Bank of America to eliminate free checking...

[Oneslowz28]

Our local news is reporting that local Bank of America branches will begin eliminating free checking accounts at early as next week. As much as I preach free enterprise, this really pisses me off. I have been a BoA customer since I was 8 years old. (I had a Mickey Mouse savings account with them) I have had real $$ with them since I was 16. I currently have 3 checking accounts with them including my 2 business accounts and my personal, and a total of 6 savings accounts. Hell my home is even mortgaged through BoA. All in all I am a huge BoA customer.

So I have decided that if they do chose to end my free personal checking account I will move all of my accounts to a local credit union. The only thing I will not be able to move is the mortgage. In all honesty I should move anyway as the local credit union is offering a much better interest rate on savings and their MMAs and CDs are always at better rates than BoA.

[BuzzKillington]

I got away from BoA when they sent a pre-activated credit card in the mail.

[mDust]

I have a checking account with them. They don't have free checking for anyone but students, but if you maintain an average checking balance of 1500 they waive the monthly fee...otherwise it's like $12 a month. It's just a move to increase liquid assets they can use to do whatever it is they do.

[Mark_Hardware]

I left BoA when one day they charged me 7 overdraft fees cause my account could have gotten overdrawn (even though it never actually was overdrawn)
I use the local credit union now. But you know what, they are all there to make money. Period.

[Airbozo]

I left Bunch Of A$$holes 20 years ago when they would not let me deposit my own paycheck in my own account because my drivers license expired the day before and they would not honor my temporary license. They then proceeded to bounce my mortgage check.

[x88x]

Credit Unions FTW! :D Also, Mark, the great thing about credit unions is that (ostensibly) they're not actually in it to make money, since they are (usually) registered non-profits.

CJ, depending on what they offer, once you're set up with whatever credit union you go with, you could always refinance your mortgage with them. I'm getting my mortgage through an actual loan company (so I could get FHA), but next year when I build a garage I'm going to be refinancing with my credit union. They usually offer better interest rates than banks, plus they usually don't sell your mortgage (I know at least mine doesn't), so you don't have to worry about it contributing to the overall sh**storm that has been the last few years of the financial market.

[nevermind1534]

That's why I have accounts at two credit unions (Catholic Parishes FCU and Michigan Educational Credit Union). My parents pulled all their money out of Comerica after they were screwed over. What happened with that, was they started charging for the checking account, then "converted it" to one of their new plans that groups it with the savings, and started charging $15 a month for inactivity on the savings after being told that there were absolutely no fees.

[Mark_Hardware]

Be that as it may x, I've been having some issues with my credit union over the past few weeks that are shockingly similiar to BoA.
I mean, I can admit when I screw up, but when there's $26 in the bank, and you spend $10 and $8, where do the two overdraflt fees come in? IDk mebbe I'm worse at math than I thought.
Bottom line, from here on out I will be using my bank acct only to pay electronic bills. Everything else is a cash transaction. My wallet won't charge me an overdraft fee when I run out of cash.
Will it?

[Airbozo]

Be that as it may x, I've been having some issues with my credit union over the past few weeks that are shockingly similiar to BoA.
I mean, I can admit when I screw up, but when there's $26 in the bank, and you spend $10 and $8, where do the two overdraflt fees come in? IDk mebbe I'm worse at math than I thought.
Bottom line, from here on out I will be using my bank acct only to pay electronic bills. Everything else is a cash transaction. My wallet won't charge me an overdraft fee when I run out of cash.
Will it?

Some credit unions have a minimum balance to keep the account active. I think ours is $50 in savings and $15 in checking. They will not allow it to drop below those numbers unless you close the account.

[Mark_Hardware]

yeah, mine has that too. $25 in a savings acct that I can't touch.
That's seperate.

[nevermind1534]

My two credit unions only have a $5 minimum balance for savings.

[x88x]

Mine has a $10 minimum in savings and free overdraft from my savings if I go over in my checking (up to 10 times/month...and honestly, if you do more than that you have bigger problems). ...I honestly don't know what happens if I go over what I have total, I've never done that on this account.

[mDust]

...I honestly don't know what happens if I go over what I have total, I've never done that on this account.
Public execution.

[Oneslowz28]

I moved my personal account today to SRP Federal Credit Union and I have a $25 min in a savings or checking account. I consolidated my 3 personal savings and am drawing like 5.9% on it. The checking is pulling like 4%. I have to wait until the next pay period to move one of the business accounts and plan on moving my photo account that same day. When the account manager asked why I was moving, I told her it was because of their choice to remove free checking. She said "It will only be a $15/ month fee if you have less than $1000 in your checking or less than $5000 in your savings." "You have more than that in both." I told her that it may not affect me, it will affect millions of those making minimum wage. and that $15 a month is like $100 to some people.

I am all for free enterprise, but its things like this that really hurt this country. Those of us who make a decent living can afford to keep $1000+ in the checking, or $5000+ in the savings. It's that single mom who makes $8 an hour and works 50 hours a week trying to support her 3 children who this really affects. Our lowest paid worker makes $10 an hour and he has 2 kids, a wife who has diabetes and has to take an insulin shot every day. To him $15 (or a $35 over draft) could mean him eating lunch for a week or his kids not getting the proper school supplies they need to learn. I come off as a hard ass to a lot of people, but its things like this that really bother me because they instate these new policies saying that it will affect the upper middle class and the wealthy the most, when in reality it only affects the low wage earners. Even if it did affect me, I make more than $15 an hour so $15 is not that big of a loss to me, but back to that single mother. What if shes making $7.50 an hour and only being allowed to work 20 hours a week? That $15 becomes 10% of a weeks pay.

Some will cry that it is the employers fault for paying that worker $7.50 and working them part time. You can not hold most employers at fault for this though. We employ about 30 people now. If I were to give the 4 $10/hour guys a $2/hr raise I would either have to cut hours or fire someone to make up the difference. We simply do not have the $$ to spare unless we raise our prices, which would cost us a lot of business, leading to more layoffs or wage cuts.

[x88x]

"It will only be a $15/ month fee if you have less than $1000 in your checking or less than $5000 in your savings."

Damn.. I make a decent amount, but between cost of living around here and, well, let's be honest, my not entirely thrifty spending habits.. :whistler:, I don't have anywhere near that much in the bank...I never have. Heck, I've even been doing well with my spending the last few months, but even keeping my expenses to a reasonable minimum I can only put away a few hundred a month...granted that's a lot more than some people, but barring a big raise (unlikely), I doubt I'll have $5,000 in my savings account for a long time.

[Oneslowz28]

Well she was quick to point out that those numbers were estimates. It could be that I was in a higher tier checking account also.

[msmrx57]

All the more reason I have never and will never do business with a large national bank. I've done business with 3 bank in 41 years all 3 locally owned. I stopped doing business with the 1st because I moved far enough away it just wasn't feasible to make a special trip. The second sold out, I had my account closed before the deal went into effect. 17 years with the current bank, small enough I rarely have to present ID to cash a check. Example of a great bank "my wife didn't realize a I had filled out a deposit slip with cash back, at 5:05 when the bank closed the till was $25 over. The teller went through the whole days slips and called before she went home, would have stayed until we got there if we needed the money." That's why I stay local.

[mDust]

Well she was quick to point out that those numbers were estimates. It could be that I was in a higher tier checking account also.

Nope, that's the basic checking account that I've had for several years. It's free checking as long as you keep the balance up. I don't make a whole lot of money but I'm thrifty enough I guess. It's good to have money in the bank for unexpected expenses anyhow. I'm completely neutral on the fees.

[Liquid_Scope_99]

I may be looking for a new bank\Credit union soon i banked with Wacovia .
Very happily i also have several accounts with them .
Wells Fargo bought them out recently i disliked wells Fargo's practices before, The more i am with them the less i like them.
I hate calling my bank and felling like im talking to telemarketers .
It should be Free I mean they do use our money to invest Its not our Fault they suck at investing. Credit unions FTW i agree