Bank of America is garbage

[snafu]

I don't think people really understand how CUs work and their benefits to folk who have mortgage, car loan, savings and regular chequing. CU disperse a percentage of their profit back to their members as a dividend as well as several services without charges.

It's really important to understand the various types of accounts, the changes since 2009, new and higher fees and how they are applied by banks. All debits are processed before credits, debits are processed from highest to lowest to generate income from either overdraft or NSF for example. The average consumer could likely manage finances with an online bank. How often do you go to a brick and mortar bank? Paying bills on-line is so convenient I'm puzzled by friends who are still going through the write a cheque, find the envelop, add a stamp and mail expecting it to arrive by the due date process but trust the automatic deposit of pay. For SAers, have you ever uncovered an error via automatic payment or electronic payments that wasn't self inflicted?

I thought it all changed when bank executives worked out pay based on competitor's grid. The executive suite now earn between $ 12M - $ 20M based on the other guy. Nothing to do with profit, consumer satisfaction, new profit streams or any of the regular business standards. The last figure I saw said employees can anticipate 1% increase, executive suite get 11%.

[JBinKC]

I am not 100% sure but I don't think you can open up a CU account using an EIN (which would be required for an estate) so I think you are kind of hosed there. All banks suck and will fee you to death.

[jackmiller]

Had them for 1+ years and one day wifey noticed extra charges on our statements. Went back and were there for 6 mo's and we did nothing to deserve them. Went to branch and they were unwilling to do anything about it. Eventually ended up leaving them and now have our stuff at Etrade and love it!

[Drake3287]

Although I don't disagree with the poster about BofA, I've been with them (and a few others) for my entire life and have never had a problem or paid a cent on fees. For the most part I'm sure it's just luck. I only wish my BofA stock would go up, very little movement since I bought it a couple of years ago.

[JoeP]

Had them for 1+ years and one day wifey noticed extra charges on our statements. Went back and were there for 6 mo's and we did nothing to deserve them. Went to branch and they were unwilling to do anything about it. Eventually ended up leaving them and now have our stuff at Etrade and love it!

Banks that do this likely have run the numbers, and have concluded that allowing customers to leave while the banks keeps those phony charges is acceptable, and even account for any bad press that might be generated.

Just on principle alone, I would never put my money into one of these mega-banks.

[jackmiller]

Just on principle alone, I would never put my money into one of these mega-banks.

I agree fully Joe P- B of A did this nickle and dime surcharge to me for years and finally I had it. Left to Etrade virtual bank and love it. Honestly would not ever go back and can use any ATM in the world for free (etrade pays you back the charge for the ATM usage).

[disneysteve]

For those who say their bank "nickels and dimes" them with fees and charges, can you share what some of those charges are? I'm just curious because I've had the same account for about 25 years (although the name of the bank has changed multiple times along the way) and I've never paid a penny in fees. I guess it's just a function of the bank services that I use, or don't use. What types of things do the big banks charge for that the smaller banks or credit unions don't?

[Drake3287]

It's funny, the other day I closed a college savings account I've had with Umpqua Bank here in California that I've had for many years and they charged me a $5.00 fee to close the account and get a cashiers check. They couldn't quite except the fact that this money had been earmarked for college costs from the start. They were quite nicer when I opened the account years ago for some reason!

[JoeP]

For those who say their bank "nickels and dimes" them with fees and charges, can you share what some of those charges are? I'm just curious because I've had the same account for about 25 years (although the name of the bank has changed multiple times along the way) and I've never paid a penny in fees. I guess it's just a function of the bank services that I use, or don't use. What types of things do the big banks charge for that the smaller banks or credit unions don't?

It could be the case that you were grandfathered in, or that by coincidence your usage simply doesn't violate any of the terms.

Here is one page of terms that I find a objectionable.

$7.50 monthly service charge unless daily balance is $500 or more or you have an M&T personal checking account other than Free Checking or EZChoice Checking
$12.50 for withdrawals and transfers in excess of 6 per monthly service charge cycle

In addition, this bank tried to charge me for a cashiers check (free at my CU), tried to charge me to close my account (free at my CU), tried to apply a penalty if my balance dipped below a certain threshold (no such penalty at my CU). My CU allows unlimited transfers per month, but (like all financial institutions) is still limited by "Regulation D" that prevents more than 6 online transfers in or out of an account.

[disneysteve]

$7.50 monthly service charge unless daily balance is $500 or more or you have an M&T personal checking account other than Free Checking or EZChoice Checking
$12.50 for withdrawals and transfers in excess of 6 per monthly service charge cycle

Just my opinion, but the first one - the minimum balance issue - is the kind of fee that I consider customer-triggered. You don't ever have to pay it. The same goes for things like overdraft fees. My account probably has both of those but I don't let my account drop below the minimum and don't spend more than I have, so I've never had to pay one of those fees.

As for that $12.50 charge, does that mean if you make more than 6 transactions on your account, you get charged $12.50/transaction? I could certainly see folks taking issue with that one. Six withdrawals or transfers isn't very much if you have an active account. I guess the question is if the bank offers other accounts that don't carry that restriction that would be more appropriate (and cheaper) for someone who does more business than that.

[JoeP]

Problem with minimum balances is that they are very consumer-unfriendly.

Suppose you have your EF in one of these accounts, and you regularly keep it above the minimum because you're scared of having to pay a fee. Then one day you need to access it for a legit emergency and it dips below the minimum. Depending upon how they calculate the balance, you could end up paying the fee, even though you did everything right. This smells an awful lot like a "service charge" you get when you don't pay off your credit card balance every month.

From my view as a prospective customer, having to keep a minimum balance appears to be nothing more than a sneaky tactic to collect money.

[Gary4587]

I would say it is blind infinite well .

[97guns]

i opened an account there on the recommendation of my attorney so we could conveniently get some medallion stamps for stock liquidation on my fathers estate.

i open the account with 15K and tell the lady i want a basic checking acct, what does she do? opens up a business checking where i need to keep 10K in there for monthly service fee's to be waived. i ask her for some initial checks and she tells me there is a fee and that i would have to order a box, well i dont need a box, only a half dozen at most and they could not help me.

today i go in to get a bank check for the attorney and they want to charge me again, $10 this time for a cashiers check. i get cash instead sarcastically asking if theres a fee.

i bank with chase and they never charge me for cashiers checks or a few checks for my checking account, they simply print them up.

i just read an article this morning that banks in europe charge their customers .01% to keep money, coming to a bank near us soon.

so i go in again last week to get another medallion stamp and the head bank lady tells me they do not offer this service any longer, i told her that i no longer need her banking and to close out the account, went over to chase and they had me out of there in 5 minutes with a stamp

[Petunia 100]

For those who say their bank "nickels and dimes" them with fees and charges, can you share what some of those charges are? I'm just curious because I've had the same account for about 25 years (although the name of the bank has changed multiple times along the way) and I've never paid a penny in fees. I guess it's just a function of the bank services that I use, or don't use. What types of things do the big banks charge for that the smaller banks or credit unions don't?

I have banked with B of A on and off over the years. The last time I was banking with them, my particular checking account required me to keep some minimum balance to avoid the monthly service charge of $10. If I recall correctly, I needed to keep $2500. I had linked my checking and a CD. The CD balance was 6k plus. I was not overdrawn in checking, so no service fee, right? Wrong. I kept getting charged the service fee. I would contact them and they would remove it, but charge me again the next month. One month I spent some time with an online CSR, who assured me they were fixing the coding, so that I would not be charged again in the future. The next month, I was charged again. When I contacted them that month, I stated I did not understand what the problem could be, as I had been assured the previous month I would not be charged again in the future. The CSR stated with some disgust "I cannot remove charges in the future." I replied "Yes, of course, what I am saying is that last month I was assured there would be no more charges in the future." The CSR repeated "Ma'am, I can not help you with charges which will occur in the future.", said in a tone which implied I must surely be the most clueless customer that CSR had yet encountered. Additionally, the CSR stated the fee could not be waived, even though my linked accounts were more than enough to meet the minimum. So, I paid that $10 fee and it was the last cent B of A will ever collect from me.

That was June of 2010. I went down to Wells Fargo and opened accounts, and have had no trouble whatsoever since. Also, I pay absolutely nothing. No service fees, free checks, free bill pay, free cashier checks, free notary services, 100 free trades per year in my brokerage account.

Some people say the same sort of thing about WF, but it has been smooth sailing for me.

[johnzendrac16]

Oh! it is.