Being charged to make a deposit???

[ArkTinkerer]

Got cash payments from a couple renters last month. Deposited them with out an issue. Total was under the $10K that the government watches for--actually under $5K if I recall.

Got the statement and was charged an "analysis fee" because we deposited the cash. I am more than a little angry about this. I don't recall ever seeing this in a fee schedule or consenting to it. It is the first I've heard of such a thing.

A little online reading shows that US Bank and Bank of America use "analysis fee" as sort of a catch-all for almost anything you can think of. I'm still trying to figure out why they can charge me for making a cash deposit!

Anyone got an inside scoop on this?

 

[jim584672]

Sounds absurd. You should pull all your cash out and never return. These banks are not paying anything anyway, so it is not like you will loose anything. Also cash has the advantage of not being subject to "bail ins", judgments, or other legal shenanigans.

 

[Whisper66]

Not enough details to know what's going on but quick internet search for "Bank of America cash deposit fee" picks up a lot of hits. One example below. Personally I'd drop the account and write a letter to the bank president and the BBB. No matter what their stated rules are, seems outrageous and there are lots of alternatives to BOA.

BTW - I've never used BOA and never will. Have a daughter that dumped this awful bank due to their outrageous fees. After hearing her stories and doing some research on the web, I'm amazed these guys continue to get business.

BofA, for example, says some of its business accounts levy a fee of 20 cents for every $100 in cash deposited after an initial $10,000. Citibank charges 10 cents for every $100 in cash deposited after an initial amount ranging from $5,000 to $20,000, depending on the type of business account.Nov 18, 2011

 

[Car-Guy]

I've never use BoA (and never will) and certainly would not do business with any bank that charged me to deposit my money, as long as there are alternatives.

 

[Surewhitey]

Same here... Dumped BoA for the same thing. Working with smaller regional bank who know me by name. Matter of fact, Gayle calls me to talk about cds renewal instead of the standard rollover into a new one. She is in California, me, in Mexico...

 

[harley]

As a BoA stock owner, I say dump them. They are the worst bank in the country, as far as fees. Credit unions, local banks, most other national banks, there are hundreds of options that are better to work with.

 

[ERD50]

Do they need to do this to protect against counterfeits? I'm not sure how good their detecting mechanisms are, are there systems they can just run the cash through to check for all the advanced anti-forging features?

-ERD50

 

[Texas Proud]

Not enough details to know what's going on but quick internet search for "Bank of America cash deposit fee" picks up a lot of hits. One example below. Personally I'd drop the account and write a letter to the bank president and the BBB. No matter what their stated rules are, seems outrageous and there are lots of alternatives to BOA.

BTW - I've never used BOA and never will. Have a daughter that dumped this awful bank due to their outrageous fees. After hearing her stories and doing some research on the web, I'm amazed these guys continue to get business.

BofA, for example, says some of its business accounts levy a fee of 20 cents for every $100 in cash deposited after an initial $10,000. Citibank charges 10 cents for every $100 in cash deposited after an initial amount ranging from $5,000 to $20,000, depending on the type of business account.Nov 18, 2011

If the OPs account is a business account.... then there are account analysis fees... banks charge for any kind of transaction.... deposit, checks, having access to sweep, online inquiries, etc. etc..... and if he does have a business account he should be use to this...

If it is a personal account, then they usually do not charge for any of these items since they are rare...

 

[Fishingmn]

I assumed this was going to be about the new Mobile Deposit features being offered by many banks.

My smaller bank finally started offering this and they are charging a .50 "convenience fee" for the ability to deposit a check from my smartphone. I e-mailed the bank president with my displeasure about it but it didn't change anything.

In response I have decided to use their postage paid mailers to mail every check to them for deposit. Instead of getting .50/deposit I am costing them .49 postage for every deposit. Revenge of the convenience fee.

 

[MikeP]

I'm sorry but what? that does not make sense to me and just seems another way that companies/banks are trying to make money from those who are tyring make an honest living.

 

[calmloki]

Ahh the old being charged to receive money ploy! Just this weekend I was rankling because Liberty Mutual Insurance wanted payment on a liability policy for some of the rentals. I normally pay the annual premium in full, but whether paying in full or making the minimum deposit there is a $7 "service charge". To get paid. In full.

In this case I could avoid the fee by enrolling in EFT, but screw 'em - I paid with the Fidelity Amex, which got me almost $13 back from Amex while costing the insurance company (I hope) about $19.

 

[ArkTinkerer]

If the OPs account is a business account.... then there are account analysis fees... banks charge for any kind of transaction.... deposit, checks, having access to sweep, online inquiries, etc. etc..... and if he does have a business account he should be use to this...

If it is a personal account, then they usually do not charge for any of these items since they are rare...

It is a business account. We created an LLC a couple years ago and opened this account at US Bank. DW tells me we were charged this fee one time in the past but we were very busy with other things at the time and so she just paid it and let it slide. Apparently the fees only kick in when you exceed a certain amount of cash. We seldom get there.

I'm definitely researching other options. The two drawbacks are convenience--this bank is within walking distance of our home and we have a safe deposit box there. Actually the location is just far enough to make it a good exercise break and to get us to walk downtown.

I'm tempted to "structure" my deposits so we don't get hit with fees in the future but apparently that is a big no-no since that could be considered hiding transactions from the feds!

 

[Lakewood90712]

If the OPs account is a business account.... then there are account analysis fees... banks charge for any kind of transaction.... deposit, checks, having access to sweep, online inquiries, etc. etc..... and if he does have a business account he should be use to this...

If it is a personal account, then they usually do not charge for any of these items since they are rare...

I have small business accounts with 2 banks, including b of a. even with a tiny size account. B of A kisses my butt as a "business account" Neither pay any interest , and b of a charges only a check image fee $2.00 mo. No min. balance requirement. IMO, B of A treats non-business customers with indifference.

The other bank offers "analyzed business checking " that pays interest. Light bulb just came on, they pay interest then analyze how to take it back.

 

[audreyh1]

I'm tempted to "structure" my deposits so we don't get hit with fees in the future but apparently that is a big no-no since that could be considered hiding transactions from the feds!

That sounds like the solution to me. So what if you appear to be "structuring" the deposits? If you have the paper trail showing where that they come from rentals and a rental income and deposit history, you are good.

 

[H2ODude]

DS is overseas and got sick of the abundance of fees from B of A so dropped all accounts. We keep all our big money with Fido and monthly move what we need to the local CU which works fine. No fees in either place, but am disappointed that only Fido does the smartphone check deposit. Got tired of zero interest (well, might as well be) at Fido and Cu so opened an online Amex Savings for our cash. Wow. 9/10 of a percent! Am especially fond of the Fido cash account for travel; no ATM fees ever. Something rather marvelous about finding an ATM in the middle of some podunk town in Tanzania and with a few clicks of some keys having it spit tens of thousands of TZ shillings at you!

 

[SJ1_]

Got cash payments from a couple renters last month. Deposited them with out an issue. Total was under the $10K that the government watches for--actually under $5K if I recall.

Got the statement and was charged an "analysis fee" because we deposited the cash. I am more than a little angry about this. I don't recall ever seeing this in a fee schedule or consenting to it. It is the first I've heard of such a thing.

A little online reading shows that US Bank and Bank of America use "analysis fee" as sort of a catch-all for almost anything you can think of. I'm still trying to figure out why they can charge me for making a cash deposit!

Anyone got an inside scoop on this?

My first thought was Band of America , so I was not surprised when I got to the 3rd paragraph. We got rid of them yrs. ago....

 

[travelover]

Two words - Credit Union. Drop those vampires.

 

[smurray5991]

I have a Small Business Sparks checking account with Capital One (where I already had my personal checking account.). I have never been charged *anything* for deposits, either paper check or EFT, either under or over $10,000 (and there are even rewards for using their business debit card). They also have mobile deposit without any charge, although I don't think they allow this for checks greater than $10,000 -- I have to deposit these larger checks in person, by mail, or through their ATMs. (This is the same with my Schwab account - they also won't do mobile deposits above $10K).

 

[2B]

If you have a B of A account, you deserve to get hit with every fee they can think of.

Their reputation for this type of activity is so widespread I have to question why you even raise it as an issue. Go find yourself a community bank that doesn't act like they are doing you a favor to let you have an account there.

 

[nwsteve]

Ditto on dumping the thieves at BofA. In our case, they charged our account for an auto pay for someone else's insurance. Took three months and two VP's to get the money back.
Besides credit unions, look into your neighborhood community banks. Many of them still offer no cost checking for low transactions accounts.
Nwsteve

 

[ArkTinkerer]

That sounds like the solution to me. So what if you appear to be "structuring" the deposits? If you have the paper trail showing where that they come from rentals and a rental income and deposit history, you are good.

This is why you don't want to appear to be structuring deposits-

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/26/us/law-lets-irs-seize-accounts-on-suspicion-no-crime-required.html

 

[Likes_to_Lurk]

Worked for a Megabank for more years than I care to count. Spent 7 years in Small Business unit.

The bank is calculating the cost of deposits, checks paid, statements rendered, etc. It then computes the interest it is earning on the deposits in the account. If the income is less than the cost, it will charge you a fee. Note that if you are getting interest on the account, that will be considered a cost. All of this is typical for business accounts, regardless of the bank.

My suggestion is to visit with the small business specialist in the branch and see if that person can suggest a better strategy for your situation. If you do look at other banks, check the fee schedule carefully. Look for things like not receiving interest on the first X dollars of deposits!!

 

[fidler4]

This is why you don't want to appear to be structuring deposits-

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/26/us/law-lets-irs-seize-accounts-on-suspicion-no-crime-required.html

I agree it doesn't matter that the source of the funds is legit if you structure your cash deposits to evade the CTR reporting requirements ($10,000 and over in cash) you are technically structuring.

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/31/5324

Not a big fan of B of A but maybe a person who deposits a lot of cash transactions takes more of the tellers or banks employees time since they have to run the cash through the counting machine?


Sent from my TRS-80

 

[Chuckanut]

Dump them.

Find a good local bank, the one's that like to do business with local business people such as yourself.

 

[Texas Proud]

I have small business accounts with 2 banks, including b of a. even with a tiny size account. B of A kisses my butt as a "business account" Neither pay any interest , and b of a charges only a check image fee $2.00 mo. No min. balance requirement. IMO, B of A treats non-business customers with indifference.

The other bank offers "analyzed business checking " that pays interest. Light bulb just came on, they pay interest then analyze how to take it back.

Ding, ding, ding, ding....

Yep, you would get a deposit credit for the amount of cash you had in the account for the month... back when interest rates were higher that usually covered the analysis fee... you really had to do a lot of transactions in order to get charges...

The last firm I worked at had an account with Wells Fargo... we paid about $100 to $120 per month in fees... we did about 50 or so checks a month... we did 20 to 30 deposits... had online access and a deposit machine at our office... so yes, it is now easy to get charges....

The fee that got me riled up was when our balance was too large!!! The company received a lot of cash at the beginning of the year... We went over $1 million in the bank and they charged us over $1,000 to have it on deposit... not sure, but I think the FED was requiring some kind of reserve on large balances and they were passing it on to their customers... never let it get that large again....