Custy Writes Bank Fee Rant On ATM

Comments

[KitschBitch]

You have a fee if you use the wrong ATM for your bank, not because of the neighbourhood it's in. At least, that is how it works here in Australia. So my initial reaction is that the writer is too stupid to realise that they're using the wrong ATM, hence the whiny rant?

Correct me if this isn't how things work in America, fellow RHU!

[Kat]

Hahaha I have 10 free debits/month because of my student account, but after that, 50 cent charge per debit use.

North American banks are fucking thieves.

[Yingafred]

Actually some of the bigger banks are charging people to use their debit cards or whatever. I don't know the whole story.

It's rather annoying for the reasons the guy wrote. AND people are gonna cash-back out the ass now.

[Opera House Whore]

@Kitschbitch there are ATMs for specific banks here (I'm in Canadaland) but also random cash machines, often in convenience stores. These random machines charge everyone fees - usually $1.50 or $1.75, but occasionally more, as evidenced above.

[Laughing Barista]

Bank of America is by far one of the worst banks ever. They never alert you when there's an issue. I opened an account with them because there was one on my college campus. I finally decided to close the account because once I graduated and moved back home, I saw that there weren't any close to my house. When I went to close the account I found that I had overdrafted (they never told me this) and that i had to pay a $100+ fee for it. Mind you, it was after a certain day period. Had they informed me, I would have paid it and that would be that. I rarely used that card which means that the overdraft had to have occurred at least a month before I canceled my account.

Needless to say, I refuse to use them and caution people against them.

Now they're making people pay $5 a month for using their debit cards?! No way. I'll stick with my local bank, thank you.

[ArtsyGirl]

@KitschBitch: Usually, you only have to pay a fee if you use an ATM that's not one of your bank's...but recently, because of new legislation here in America that regulates how much banks can charge lenders, they're trying to come up with new and creative ways to make money. ATM fees for all ATM's, not just out of network ones, are becoming more common. This guy most likely IS using his normal bank...only they've begun to charge for ATM use. I don't blame him one bit...I myself am unhappy because my bank will soon be charging 5 dollars a month for debit card use. And if they fail...well, the government is always there to pick them back up with OUR tax money.

[Drug Store Diva]

KitschBitch, you are correct, in the US banks do charge a fee to non-customers for using their machines, and some banks even charge an additional fee for using another bank.

The worst banks I've used were TCF and Bank of America. TCF purposely lets customers overdraft, they change the order of transactions to cause an overdraft, and sit back and collect the overdraft fees, plus they charge 75 cents per debit transaction (they want customers to use their cards as credit). Bank of America had too many fees ($3 teller fee?) and when they asked the government for a bailout, I got out.

I went to National City (now PNC) and they've been awesome. I was so horrible at finances and saving and they've been great teaching me what I needed to know to get on track. I also don't get charged by them for using another bank's ATM, I get one free overdraft a month (thankfully haven't had to use one in a year) and they have 24/7 customer service if I have a question. They also discovered that my card number was stolen before I did and called me on it, all the thief was able to charge was $35 and they got that back to me within a week.

[Logan]

" TCF purposely lets customers overdraft, they change the order of transactions to cause an overdraft,"

I think most banks do that as policy. Actually they will arrange the transactions to cause more overdrafts. For example if you write 6 $5 checks and one $100 check and you only had say $99 in your account, rather than processing the $5 checks first, it's policy to process the $100 check first which overdraws the account, then each of the $5 checks so that you end up with 7 overdraft fees instead of 1.

[Stagecoach Slave]

Im a slave for the stagecoach and while Im not sure of all the polices involved I do know that we have multiple free services to try to prevent our customers from overdrafting. Unfortunately we are also experimenting with debit card fees in a test market, not nearly as high as 5 bucks though, and we have no teller fee. I will say that ever since I started its been a mind opening experience into how big banks work, and after banking at a couple different places I'm actually happy with the stagecoach as an employee and a customer.

[Soft Ice Girl]

In Germany, you also pay a fee if you use another bank´s ATM.
But WTF is this overdraft-causing policy? I have accounts on two banks, and with both, if I cause an overdraft they fucking call me the same fricking day, AND I pay not an assigned fee but a percentage of the amount I am in the red, i.e. if my account is overdrafted for 50 euros for a day, I pay maybe 20 cents or so (don´t know exactly because normally they tell me the same day and I cover it right then, so there is no fee at all).
If I were you, I would just change the bank and tell your ex-bank the exact reason why you went away.

[Grendus the Self Check Guy]

Your best bet right now is to find a good credit union. Credit unions are owned by the members, so they're less likely to let their greed get the better of them and start abusing their customers (after all, who's going to vote for $3.00 ATM fees on their own transactions). You still have to do your research, there are plenty of credit unions that are either just as bad as the big banks or in the middle of financial trouble, and big banks sometimes buy them out, but by and large they're significantly better than some of the larger banks out there. Or at least, that's been my experience, ymmv.

[Self Scan Queen]

Holy fuck, am I ever glad to live in Canada.

[Ponda]

@ Soft Ice Girl--My husband and I use Regions bank and its overdraft fee is $36 american per overdraft.
They are starting to do the ATM fee too but if you use anything besides basic checking there are ways to get around it. We direct deposit more than the minimum $1500 a month into the account and don't have to worry about the 4 dollar fee.

[Pagemaster]

I go through Chase bank, which does not charge me to withdraw money from a Chase ATM machine.

However if I where to use any other company's machine the charge varies by each branch, some ranging as high as $5 (usually at hotels during anime-cons..of course. fuuuu)so I try to keep a small amount of cash on me regularly when I go out.I keep track of my spending better when I have cash on me anyway!

Their overdraft fee is $35, and they mail you notice. However I believe if the overdraft is 'fixed' the same day no such fee is charged.

I believe it is Bank of America that is now charging their customers $5 for simply using their debt card. Not for withdrawing money from a different banks ATM mind you. But a $5 charge whenever they use their card for purchases. Apparently whatever bank it is (I am 90% sure it was Bank of America) apparently now cannot make as much from outside business and is now trying to take that loss from their customers.

By charging them to use *their own money*.

How 'bout that..

[Malmart Peon]

TCF is shit. Seriously, don't use them. I have been fucked over so many times by that asshole bank. I don't know if the people at my branch just suck (they screwed up my accounts I don't even know how considering they check my ID every single time I withdraw money) or if it's the bank as a whole, but it's bad.

[SammyKat]

My husband and I use a credit union. I wouldn't change for the world. Personalized service, no ridiculous charges for using your own money, nothing like that. The only fees we ever get his with are using another bank's ATM, and that's *that* bank's fee, not our CU's.

[lil sis]

In my area, yeah it does matter where the ATM is.... My back there are very few atms... so I am forced on occasion to use an atm from a different bank. Usually fees are like $1.50..but if you use a bank at say a concert venue, festival, or the down down district you are liking at anything from $3.00 up to $4.50 fee from that machine, then a fee from my bank since I used a non-bank atm. That fee is $1.50. To access my. own. money. Thats why I don;t use them anymore.