Not having any checking account at all at any bank is expensive.

[GreenStormCloud]

In the various posts about the fee that is going to be charged for debit cards there have been numerous posters who have claimed that they will close all their accounts with banks and use just cash. That will be a hugely expensive mistake. Here are the charges you will incur to avoid a $5 monthly fee.

Check cashing fees. Without an account to deposit your check into you will have to cash your paycheck at a "check cashing service". First you will have to drive to one (time and gas)then fill out a bunch of paperwork to have an account with them, then pay an outrageous fee. The fee is so high that if you look at one of their web pages they won't tell you how much it is. Here is a hint at what rip-offs they are. All of them that I have seen also offer payday loans and car title loans.

Money orders You still have to pay bills. Unless you are going to drive to everywhere you need to pay a bill you will need to buy money orders. Usually they are about $1.00 apiece. Or you can send cash through the mail.

Postage If, like most of us, you have learned to pay bills online because it is easy, cheap, fast, certain, and excellent record keeping, then you will have to forget about that. Each bill requires a postage stamp.

It is one thing to shop around among banks for a better deal. It is another to think that you are going to somehow hurt the banks by not having an account at all.

[leftstreet]

1. At least those things involve paying for the labor of others. Debit cards, not so much n/t

[MADem]

2. Here's how you solve that problem in two short steps.

1. After doing your due diligence and finding a credit union within reasonable distance of your home, and failing that, one that offers online/by mail banking, close your crappy-ass bank account.

2. Open an account at said credit union.

Problem solved.

[catrose]

13. CREDIT UNIONS

Can't be said loud or often enough. I haven't had a bank account for 30 years--but I have checks, credit card, and debit card through my credit union. And now, anyone can join most credit unions, unlike when I got my first account, and you had to be an employee of a certain company, union member, or some other restricted classification.

[Harmony Blue]

3. I don't agree with this completely

given credit unions still exist in this country.

[HereSince1628]

4. Many employers 'insist' on electronic deposit

Some government help programs even require electronic deposit.

The fees do not seem to be justified by legitimate costs to provide service, but rather on the banks desire to turn a profit.

[RebelOne]

8. I am on social security and it is going to require all recipients

receive their checks by direct deposit. I already have direct deposit. And when I was still working (laid off in 2010), my paychecks were direct deposited into my checking account. It was really much better, as I did not have to make a trip to the bank to deposit it. And also, the money was in my account on midnight of the pay day.

[HereSince1628]

9. Yes, it's great if you don't get charged an extra $5 per month

just to have an account that allows you to pay a fee at each electronic transaction.

I know a Veteran's program that pays no more than 1/2 the minimum wage (not a typo) and it requires direct deposit.
A person in such a bad economic place where working for $3 an hour is a good thing, will likely end up paying extra fees for not being able to have a minimum balance required for a free checking account.

[hobbit709]

5. 1% is the going rate around here.

If you look at what some banks are now charging for monthly checking fees, the new debit card fee and so forth it isn't that much more. I've never had to fill out a bunch of paperwork to cash a check-only show valid ID. The same grocery store that lets me cash a check also lets you make all your utility payments at the same window.
For various reasons not everyone wants a bank account that can be tracked or seized.

i have an account at my credit union but every now and then I don't want to deposit a check there so I cash it.
The only check I ever wrote every month was to the mortgage company-they only way they would let you pay online was through ACH and I don't give ANYONE that kind of access to my account. Plus with my erratic income there was no guarantee that there would be enough money sitting there on the first of the month.

[valerief]

6. You mean my credit union will charge a $5 fee? nt

[grasswire]

7. there are places to cash a paycheck aside from check-cashing stores

Many many supermarkets will do it without any fee. And of course you can take it to the bank it is drafted on and just cash it outright, if you have a couple of pieces of ID.

Money orders are 75 cents at my kroger. That's not bad price to stay out of the banking system.

[ArcticFox]

10. The bank on which a check is drafted may charge a fee for cashing

Wells Fargo, for one, charges a fee for cashing a check drawn on its account, unless you have an account with them.

I've always wondered why that isn't illegal.

[fizzgig]

15. i've wondered the same thing

my dad once wrote me a check on a key bank account he'd had for who knows how many years. needing the money immediately and not having enough money in my checking account to cash the check, so i figured i'd cash it at key. the teller, with whom i have interacted with for about 20 years and knows me, told me it would be $10 for them to cash the check because i wasn't an account holder. i was blown away.

[safeinOhio]

11. At the gas station I work at

you can put your check on a prepaid VISA card for $3.95. Might be cheaper than banking it and checks.

[Donnachaidh]

17. Walmart has the lowest check cashing fees in my area

They don't do third party checks - but paychecks IIRC get cashed for a $3 fee. And the money orders at Walmart are cheap, too.

[Angry Dragon]

12. CREDIT UNION

[Riftaxe]

14. Credit Unions are hardly a superior business model

they can screw you harder then the larger banks, since they slip under the rules we have established for larger financial institutions.


And there is a heck of a lot of less incentive not to, that is why regulations are good.

oh wait, did you actually believe Credit Unions are there for the general good? :rofl:

[proud2BlibKansan]

16. I'm not understanding the outrage over debit card fees

Did folks freak out when banks started making customers pay for checks?

It's a service. Why do we expect it to be extended at no cost?