Free Chase checking ?

[Bossman]

I have had a Chase checking account as far back as I can remember. To get the free checking, I kept a minimum of 15K in a savings account and had my social security and pension checks automatically deposited to the checking account. I checked the interest rates on Chase and saw it was .01% (One tenth of 1 percent).

Did a rough calculation and realized that this "free" checking account was costing me anywhere from $800 to $1100 a year in lost interest. Chase may be a fortress bank, but it was time for a change as paying .01% interest is practically criminal.

I opened up a Cash Management Account (CMA) at Fidelity that is currently paying 2.57% checking and linked it to a brokerage account that is paying a minimum of 4.65% on money market funds. Configured the CMA to automatically pull money from the brokerage account whenever my balance was less than $2500. Fidelity also reimburses ATM fees literally the same day that the fee was charged.

The entire process was lengthy as I had a significant number of automatic debits/credits that had to be changed. The one negative item is that Fidelity uses a third party Bank (UMB) that does not currently support Zelle. Luckily, I keep some money in Ally as I always liked their service and CD rates, so switched my Zelle from Chase to Ally.

In two weeks, I will be calling Chase to close my checking/savings accounts and they will not be missed.

 

[Montecfo]

As the late great Bruce Williams used to say: the cheapest option is not always the least expensive.

 

[audreyh1]

$1500 is the minimum that I know of, not $15K. I guess it depends on the type of Chase checking account.

I opened up a Cash Management Account (CMA) at Fidelity that is currently paying 2.57% checking and linked it to a brokerage account that is paying a minimum of 4.65% on money market funds. Configured the CMA to automatically pull money from the brokerage account whenever my balance was less than $2500. Fidelity also reimburses ATM fees literally the same day that the fee was charged.

You can simplify even further. You can buy the 4.65% MM fund directly in the CMA, and Fidelity will automatically pull from that to pay bills when the core is depleted. I keep nothing in the core account most of the time.

You can transfer MM shares in kind between Fidelity accounts as well. I assumed your brokerage account is Fidelity as well?

 

[Bossman]

Chase Free Checking ?

Chase Premier Plus Checking requires a minimum 15K to avoid fees. Chase Total Checking requires a minimum $1500. No longer remember why I needed the Premier, but no longer matters.

 

[audreyh1]

What do you think about owning the higher yielding MM fund in your Fidelity CMA?

 

[Bossman]

Chase Free Checking ?

$1500 is the minimum that I know of, not $15K. I guess it depends on the type of Chase checking account.


You can simplify even further. You can buy the 4.65% MM fund directly in the CMA, and Fidelity will automatically pull from that to pay bills when the core is depleted. I keep nothing in the core account most of the time.

You can transfer MM shares in kind between Fidelity accounts as well. I assumed your brokerage account is Fidelity as well?

I chose a minimum of $2500 as that would cover my quarterly property taxes, which is typically my highest bill to pay. Will considering dropping it down. Thanks for the idea.

 

[Bossman]

Free Chase Checking ?

What do you think about owning the higher yielding MM fund in your Fidelity CMA?

You can not have MM funds in a CMA, only FDIC insured cash that Fidelity parses to different banks. Thanks!

 

[fh2000]

Chase Premier Plus Checking requires a minimum 15K to avoid fees. Chase Total Checking requires a minimum $1500. No longer remember why I needed the Premier, but no longer matters.

I have Chase credit cards for a number of years. A while back, Chase offered me bonus to open one of these checking accounts. Deposit $15,000 for 6 months, earn $1000 (was it $900?). So, I did. As soon as I received the bonus I transferred the money out, and closed the checking account.

 

[audreyh1]

You can not have MM funds in a CMA, only FDIC insured cash that Fidelity parses to different banks. Thanks!

Yes you can. The Fidelity CMA is actually a brokerage account that uses FDIC insured bank deposit as its core fund, but you can buy other things. I know because I own MM funds in mine. It took me a while to discover this and glad I did. Check it out.

A key benefit is that Fidelity will automatically pull from your other MM funds in the CMA when your core is depleted. This comes in very handy.

 

[Katsmeow]

Chase Premier Plus Checking requires a minimum 15K to avoid fees. Chase Total Checking requires a minimum $1500. No longer remember why I needed the Premier, but no longer matters.

Chase Premier (which I used to have) gets rid of the minimum on all linked Chase accounts.

Total Checking is per account. I have a Savings account at Chase and those require a minimum of $300.

I actually do find this annoying. I recently opened up a CapitalOne checking account for a bill autopay that I don't want to make from my Chase account. It was refreshing to have no monthly fee and no minimum balance.

One reason I keep my Chase account is that I do have a safety deposit box there and if I give it up I can't get it back as they are not renting them out unless you are renewing a rental.

 

[SecondAttempt]

Chase Premier Plus Checking requires a minimum 15K to avoid fees. Chase Total Checking requires a minimum $1500. No longer remember why I needed the Premier, but no longer matters.

Chase has always been weird but for a good reason. When I was still in high school I opened a checking account with Valley National Bank in Arizona that eventually got swallowed by Chase. I never paid any fees or had to keep any minimum balance.

Through the years when I occasionally met with bankers for various reasons like getting a Medallion guarantee or something they often commented that I had one of those great accounts. Chase apparently has a policy of honoring the account conditions of predecessor banks even though they don't always have to. So until I closed my account when I moved to Hawaii about 10 years ago (because they have no branches here) I was getting a great deal. Closing that account is one of my biggest regrets. I still have 3 credit cards through Chase and like them.

 

[Koolau]

My bank has free checking. I don't think it has a minimum (if so, it's small.) Nor does it require any direct deposits (though they sure would like to have them.) YMMV

 

[mpeirce]

Huh, I’d forgotten some banks charge for checking.

Most of our cash is in vanguard for a very good interest rate (for now at least). Next we keep a health chunk of cash in capital one performance savings. Finally, we keep nothing in the cap one checking, but transfer the amount of any check we write from the savings account when we write the check.

Transfers from vanguard to cap one take two days. Transfers from cap one savings to checking at instantaneous.

That said, we write few checks.

 

[erkevin]

My Chase checking is free as I have a direct deposit of $500+ each month.

 

[braumeister]

You can also get a Chase Premier Plus checking account with no monthly fee and no minimum balance if you're a military veteran.

 

[Aerides]

I cancelled my "free" chase account when they charged me $35 for an Incoming domestic wire transfer that I had not expected...

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

As the late great Bruce Williams used to say: the cheapest option is not always the least expensive.

The corollary is the "poverty tax": being able to spend more up front usually saves you money in the long run, which actually makes being poor expensive.

 

[Another Reader]

The one thing that the CMA lacks is Zelle. I have tenants that have Chase checking and use Zelle to pay their rent. Chase has been useful for that.

My experience with banks during the GFC convinced me that having accounts with the Big Three (Wells, Chase, and B of A) is very helpful in a financial crisis. I'm not sure how that would work out with a Fidelity CMA.

 

[Montecfo]

The corollary is the "poverty tax": being able to spend more up front usually saves you money in the long run, which actually makes being poor expensive.

Hi Cosmic Avenger!

You are correct. And you can see this in the business models of appliance and furniture rental companies and pawn shops for example. Also in 60 months car loans and low-down-payment auto leasing.

Not meaning to hijack. Banks can do this to you also with "free" checking alongside ridiculous fees for low balance, overdraft, checks, overdraft etc.

 

[PatrickA5]

I used to have everything at FIDO, but opened a Chase account so I'd have a B&M bank. I might need to rethink that since I'm losing around $300/year interest. Still trying to figure out if it's worth it. Since I opened the account a year ago, I've only be in the actual bank twice. Once to get a decent amount of cash and once to get a Bank Signature - which I think I could do at the Fidelity office.

 

[COcheesehead]

You can not have MM funds in a CMA, only FDIC insured cash that Fidelity parses to different banks. Thanks!

This is not correct as Audrey pointed out. Money markets and almost anything else are allowed.

I am glad folks are waking up to what banks have done to people for years. Paid pennies while they make dollars. We have put all our funds into safe, but much higher yielding accounts. No wonder regional banks are in trouble. They brought it on themselves.

 

[Koolau]

Huh, I’d forgotten some banks charge for checking.

Most of our cash is in vanguard for a very good interest rate (for now at least). Next we keep a health chunk of cash in capital one performance savings. Finally, we keep nothing in the cap one checking, but transfer the amount of any check we write from the savings account when we write the check.

Transfers from vanguard to cap one take two days. Transfers from cap one savings to checking at instantaneous.

That said, we write few checks.

What Vanguard account to you keep cash in that offers good interest, if you don't mind saying?

 

[Koolau]

Hi Cosmic Avenger!

You are correct. And you can see this in the business models of appliance and furniture rental companies and pawn shops for example. Also in 60 months car loans and low-down-payment auto leasing.

Not meaning to hijack. Banks can do this to you also with "free" checking alongside ridiculous fees for low balance, overdraft, checks, overdraft etc.

Yeah, the trick is to play their silly little game. We don't overdraft, have adequate balance, get free checks(!) - no more than 200 at a time, etc. And, as one of our resident dinosaurs here, I like that I have a brick and mortar bank a mile away. YMMV

 

[kblagron]

Definitely looking at switching. I have a Premier Plus account that requires $15K, but have been burned by the $25 service charge when it falls below a few times. Since I already have a Fidelity brokerage account, seems like the CMA account makes sense for me as well.

 

[mpeirce]

What Vanguard account to you keep cash in that offers good interest, if you don't mind saying?

We’re using VMFXX (VANGUARD FEDERAL MONEY MARKET FUND).

It's rates vary continuously, but today the 30-day SEC yield is 5% (with the caveat that there is an .11% expense ratio, so subtract that out).