Bank Fees Increase

[mickeyd]

I wonder how many folks that fail to reconcile their checking accounts on a monthly basis generate bank fees? I suspect that there are very few banking customers who actually balance their checking accounts monthly that incur overdraft fees.

 

[ziggy29]

Not that I'm interested in saving on bank fees, because I never have any. I am just curious as to how the banks make their money other than the normal loaning of money..... Maybe I'm stupid, but I don't get it.

It's sort of like credit cards. The customers who are careful not to get dinged up by high fees and interest charges are getting free value-added at the expense of the people who rack up huge interest bills.

The bank is just betting that there are enough people who will become overdrawn, need higher-fee services, and other things that they can eat the cost of servicing people with "free checking."

Plus, when they loan money out at 5%, 8%, 12% or 20% depending on the purpose and the creditworthiness of the borrower, they need to get that money from someone. And by "borrowing" money at 0.1% interest rates (if that) on most low-balance free checking, they are benefiting by getting basically free use of your money to lend to others at higher rates.

 

[JOHNNIE36]

ziggy, you're right. I know some people out there that just don't care about fees, penalties and interest. They get so accustomed to paying those fees that it just becomes second nature, normal, this is the way it is, nothing I can do about it attitude, don't care. Guess they are paying my way. What I was trying to say was I think I get one hell of a good service from my bank for free.

 

[Rustward]

I wonder how many folks that fail to reconcile their checking accounts on a monthly basis generate bank fees? I suspect that there are very few banking customers who actually balance their checking accounts monthly that incur overdraft fees.

I (for one) reconcile every account every month. Sometimes it is a month or so late, but in priority order, they are: banks / credit cards (equal priority, always within a week two of the statement date), followed by investment accounts.

 

[JOHNNIE36]

This post is along the same lines but involves credit cards and receipts. Does anyone else besides me save all their receipts and reconcile with credit card statements? I have never found an error where I had to back to the merchant. However, I keep for ever those receipts that involve items with warranties or those that could be possible returns. Am I the only one that does this? My daughter makes fun of me for keeping all these receipts. She says the credit card companies have the info so no need for me to keep them.

 

[freebird5825]

This post is along the same lines but involves credit cards and receipts. Does anyone else besides me save all their receipts and reconcile with credit card statements? I have never found an error where I had to back to the merchant. However, I keep for ever those receipts that involve items with warranties or those that could be possible returns. Am I the only one that does this? My daughter makes fun of me for keeping all these receipts. She says the credit card companies have the info so no need for me to keep them.

Yes, I do. I use my cashback credit card for everything I can. I keep my weekly receipts in a separate section of my pocketbook. I check my online card account on a weekly basis while purchases are still fresh in my mind. It takes me all of 5 minutes to log on, review recent transactions and log off. Then I destroy the receipts.
For major auto repair parts, I keep those receipts in folders, one for each vehicle. The thermaprint receipts fade out with age, so I make a regular copy for parts with lifetime warranty. I pay a little extra for those parts. This also saves me the trouble of keeping a repair log for my older cars. I have pulled receipts for parts with lifetime warranty and gotten replacements free at least three times. dh2b does all the car w*rk, so it pays to hang onto them.
For big purchases, I absolutely keep the manuals and receipts in folders. I have received complimentary replacement parts for items even though the warranty expired.
I must be really good on the phone complaining that "It's only 3 years old and the <filter, washer, bulb, belt> gave out. I certainly won't buy one of these ever again" I'm always polite but direct.
YMMV...

 

[W2R]

This post is along the same lines but involves credit cards and receipts. Does anyone else besides me save all their receipts and reconcile with credit card statements? I have never found an error where I had to back to the merchant. However, I keep for ever those receipts that involve items with warranties or those that could be possible returns. Am I the only one that does this? My daughter makes fun of me for keeping all these receipts. She says the credit card companies have the info so no need for me to keep them.

I keep receipts for anything over $100 or so. It seems like they might be useful in documenting what things are worth, for insurance purposes. I don't use credit cards and I don't often buy things over $100 so it isn't much hassle.

 

[FUEGO]

I don't keep receipts for small stuff. I read down the CC bill and make sure every transaction is something that I bought or DW bought, and that the amount is roughly accurate. I have never noticed anything being more than what I intended to pay, and a couple times where restaurants did not correctly add in the tip I left (so a few bucks there I "saved").

I balance the checkbook 1x per month.

I have actually started keeping the weekly walmart receipts since they apparently instituted a limit on returns without receipt to 3x per year. They go into a basket, and I'll eventually toss them. We spend roughly $6000-7000 a year at walmart, so it is a little "paperwork" to make sure we can interact with our main supplier in the manner they demand.

 

[mickeyd]

We spend roughly $6000-7000 a year at walmart,

Yikes. Hope that includes all of your grocery shopping also.

 

[Tadpole]

The banks must be going mad. In May I learn that BoA lowered my CC limit. I talk to them and they aren't budging on the lower limit. I open a PenFed CC. BoA now spams me with "pre-approved" offers for a 2nd CC with BoA with my Alma Mater branded on the front. Have they been data mining people's lives? I have never given them this information. I am beginning to think BoA signed up to some conditions on existing CCs held by MBNA when they bought MBNA and want to convert holders of these cards over the BoA cards with new agreements. Why would they want to lower my limit then offer me a second card bringing the total limit back up? The only way I can think of that they easily linked me to the university was though the MBNA card which I obtained years ago through my professional society.

 

[mews]

Tadpole, they also may have an agreement going with your school's alumni society. BoA got the lists, Alumni society got some $$.

ta,
mew

 

[Helena]

~

A friend of mine recently told me she was being charged
a monthly fee for her checking account. I asked her why
she pays this since so many banks provide free checking
accounts. She had been with the bank for a long time and
didn't want to change. So I advised her to call the bank
and ask them if they will waive the monthly fee... she did
and they did. It never hurts to ask.


~

 

[FUEGO]

Yikes. Hope that includes all of your grocery shopping also.

Yes it does. We buy virtually everything at walmart. Groceries, baby consumables and equipment, household items, lawncare stuff, auto stuff, clothes, towels, linens, gifts, artwork, printing photos, toiletries, medicine, prescriptions, a boat, paddles, life jackets, etc. It is so nice to do the week's shopping in 1 hr in one place.

Only other places we regularly shop are clothing stores (mostly DW ), Trader joe's a couple times a year and ocassionally online at amazon, ebay, etc.

 

[Texas Proud]

Hmmmm...don't have the money but write a check anyway. And then complain because a fee is charged ?
Hello? Is anyone home in there?

During one of the new magazines... they showed a guy who got hit with a big bill...

He wrote a lot of small checks and one larger check... but there was an ACH that took money out that he did not remember (or something)... the bank 'decided' to pay his big check first causing an overdraft and fee... they then paid the other checks and charged him 5 or 6 more OD fees... (I think it was close to $175 to $200).... now, if they had done the small checks first, the big one would have caused the same overdraft, but with only ONE OD fee...

I have no idea if he really forgot or not, but I can see where a 'normal' person who is living close to a zero balance can forget about an ACH from someone.... also remember, they have been pushing debit cards... which if two people are using one account can cause a problem...

 

[Texas Proud]

Not that I'm interested in saving on bank fees, because I never have any. I am just curious as to how the banks make their money other than the normal loaning of money. I don't see how they can afford to provide me with totally free checking. All that is required is one direct deposit. I understand that they get to use that money until I need it but still: they provide free checking, free checks, bill pay services, free cashiers checks, etc. The bill pay service alone is worth a lot to me. I write maybe one check a month. Some of my creditors have to be mailed a check by the bank every month as part of the bill pay service. Yet all I do is let them have my direct deposit and I get all these services free. Every month my SS and my pension checks are used up by paying bills so it's not like they have a lot of my money to use. Maybe I'm stupid, but I don't get it.

Let's just go with uneducated...

First, the bank has a LOT of money they pay no interest... back when I was with a small bank and knew the finances of the bank (and this was 18 years ago) they had a total of 15 billion in deposits and about 8 billion was interest free checking...

As for payments... most all of your payments today are to companies that accept an ACH... this costs fractions of a cent to pay them... where if you wrote out a check, mailed it... then they had to clear that check it would costs many pennies... (not sure what it costs today... this is a WAG)... so for every payment they make you go online to pay, they reduced their costs to make that payment...

So, this is not exactly like the CC... they actually make money on you even if you have a small balance... and they are just waiting on you to screw up for that big fee...