Bank of AMerica to charge to use your depit card.

A friend posted that Bank of America was going to start charging its costumers $5.oo a month for using their depit cards... here is an link with the story

http://www.usatoday.com/money/indus...k-of-america-debit-card-fee/50608896/1?csp=ip


I for one do not like that idea of a bank charging you just to get your own money out!

Just wanted to give you Bank of AMerica coustmers the heads up!

 

Two words:

Credit. Union.

 

I have a credit union! Love them...

 

I agree - Credit Union!!! I know that I had heard some news about Wells Fargo doing the same. I had asked them when I went in and they said like anything else their would be exceptions and because our credit is high and we have a good standing with them that our fee would be waived. We like banking with Wells Fargo because we travel alot and our Credit Union isn't everywhere but Wells Fargo is. They are more for convenience for us rather than a primary bank.

 

My bank is starting to do that too. We are switching all our stuff to a credit union we already use. We've been with the bank for 17 years, but it's time to go now!

 

I have several issues with Bank of America and am about to drop them altogether -- for several reasons, this being the icing on the cake.

The problem is, most banks are beginning to charge for debit cards because of some regulation that was passed. So be wary of others as well. However (and I would expect nothing less of BOA at this point), BOA's debit card fee is higher than the other banks that have released their fee amount for debit card use.

Very frustrating. Sometimes, I think stuffing my money under my mattress is a better idea than the bank.

 

I second (or third or fourth) a Credit Union!

 

I thought BOA just got bailed out to a huge amount anyway.

Or there was talk of it.

 

Yep, they did. and they just keep making dumb decisions and dumb mistakes and then they turn it around on their customers by raising fees or coming up with new fees to tack on. I think they've decided they're going to tank, so they may as well try anything at this point.

 

mkel:

I don't necessarily agree with Calvin Coolodge's 'The business of America is business'.

But, still, there is a lot of truth to it.

If a business keeps failing, then customers have the right to walk with their money some place else. (It's not for me to say overall whether BOA has truly failed or not.)

In my humble view, bailouts in the long run don't solve a great deal.

 

I do understand why Bank of America are doing this (and maybe I'm the only person on the planet with a little sympathy for the banks). The government passed a finance bill earlier in the year that cuts dramatically the fees that banks can charge vendors who take credit cards. This is a sizable chunk of change - literally billions of dollars - in lost revenue. How can the banks recover from this? No business can lose such a large amount of revenue and maintain its current cost structure.

- They can lay off staff (and BoA has announced plans to lay off thousands of people).

- They can find other ways to charge customers to make up for the lost revenue. This is reflected in these $5 monthly debit card fees, the increased charges for using ATM machines, higher bank transfer fees, holding for several days payments made through online banking, and so on.

- They can sell their buildings and become a 100 percent online bank. Examples of such include Charles Schwab and Ally banks.

Earlier this year, we closed our account with one of the big banks - because they were raising fees - and now have only an online bank account. It's great. Because the bank has no overhead associated with buildings, we can use any ATM from any bank in the country and Schwab refunds the fees. They also pay a decent percentage rate in interest on checking accounts. I deposit all checks by taking a picture on my iPhone and sending it. (If that doesn't work, I can mail the check in a prepaid envelope.)

The days of brick-and-mortar banks are numbered. Government regulation doesn't help, and it's costing many thousands of banking jobs, but it probably only accelerates the process.

 

Can't believe it, but I'm going to stick up for BoA, too.

First - the $5 fee does not apply to everyone. There are exceptions. If you have BoA checking, call and ask if any of them apply to you. Because we have a mortgage on a building through them, we were able to change the type of checking account we have and we will not ever pay that fee. (Be forewarned: I had to spend time on the phone with BoA this week on a different matter, and their phone system is overwhelmed...I'm guessing it's complaints...)

Second - I used to be a big fan of credit unions until a couple years ago, when we bought our current building (which houses both our home and business). I don't have time here to list what a nightmare the situation has been. There were times they demanded documentation or we couldn't go to closing...only the documentation wouldn't be generated until after the date they set for closing. Believe it or not, a BoA customer rep (neither account in question was with BoA) told me what to tell the CU and they shut up and accepted the paperwork we'd already provided. Morning of closing? OOPS - we need 6K more than they'd told us. AND they didn't want to let us use the cash from our savings account (with them) to get a cashier's check for the downpayment (we stayed there for three hours that morning -- kids in tow -- while V.P.'s went around apologizing and sharing their heads and asking each other how this could happen). Since we closed, one month they lost our payment check. Another month, instead of depositing it, they put it back into an envelope and mailed it back to us with no explanation. It's crazy, but it's been a lesson to us that the name "credit union" is no guarantee of good service. (In case you haven't guessed, I can't WAIT to refinance.) There is actually more, but I think my head will pop off if I go on.

Third: This week, someone (somehow) got a hold of my debit card number. I shop online all the time, for all manner of stuff. Somehow, BoA identified the purchases as abnormal, and emailed me right away. Without hours of the fraudulent purchases, I had confirmed for BoA that they needed to cancel the number and issue a new card. I wish Discover card had done this when something similar (but involving more money) happened a couple years ago. Yes, technically, in the end, I didn't "pay" anything - except HOURS of my time on the phone with Discover, the police, and banks, and with the amount of money these people racked up, those costs were passed along to all of us.

Please don't get me wrong - In no way do I think BoA is perfect, and I have had my share of conversations with their customer service reps who need training in basic courtesy. However, the sad thing is, among all the banks I've dealt with in the past 20 years, they're among the best, if not the best, overall.

Sometimes I really wish I could convince myself to just put it in the mattress.

 

Regions, our bank, has already started charging us. We moved from Bank of America to Regions, because they had free checking accounts. We opened up 5 different accounts to help with budgeting - entertainment, my personal account, my husband's personal account, the house account (to pay bills), and the vacation account (to save up for visiting out of state family which we never were doing before because we never had enough money). Then they gradually increased started charging us fees and increasing the fees to $8. Now that they're upping the monthly fee to $10 a month in addition to a $4 a month fee to use the check cards. So, Regions has gone from free to $840 a year in fees in just the two years we've been with them. We're moving to a local bank this week.

I think this is a huge mistake the banks are making. If all of the banks do this, I would think more people would start withdrawing cash once a week to live off of. This means less money in their banks to lend. Or maybe they don't want to lend as much money any more, and this is why they're upping fees?

 

I'm a HUGE fan of Schwab as well; I opened a banking account with them and love the benefits. Especially living 20 minutes from town, being strictly online or using the app on my Droid phone is priceless.

Sandra -- for similar reasons that you had trouble with your credit union, is why I'm leaving BoA and have been so frustrated with them for quite awhile. They have burned one too many bridges with me. And now (and of course this isn't their fault) my closest BoA is now over 40 minutes away.

 

eyeofthestorm:

Wow, sounds like the experience you had would be suitable for the next edition of Laurel and Hardy. Like, everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. I feel sorry for you.

 

We joined a credit union right after we were married. We stuck it out until they made all kinds of changed, including moving to a place further away (not a major reason, but added to others....) and shutting the tellers off in a back room and making all transactions through cameras/remote. I enjoyed going in and talking with the teller up until that time.

The bank we have now doesn't charge for most things. I believe we shouldn't have to pay to have access to our money, whether it be through checks, debit cards, or withdrawing cash. When my sil was living in California, you were charged each time you entered a building to withdraw cash!!! If we have to pay to use our debit card, we'll get rid of it and go to cash exclusively. We already use cash for so many things.

 

Jackie:

Yes, there is a lot to be said for using cash, I think, when possible.

The banks shouldn't be surprised when customers walk.

 

The problem is where to walk TO. We really don't want to go back to that credit union. And I'm not sure a person can exist without an account somewhere. Carl's school pays him through Direct Deposit; it's not as if he gets a "real" paycheck.

 

Jackie:

Well, we do a lot of Online banking, plus keeping other accounts open, while not using them so much.

 

I have had trouble with BOA in the past with my home mortgage... I still have them with my home mortgage... but really do wish I could get away from them. I have a credit union and a bank account with another besides BOA. I think the best thing to do is to "shop" around for the best bank/ credit union that will meet your families needs.