Bank of America Debit Fees

[Sean Aaron]

What's the alternative -- keeping your money in your mattress?

For several months I did more or less just that. My paycheque was from BofA so I took it into a branch to cash (the practice was so unusual I had a teller check a couple of times to see if this was allowed since I had no account) and then purchased postal money orders to pay the bills.

I probably would have joined a credit union, but I had no avenue to do so and they're not very convenient for cash withdrawals on the rare occasion you need them and I'm damned if I'm going to pay %10 for the privilege at a non-branch ATM.

Of course this was in the mid-90s; you probably couldn't get by like that today and certainly in the UK where paying many bills, such as my rent must be via direct bank transfer it would be impossible - unless I became a gypsy.

With regard to ringfencing and fees here I honestly couldn't see it happening. The minute one bank started charging the others would play up the lack of charge to steal their customers and people would switch in large enough numbers to cause more pain to the fee-charging bank than by not charging. If they all tried changing at once I expect they would be accused of cartel-like behaviour and fall afoul of the law. I'm with a large building society anyway, so I don't care much what the retail banks do.

 

[nevermore]

I've had B&A since 1996, but I guess this is the final push to get me to switch over to the University's credit union. Probably should have done it ages ago, since like 90% of my withdrawals are from the CU ATM in the lobby of my building, and those are the only fees I've ever paid.

 

[propita]

I won’t use a debit card, you can’t dispute a charge the same was as with a credit card. With debit, your money’s gone; with credit, your money’s not gone until you pay the bill. And when you pay the credit bill every month, no interest.

Our primary bank is USAA--no physical bank, but they reimburse a set number of atm usages per month. However, our secondary bank is Chase (it originally was Home Savings then became Washington Mutual, then Chase), because we wanted a physical bank. We get to use their atm free and maintain that minimum for free checking.

 

[Gryffindorian]

^ Actually, I've been able to dispute charges on my debit card as well as I did with credit cards, but maybe it depends on the financial institution you're using.

One other thing I do like about BofA is their free online bill payment. Now I could see any bank wanting to charge a monthly fee for this, but for debit cards? No way.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ Actually, I've been able to dispute charges on my debit card as well as I did with credit cards, but maybe it depends on the financial institution you're using.

Any decent bank will let you do that. (Assuming we are actually talking about 'check cards' - that work like credit cards - in contrast to pure ATM cards.)

If your bank doesn't let you dispute a charge on a debit card, get rid of said bank with all due speed.

 

[gturner]

The new fees are being charged because the federal government imposed limits on the merchant fees banks can charge at the point of sale, so they're trying to make up the difference on the other end.

I use a credit union and pretty much the only reason I stay with them is because they don't charge stupid fees for every little thing. They're all the way in Indiana and have no locations here (New Jersey), but their service is excellent and going with a traditional bank is just not something I am interested in, despite Chase constantly hounding me to open an account (I have a mortgage with them.)

I think this was Chris Dodd's doing, along with some from both parties who succumbed to lobbying from major retailers.

As for Chase, you'd be better off banking with the mob or letting some crack addict or homeless guy hold your money for you. Chase knows a hundred ways to empty money out of your account and has zero compuction about using all of them.

 

[Captain Ice]

^ Actually, I've been able to dispute charges on my debit card as well as I did with credit cards, but maybe it depends on the financial institution you're using.

Any decent bank will let you do that. (Assuming we are actually talking about 'check cards' - that work like credit cards - in contrast to pure ATM cards.)

If your bank doesn't let you dispute a charge on a debit card, get rid of said bank with all due speed.

Agreed. At least with my bank, disputing a charge on my debit card is exactly the same as disputing a charge on my credit card. Very, very easy to do.

 

[propita]

Yeah, disputing a debit card is possible, but meanwhile the money is already gone from your account. And if the card is stolen, someone has access to your entire checking account. For various reasons, we keep a large-ish checking account balance (more than $10K). I would not want the accessible by a debit card.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

if the card is stolen, someone has access to your entire checking account. For various reasons, we keep a large-ish checking account balance (more than $10K). I would not want the accessible by a debit card.

If the card's stolen, report it immediately so the bank can deactivate the card. And remember what I said about any decent bank; they should credit your account while they investigate bad charges.

 

[Captain Ice]

if the card is stolen, someone has access to your entire checking account. For various reasons, we keep a large-ish checking account balance (more than $10K). I would not want the accessible by a debit card.

If the card's stolen, report it immediately so the bank can deactivate the card. And remember what I said about any decent bank; they should credit your account while they investigate bad charges.

I've has personal experience with having my debit card lifted. The money was back in my account within two hours. Investigation lasted less than a week too.

 

[TremblingBluStar]

\
This is just evidence of a lack of competition among American banks.

Yes, well, America is supposed to have anti-trust laws in place to fight this sort of thing, but 30 years of government dismantling regulations put an end to that.

Now we have entire industries that are owned by a single company, or a few major ones. While it isn't good for the economy or the public, it has been great for politicians looking for donations.

 

[Nurse Marmalade]

Join a credit union. I feel that they are in EVERY WAY better than banks.

I've been considering joining a credit union for a long time. Hubby has an account with one so perhaps we can just merge our finances. I just don't know how complicated it will be to make the switch from a bank to a CU, however.

The Bank of America debit card announcement totally ticked me off, though. I use my debit card ALL the time and I don't think it's fair that they want to charge me $5 per month for these transactions. Five bucks doesn't sound like much, but that's $60 per year--robbery in my eyes. I'm either planning on using a credit card instead (and paying the bills off ASAP, of course) or going to a CU.

 

[bluedana]

Using a debit card helps me keep my spending in check. If I don't have it in my account, I can't spend it. With a credit card, there's always the temptation to spend just a little more, because I'll promise myself I will pay it off before any interest hits. And because I do pretty much all the essential and incidental buying in my household, the debit card means I can directly deposit my paycheck and I don't have to walk around with wads of cash.

 

[propita]

I guess I'm more paranoid. I don't trust that every problem would be resolved so quickly (though I'm very happy that yours was). I'll stick with my couple of credit cards. Problems can arise there, but the money is still mine during the problem.