44% of bank revenue comes from fees

[jelly]

Yet another fruit from the glorious tree of republican legislation. :mad:

I hope the Dems add reeling back of abusive lending practices to their congressional to-do list.

http://redtape.msnbc.com/2007/01/the_quest_for_m.html#posts

[TechBear_Seattle]

1. You can't blame any one party for this

Bank fees as revenue stream have been an issue for decades, from overdraft charges to per check "clearance fees" to "you don't bank with us" ATM fees to (I kid you not) "You want a printed statement every month; that will cost you" fees.

[jelly]

10. I would like to believe that the average Dem

would at least be more willing than the average Repub to legislate against the most abusive of the lending practices (i.e., sneakily lowering your credit limit around the holidays in hopes that you will go over limit).

[Deep13]

2. Banks are vampires.

All they do is charge money for the honor of holding and using money that does not belong to them anyway.

[Just-plain-Kathy]

3. I think in the future,

banks will charge people a fee for simply holding their money safely in a bank,with the thinking that if it weren't for banks, people would have to hide their money at home.

[Igel]

26. They do.

At least most do.

No fee checking? Keep so much in the bank for them to earn interest on.

Have a savings account? It's unlikely that they're paying *you* want your money's earning. Part of it is necessary: FDICA needs their share. Some is for the bank's overhead and profits.

[Psephos]

4. How about switching to another bank

that doesn't nickel and dime you to death? Try a credit union. Choice is a powerful engine of change.

Peace.

[Totallybushed]

5. And it is outrageous.

18% interest isn't enough for them!!??

[bperci108]

6. Two words:

Credit Union.

I haven't used a "bank" in years; I love the fact that the local CU is a non-profit and is a co-operative, not a profit center for a bunch of rich, bourgeoisie parasites.

If you already aren't a member, look into joining one. ;)

[jelly]

18. A CU seems like a good compromise

between a traditional bank and dealing with cash. After all there are advantages to working with cash substitutes. For example, my landlord/property management company accepts rental payments only in the form of checks or money orders, not cash. I thought it was a stupid rule until they explained that it was for security reasons. If they accepted cash, their office might become an attractive robbery target around the first of each month.

[MadHound]

47. Your landlord is breaking the law

Cash is mandated by law to be good for all debts, public or private. It is the legal script of the land and all businesses must accept cash. Tell your landlord to either get a safe or make a daily deposit run. Sorry, but security is not a legal excuse to not take cash.

[politicat]

57. true, but for personal security....

I wouldn't trust a landlord or property management company with cash. It would be too easy for an employee (or the landlord himself) to rifle through the envelope, take a couple twenties or fifties, then say that the payment was short. How to prove it? Not easily.

Our HOA has "lost" (i.e. deposited, but failed to record that they deposited) our monthly dues a few times in the past couple of years, so I tend to be very, very careful about only using traceable instruments with any housing provider, and to document those instruments by photocopying them before they get sent (or by using my bank's bill payment service, which insures me against loss.)

[ronnykmarshall]

61. I hear that!

We had an onsite building manager that pocketed the cash (but gave the tennet a receipt). They finally caught up with him.

I think he was the one that broke into our apt.

[Quantess]

62. How to prove it? Get a receipt upon payment.

Sounds like a no-brainer to me.

[LeftyMom]

65. Almost no property management company takes cash

Why? Because carrying thousands of dollars into the bank daily isn't exactly the safest thing ever.

A rental contract sets up the terms, and along with the amount of the rent and the due date, one term is acceptable forms of payment.

[jelly]

68. Yep, that's what I was going to suggest to madhound.

I confess that I have not closely read every last paragraph of my lease (shameful, considering I'm a lawyer) but I would bet it says that cash is not an accepted form of payment.

[LeftyMom]

70. I used to work in property management.

We took money orders, certified checks, personal checks from established customers who hadn't bounced one, but never ever cash, even for a $30 credit check. We had enough problems with break-ins just with people taking computers and stuff, no need to tempt them with cash.

[jelly]

71. Makes sense to me! nt

[tammywammy]

24. I also use a credit union

Both my parents bank there, so when I was 16 and had my first paycheck that's where my mom took me.

I'd recommend them to anyone. And now the CU I use is open to the public.

[shanti]

30. exactly

i have a no-fee cu too. cut b of a loose years ago.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

7. Mojo Hates Banks, Too...

I Hate Banks
Mojo Nixon and Skid Roper

I hate banks...
I just can't stand 'em.
Gimme a shovel & man I'll plant 'em.
Six feet under thats where they belong...
I hate banks is the name of this song.
I think I'll rob myself one or two...
Yeah I hate banks, yeah, how 'bout you?

Well...lend me a nickel & lend me a dime,
repossess my house any old time.
Financial institutions think they're so high faluting...
Just a bunch of fruits in three piece suits,
trying to steal all my loot.
Things are smelling pretty rank,
We must be near a stinking bank.
Smells worse than Rockefellars feet,
Wall Street can eat my meat.

Yeah throw the moneylenders out of the temple;
I hate banks its just that simple.
Royal Crown Palm Ade Tin,
is a the best thing to keep your money in.
Mason jar is okay too,
if you see a bank well you know what to do.

Now, lemme tell you people something...
The only banks I like, well, I like Ernie Banks alright.
And I like the banks of the Mississippi River...
Yeah, and I like banks of fender twin reverb...
Electric guitar amplifiers behind me, raging on the stages...

Well,when I walk in they treat me like a dog;
want to hit them in the head with a doo-doo log.
Republicans, one and all...
Their talleywhackers are mighty small.
Stealing from the poor gonna give to the rich...
Wanna make the bank president twitch in a ditch.

Yeah, see that teller with the blue hair,
giving me the evil-eye stare.
Won't cash my check don't like my ID...
got the security guard after me.
If I was E. F. Sloane,
I'd say the Dow Jones can suck my bone.
Yeah.

Everybody say the three magic words!
I want you to help me say the words!
I want you to repeat after me!
I HATE BANKS!
Can't stand 'em!
I HATE BANKS!
Don't Like 'em!
I HATE BANKS!
Bunch of Foo-Foo's!
I HATE BANKS!
Contrary like a big zit!

I hate banks...
I just can't stand 'em.
Gimme a shovel & man I'll plant 'em.
Six feet under thats where they belong...
I hate banks is the name of this song.
I think I'll rob myself one or two...
Yeah I hate banks, yeah, how 'bout you?

Now lemme tell you something...
I'm not real fond of the PHONE COMPANY either!
You know?
Yeah, and I don't like the cable TV company.
You know why I don't like the cable TV company?
Cause they just be sucking that stuff right out the sky!
THEY don't have to pay nuttin for it!
I just get me one of them bootleg cable boxes,
and get me one of them climb the pole and stick the thing in...
I ain't gonna pay for it!
NOOOOO!!!!"

[napi21]

8. Fees have been the primary source of profit for banks for as long

as I can remember. They have gotten higher, and there are many more of them in recent years than ever before. If you pick your bank carefully, and don't do dumb things like bounce checks etc, they still provide a great service and some, like the one I use, everything is free!

I have free checking, free billpay, free use of the ATM, and there's a branch 3 miles from my house and right next to where I do my grocery shopping.

[ronnykmarshall]

32. Thank YOU!

I work for a bank and it's VERY easy to not pay fees if you do some research.

[rumpel]

9. thanks for this

Yesterday I filled out a web survey in relation to priorities of this congress - This was one of my suggestions...

but did you read the post by a former employee?

Take for instance you have $500 in your account. Now you write a $450 check and use your check card in 5 other places for $5-10 each (quick swipes like picking up lunch at McDonald's or something you forgot at the grocery store) then you go to the gas station and swipe your card for a $50 in gas purchase. This is where they get you. At the gas station, they "authorize" only $1 to guarantee that the card is valid. They don't actually process the final amount until a couple days later which then the bank legally has to pay the full amount of whatever they ask. Now the bank gets all of these processing on the same day. They'll process the $450 first, followed by not the smaller items which you used prior to getting gas, but the $50 gas item. Now you have 5 other small items not only overdrawing your account, but charging you $30 per item. Now your $1 gas authorization just cost you and extra $150 in fees and theres nothing you can do or say about it. As a "courtesy" to you they may offer a one-time refund for "one" of the charges, but generally speaking that fee should have been a single overdraft fee of $30. This seems to be a standard pattern with the big 3, UnTrust, Walk-all-over-ya and Bank Against America. I'm now at a Credit Union only and will never even visit another bank again. It was the first time in my life that I really felt dirty working for a company.

[jelly]

11. Bank Against America, lol . . . indeed

[Kindigger]

12. A higher tech version of what happened to me

years ago. Write a check on Saturday when the bank was closed. Make a deposit on Sunday night in the night deposit box. Monday a.m. they do an overdraft charge before they bother to look in the drop box.

[rumpel]

29. oh, what also happend

was make a deposit on the same day you swipe your card to make purchases, they clear all debits first before they credit the deposit, even with the first $100 they must honor, you can end up with an OD fee. Their software is set up to calculate as such.
So, who creates this software? When everything is done automatically and electronically, as a business not incurring much labor costs - how do they justify the "fees" ?

When they changed the laws to make honoring checks between banks electronic - they did not change the laws that banks "hold" the check on customers for days until "it clears". These funds are "floating" in cyberspace at your bank for your banks perusal to hedge, invest and leverage.

[ronnykmarshall]

56. If your bank is posting debits prior to credits..

they are breaking the law.

And you are 100% right on with the UCF (uncollected funds holds). What the biggest problem with electronic exchange is that not all banks do it at this point. The Federal Reserve (which sets the rules for the holds on checks) needs to get with the program on this. But the banks need to take a step forward with this.

Example: Your bank is in Maine and you deposit a check from a bank in Arizona. Your bank is a image exchange partner (that what we call electronic check transfers) with that bank in Arizona. The teller system could be set up that when the check is swiped and the MICR line is read to recognize that R/T (bank number on the check) as an image exchange partner with your bank. Therefore NO hold.

Image exchange is a new process and more improvements are needed BIG time to the whole system.

[ronnykmarshall]

51. That doesn't make any sense .

If you wrote a check on Saturday, how did it clear your account by Monday morning?

Both your saturday check (if it was processed by your bank monday night) and your night deposit (also processed monday night)should not post until Tuesday morning.

So how could you be overdrawn Monday AM as a result of these two transactions?

[ronnykmarshall]

35. Um .... tell me where the bank is wrong.

In responce to this person's stupid ass rant:

They start out with $500 as your balance (I assume this person is talking about what their check book ledger states).

They write a check for $450 = a checking balance of $50.

They use their debit card for purchases that leaves them with a balance close to zero.

THEN they use their debit card for another $50 purchase which leaves them with a negative balance.

Every transaction clears and they account is overdrawn and the bank is at FAULT.

Newsflash. Don't spend what you don't have.

[jelly]

46. There's no question that the customer made a mistake.

The problem is that the bank proceeds to handle the accounting in such a manner as to maximize the penalty it charges the customer for committing the mistake. This is not the behavior of an institution that is there to serve its customers, or to make a fair profit.

[ronnykmarshall]

52. See my responce #50

[Gormy Cuss]

49. It's the bank's choice to process the transactions out of calendar sequence to maximize fees.

By charging the last transaction, the $50 purchase, before the small debits, there an overdraft fee due on more transactions. Yes, the customer should have expected an overdraft fee for the finally transaction, the one for $50. It's the overdraft fee on all the others that were due perhaps because the bank chose to process the largest transactions first in order to maximize the fee revenue potential.

This strategy of transaction processing with the intent of maximizing fees is something that I've read in money management columns for the last few years. The bank is allowed to do this but it's a customer hostile practice. Of course, many banks don't want customers who keep their balances so close to the edge anyway and hope that with enough fees and penalties the customer will close the account.

[ronnykmarshall]

50. Sooooooo

You would rather the bank return your $450 check (possibly a rent check) and pay the smaller ones?

Sorry I don't understand the logic in this.

So the bank pays the smaller items first (the debit card purchases) and then when the $450 overdraws the account and it returned NSF.

People tend to throw shit fits about NSF fees but don't do anything about it. If you have good record of never or rarely od'ing your account most banks will reverse 99% of the fees if you call.

So what's the issue?

[Gormy Cuss]

55. The issue is when the policy is clearly intended to benefit only the bank.

I'm sorry that I don't have my hands on any links, but as I said some banks apparently process large transactions first specifically to enhance the fees. On that $500 balance example, say there are five transactions pending in the amounts of $450,$5,$2,$10,and $50 and the transactions were made in that order. If the bank processed them in that order only ONE transaction would return NSF. If instead the bank management chooses to process the $50 transaction second, then the bank can now assess NSF fees on three transactions, instantly tripling the fees. That's the issue.

As I wrote previously, the bank is within law to choose this strategy but it is customer-hostile and IMHO that is the intent because most commercial banks don't really want small potatoes customers who can't keep a few hundred or a few thousand in their accounts.

[ronnykmarshall]

58. I work for a bank in item processing.

We don't process large transactions "first" it's impossible.

Simple solution. Don't OD your account.

If you do, call your bank and have them reverse the fees. 9 times out of 10 they will.

[Gormy Cuss]

66. Well of course avoiding overdrafts is the best policy, period.

I'm glad to hear that some banks aren't stacking the deck, so to speak. Since you working in processing and your experience says this doesn't ring true I thought maybe I didn't remember it correctly so I went looking for an article where the practice is mentioned. Here's the first one I found,in a bullet item in a longer article by Liz Pulliam on MSN money central:

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Banking/BetterBanking/DontBeDupedByBouncedCheckProtection.aspx

Banks can increase the odds you’ll bounce a check. Many banks process checks in order of size, with the largest ones being cleared first. Banks say they do this because larger checks tend to be a consumer’s most important, like rent, a car payment or utilities. Critics suspect it’s just a ploy to boost profits, since banks can charge a per-check fee for all the smaller checks that subsequently bounce.

The same article describes another practice that can be used to enhance the chances of an overdraft fee. This one strikes me as flat out sleazy:

Banks can pad your account. Some banks add the bounced-check protection limit to the amount actually in the customer’s account when the customer inquires about his or her balance. So if you actually have just $100, your ATM or online inquiry will show a balance of $200 to $1,100, depending on the bank’s bounced-check protection limit. If you rely on this balance and write a rubber check (or pull out too much from your ATM or with your debit card), you incur the protection fee.

The second applies to "bounced check protection" not traditional overdraft protection. I actually had a bank send me a letter informing me that they were exempting me from bounced check protection and that's how I learned about this distinction. The bank was exempting all customers with good records and automatic overdraft clearance via companion savings accounts.

[jelly]

67. The banks are within the law which to me says

we need better laws. If banks do not want this kind of customer they can be more selective about who they choose to do business with in the first place. But I am reluctant to give them even that much benefit of the doubt; I suspect that in the present system this and similar unethical practices vis a vis bank customers figures squarely into banks' projected bottom lines. I also suspect that even though another poster mentioned that often times people who call in are rewarded with waived fees, the banks are counting on most people never going though the trouble of disputing the fees. Many customers do not realize that fees can be disputed, while others rather than make stressful phone calls involving being placed on hold and transferred around 20 departments before finally speaking with the right person will just shut up and pay the fee so they can just get on with their lives.

[Gormy Cuss]

74. I'm generally in the camp that says customers deserve a fair shake.

That's what good regulation should ensure. I've also been around the block enough times to realize that as a customer you may be treated differently depending on how much money the business is likely to make from your account.

What troubles me is that it seems to get harder and harder to deal with any financial institutions these days unless you have a fat wallet, yet going without a bank account is increasingly difficult. Credit unions and community banks are nice when one has that option, but not everyone does.

[GreenTea]

13. The chain reaction of a bounced check $25 to $40 a pop....They always record

ones highest check amount first, so as to start a chain reaction, then the checks just keep on bouncing, they of course deny this as being a planned money maker for them....They tell me it's for my benefit to record the highest amount check first...My benefit? When I ask them not to....they tell me "sorry, it's our policy"! No shit, obviously for very profitable reasons.

Yes, one should be aware oh how much is ones account, but the banks have zero mercy or forgiveness of circumstances and it becomes quite obvious why.... 44% of profit is from those same fees...were talking profit...NOT as they like to tell saying they lose money on a returned check, right, $40. bucks a pop & they are losing money...Bullshit!

[On the Road]

17. I Was Changing My Automated Paycheck Deposit

from a bank to my credit union. My empolyer made the switch two weeks before it was supposed to happen. The result was that ten automated payment from my old account bounced. I received no notice and the sytem tried again two days later. That resulted in twenty overdraft charges for $500. I got it cut in half, but will never do that again.

[shanti]

33. wow

that's enough to make you sick to your stomach :( similar to the time when my son went over his cellphone minutes to the tune of $1000 - AND i had to pay! (but that's a story for a different thread!)

[bikebloke]

14. Bank of Corruptia

I worked with them as a survival job. They had a $100 bounty for employees to think of new fee charges. But I guess they need the money to pay all those relatives and drinking buddies who basically collect a free paycheck without working.

[bleedingheart]

15. Banks store your money and for a small fee will give it back to you

a friend of mine told me that years ago...and I thought it summed up banks perfectly...

[Selatius]

16. I want to nationalize larger banks and set up a public NON-PROFIT people's bank.

Money would be used not to enrich a few bankers but to enrich people instead.

It will be used to finance new public works projects. We will build new schools, hospitals, invest in public transit, and help small businesses start up with low interest loans as well as micro-loans.

[jelly]

20. dazzling idea

I can't think of a single reason why we should not adopt it.

[ronnykmarshall]

39. Yeah my job doesn't mean shit to me.

Nor to the other massive amount of working class people that work for banks.

[jelly]

40. There would still be banks.

nt

[WHAT]

36. I second that idea...

people should havve a choice in how their money is leveraged.

:applause:

on edit: there'd have to be a mechanism to prevent double taxing for money pooled for community purposes...

[Virginia Dare]

37. That's commie pinko socialism...

I like it!! :evilgrin:

[ronnykmarshall]

38. Oh cool!

I'll be unemployed!

Yeah, fuck the assholes that work for banks.

We're all part of the "problem" aren't we?

[Selatius]

77. Who said anything about laying off workers?

I want to co-opt the system, not take it apart. Nice strawman, btw.

[meldroc]

19. Chase charges you $10 to make loan payments online.

It's completely free if you mail your payments, or if you make your payments in person at a Chase branch, but if you visit the web site and pay online by credit card, they'll charge you a $10 fee. :mad:

Then I heard that banks HATE it when you do business in person at a branch - it costs them a few bucks to have a real human interact with you for two minutes, which is why they created ATMs (of course, now they charge a convenience fee to use an ATM...) So guess how I make my car loan payments now? :evilgrin:

[bleedingheart]

22. I kind of perfer paying by check...the two times a month

that I pay my bills...I find that I know where my money is going and I am more careful since I am writing checks instead of automatic drafts...

[tammywammy]

25. My electric company is like that

They want to charge you $5 to pay online. That's the one check I have to mail out each month. But I refuse to pay the $5.

[ronnykmarshall]

43. That is so lame.

Can you just set up an auto payment? Our electric company doesn't charge either way.

[tammywammy]

59. I'm not sure

I don't really trust auto pay, do they always take the money out on the same day? Most of my money is put into savings, unless I have a check out there, then I'll move it to checking.

I know my bank does that pay bills online, I should really check into it.

On edit, I see you answered my question the next post down. :)

[ronnykmarshall]

73. I hate auto pay as well.

In the summer month our electric bill is off the hook because of our A/C. I stopped auto pay and went back to paper statements. I send a check now. One of the few I write a month.

[ronnykmarshall]

42. Do you have web banking?

If you really want to do payments online, have the payment orginate from your bank or CU. You shouldn't get a charge way.

[karlrschneider]

48. I use Chase and they don't charge for making any payments.

In 5 years I've never paid one cent in fees...
:eyes:

edit to add, I don't even know where any branches are, I've never set foot in one...

[Mikey929]

21. Overdraft

Last summer on vacation, my wife and I exceeded our checking account because of a simple clerical error. But every time we swiped our card it went through like normal. So we come home and find a note from our bank that we had something like 10 overdrafts. At $25 fee per! They tried to charge us $250. We negotiated it down to $25 for one. But after that we switched banks.

[SoCalDem]

54. We bank at three banks and all of them have automatic overdraft protection

of $1000. It's only kicked in once, but it was scary to think of the fees if we did not have that feature.

Don 't all banks offer this?

I pay bills online, but not electronically. Washington Mutual actually sends the company a physical check, and on the bill-pay page it tells you the latest date the check will arrive so you can adjust the withdrawal date.. I have only had a check arrive at the payee late once, and when I sent them a printout of the transaction , they did not charge the late fee they tried to charge me.

I rarely write checks anymore:)

[Hamlette]

23. high interest rates can be justified

a bank/CU won't lend to people who are bad credit risks. People who are bad risks need to establish credit.

CUs have an unfair advantage since they don't pay any taxes. If you object to corporate welfare you object to CUs. Just saying...

A bank can't charge you a fee without your permission. They have to tell you about it up front. You don't agree? Go to a different Bank.

My CU keeps my money, when I have it, safe and when I don't have money it advances it to me for a fee. And it keeps an accounting of all I make and spend and gives me checks so I can "get" my money anytime/anywhere I want. Since my CU doesn't charge me any fees except for the cost of checks and since I do lots of online banking I don't use many checks, its a great deal.

One of the advantages of living in a capitalist system is competition and you can change banks if you don't like the one you are using.

[Igel]

27. Back in the early '80s--

'81, before Reagan could plausibly be blamed for anything--I had a roommate. He managed his money in a truly sucky way.

$180 for his half of the rent each month, and over $100 in fees: bounced checks, mostly. At one point his account stayed overdrawn for months when he went all-cash. We mostly went our separate ways, he finally got married, and I understand that his wife manages the money.

[VelmaD]

28. and this is why I avoid the mega-corp banks

I bank in a town with 357 people in it. They have been known to call me back long distance on their dime when I have a question so that I don't have to pay for it. The fee for my checking account is less than 10 bucks a month and there's no fee at all on my savings account. They treat me really well.

My credit card companies on the other hand...to call them sharks would be an insult to sharks.

[ftr23532]

31. I wonder how much comes from money-laundering

My guess: http://fortherecordessays.blogspot.com/2006/11/part-10-look-at-world-of-money_11.html">more than we'd like to believe. :hide:

[MissB]

34. Credit Unions.

It bears repeating, really.

I get free online bill pay, no fee checking, free checks and plenty of free ATMs. I really love the online bill pay system. If they can't transfer the funds electronically, they will write a check at the bank and pop it in the mail to whatever company I'm trying to pay. There are a couple of small utility type companies that I can't do the electronic fund transfers with, so the bank deals with it. I save a stamp, and it is faster for me to click on bill pay than it is for me to write out a check, find the envelope, stamps and mailing labels.

I also earn interest on my checking account.

[NewJeffCT]

41. This is how a lot of places make money - not just banks

I think for either Circuit City or Best Buy, they actually lose money on TVs, but more than make up for it through the rip-off extended warranties.

[jelly]

44. I never buy the warranty, but go figure:

recently I bought a leather couch and turned down the option to buy the 5-year warranty. Three months later, I sat on it and the whole back support broke in half. It was totally freaky. It was not a very expensive couch; it would cost me nearly as much to repair it as to replace it new. At first I wished I would have bought the warranty for a change, but on reflection, I now simply wish that I would have invested a little more money into a better quality couch!

[NewJeffCT]

45. Did it come with a manufacturer's warranty?

Also, if you bought it with a credit card, sometimes the credit card automatically extends the manufacturer's warranty.

I was listening to consumer guru Clark Howard a few weeks back and he said that people get an average of (I think) around 12-15 cents/dollar back on extended warranties. So, it will help about one person in seven or one person in eight.

[jelly]

64. You know, I'm going to have to look into all that..

Thanks for the ideas! Worse case scenario, I'm prepared to fix the darned thing myself.

[SoCalDem]

53. I happen to be a warranty lover :)

They have served me quite well, and unless it's a huge amount, I always get them. My printer has been replaced with a new one in the box twice..no questions asked, and other electronic devices have as well. For the smaller electronics I have bought at Staples or Office Depot, the warranty cost something like $7 extra.. a small price to pay for NOT having to box the thing up and send it somewhere..

[Quantess]

60. Hi Jelly! Thanks for posting this.

I gave your thread a Recommendation. :)

[jelly]

63. Aw, thanks so much!

And you're welcome, it was my pleasure to vent - it's cheap therapy. ;)

[AbbyR]

69. I don't know why this reminds me

of the time I went through a bank drive through one time and cashed a check for, let's say, $45. I didn't look at my envelope when they gave it back to me, but I got to the store and realized that the teller had given me $54 rather than $45. When I got home, less than an hour later, the bank was ringing my phone. I told her that, since I was an honest person, I would return the extra, but I was sorely tempted not to because if I had made the same mistake - overdrawn by that amount - they would have charged me huge overdraft fees. She had no answer, but I did take back the money.

And then there was the time I went through the automatic drive through and some fool had left over a thousand dollars (I swear) in the little carrying tube. I took it back in and gave it to the folks (I know them very well) and got a good laugh out of it as a woman came in screaming that she'd lost her money.

[depakid]

72. The Democrats share the blame

for "deregulation" of the financial industry. Too bad, because consumer protection legislation would be very popular....

[lonestarnot]

75. Charged me $5.00 today to cash a check made from that fucking bank!

I wasn't very pleasant about it as you can imagine.

[leftchick]

76. I just noticed on my bank statement the other day

I get charged .50 everytime I use my debit card! :wow: This is news to me! They never warned me about that fee! MFers!

[alittlelark]

78. Look into E-Trade

We never have to pay fees for using other banks ATM's. I will lay odds that they have a much lower fee %age in their profits. We also use a credit union in Jemez Springs NM for local payments in the area.