted.
It's Wall Street's fault I took out a bad loan.
It's the car's fault I ran out of gas.
It's General Mills fault I ran out of cereal.
Really? This is moronic.
You're right, but that's the victimhood society we live in today. No longer are you responsible for the choices you make, but rather it's the "fault" of some nebulous entity that things "happen to" you.
Look at the foreclosure problems. Sure, there are some responsible folks who lost jobs and through minimal fault of their own lost their homes. However, many people took mortgages they couldn't afford, under false pretenses or without proper qualification, and it took very little for them to be in a position that anyone should have seen coming, with or without a recession. The recession just hastened things. Many blame the banks and "predatory lending" but it's really irresponsibility on the part of the borrower.
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More of the same. I cannot fathom the number of people who just seem to continue to make the same mistakes when it comes to managing their money. 
) for decades with absolutely NO issues. We always know how much money we have (or don't have) in our accounts at any given moment.
