So I just left Fifth Third Bank

[Bruce Wayne]

I started an account with a local bank whose catchphrase is Not for sale. I started my account with Fifth Third several mergers ago when they were Indiana Federal back in '91. I opened a savings account with $82 the week after Christmas. It wasn't any one thing that caused me to leave them, but the straw that broke this camels back was the fact that they are doing away with Totally free checking. The only real option that I had to to maintain a $1500 balance in all my accounts or be charged a service fee. I am only allow to write three checks per quarter with the basic checking account.

Thoughts? Comments? Rude hand gestures?

Thanx!!!
Charlie

 

[Not The Original Kermit]

Convenience Fees and service charges are the rule of the day with banks up here. They even charge you if you use debit over a certain limit depending on your anual fees.

Convenience charges? Convenient to whom? not me, that's for sure. I even laughed at my savings account statements, my monthly interest deposit was less than the banking fee they charged, so I'm not even saving anything.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

I know the feeling. I was half tempted to stuff all my money in my mattress.

 

[Jawaburger]

Look for a credit union. I have no minimum in my checking, a $5.00 minimum in my savings, no check fees, no ATM fees, over draft protection. It's awesome.

 

[Toothpick]

i havent had a bank for almost 2 years, i use direct deposit to my folks account (which is totally free checking) then withdraw all the money but what i need for bills each payday. Start paying cash for everything and you'll rack up a bucket full of spare change in no time!

i had Fifth Third and closed them for the same reason, fees and charges. I went to Chase after them but because my credit sucks they wanted to charge me $10 per month to bank there, I told them no thanks! then opened an account with Bank of America online, and started depositing my checks in there then one day bout 2 months later they closed my account at random come to find out it was because i was a "risk". this was after i'd deposited well over 2grand in the account but when they closed it i had less than 20 in there and they charged me a $40 fee to close the account, i went in the bank raised some H E double hockey sticks and told them they were out of their minds for charging me $40 for pressing a button on keyboard that takes less than 10 seconds to close my account, and because of it they are making me PAY THEM for closing my account. they took the charge off and gave me my $20 and since then i've sworn off banks all together. 2 yrs ago. So far i've been happy!

 

[Snappy Lunch]

Look for a credit union. I have no minimum in my checking, a $5.00 minimum in my savings, no check fees, no ATM fees, over draft protection. It's awesome.

Same here. We changed from Wachovia (Wells Fargo) to Credit Union. Will not look back.

 

[Mad Man]

Then; banks got robbed

Now; banks rob you...

 

[mretzloff]

I hate to take sides, but free checking accounts cost a bank money. It costs a bank $250 to $300 a year to maintain your free checking account. Why should they provide a service for free that costs them hundreds of dollars to maintain?

 

[BBrad]

I hate to take sides, but free checking accounts cost a bank money. It costs a bank $250 to $300 a year to maintain your free checking account. Why should they provide a service for free that costs them hundreds of dollars to maintain?

Because they get the use of my deposits absolutely free of charge. It is a quid pro quo that works well for both parties.

The real problem is with the mega banks that have no heart, soul, or brain. A nimrod in a cubicle 500 miles away makes decisions based on numeric parameters that may or may not be in the best interest of either the bank or the customer. I am fortunate that my local bank that I have done business with for over 40 years was purchased by a slightly larger regional concern that still makes policy and lending decisions manually. When the day comes that one of the "big ones" buys them out (and yes, that day will eventually come) I'll be moving down the street to the local credit union.

 

[Toothpick]

so this may be the thread to ask what are the cons of a credit union? all i hear are good things about them but what requirements do they have to be a member? I pretty much refuse to put my money in a national large bank. and i just can't imagine credit unions are the saving grace otherwise why don't more people use them? i've always thought they had some strick requirements to open an account and never checked them out.

 

[AABCDS]

so this may be the thread to ask what are the cons of a credit union? all i hear are good things about them but what requirements do they have to be a member? I pretty much refuse to put my money in a national large bank. and i just can't imagine credit unions are the saving grace otherwise why don't more people use them? i've always thought they had some strick requirements to open an account and never checked them out.

They have limited number of branches and ATMs but you can get around that because most, but not all, credit unions are part of the credit union co-op. This means that you use the credit union branch that's not your actual credit union. I bank with a credit union and USAA. USAA refunds up to $15 per month in ATM charges per month.

 

[jrward2]

I use regions. They tried to start implementing fees about a year ago, but enough people raised hell that they stopped it the next month. They were charging like $10 for having a checking card and another $10 for having a checking account. It was BS, as a college student that had no job and was already low on cash, that 20 dollars a month was pretty big to me. It doesn't sound like much on a month by month basis but thinking in terms of a year its 240 dollars. Think of how nice of a brush you could have bought with that? I know they did away with the first though, but I don't know if they did away with the latter. If you direct deposit into the account then you don't get the charge. However, I don't have direct deposit set up anymore as i'm in graduate school now (I got direct deposits during an internship last winter). So either they did away with that too or they haven't caught on to the fact that I haven't direct deposited in over 8 months. DEshave, you mentioned you direct deposit. If you direct deposit regions might be a good choice for you if they are local.

Minimal balance requirements just don't make sense to me. If they truely did need to make up for lost revenue by charging for checking accounts, then why not charge everybody the same amount, thus lowering the total charge per person a month. The people with thousands in the account wouldn't even notice it being gone, and the people that didn't have a lot in the first place, although not happy its not free, wouldn't be getting charged a high fee, and might be inclined to stay for the convenience. When regions did that, I said "alright well i'm going to find some other bank", but luckily the next month, they reversed the charges and credited everybody's account.

I think the cons of a credit union are just that they aren't very convenient. I know the ones around here they only have one branch which is a pain when you travel around or can't be going to that branch all the time. Larger banks are really easy because you can find one in almost any city.

 

[Cochese2323]

Look for a credit union. I have no minimum in my checking, a $5.00 minimum in my savings, no check fees, no ATM fees, over draft protection. It's awesome.

Plus one for credit unions. My account has a rewards program that the only requirements having direct deposit set up from your employer and that you use your debit card at least 12 times a month. Works great for me plus they give me back up to $12 a month back from ATM fees.

 

[DC_MPA]

Most banks around here are like that now too. Nothing's free anymore. My girlfriend is a VP at a major bank and she has told me on numerous occasions that anything free is soon to be gone, anything with a fee will be increased over time. Her bank even went away with free check cashing for non account holders. If you don't have an account and bring in a check written from an account from their bank, even though they can verify funds as fast as it takes to put in the account number, it's $5. If the check is $5, you get nothing. If it is $100, you get $95. Only way around it is opening up an account and, they don't offer free checking unless you keep $100,000 or more in their bank.

It's all crazy. Hell, try and go to your bank and pull out $25,001 or more. Doesn't matter if you have it sitting there, 24-48 hour notice anymore because large bank withdrawals are monitored by the government via the patriot act.

 

[DC_MPA]

Maybe so, but they are taking your money and investing it left and right. That $200-300 is a cost of doing business and written off, the $100's they made off using your money that you put in to save is pure profit. When we put money in the bank, we are giving them a free loan.

I hate to take sides, but free checking accounts cost a bank money. It costs a bank $250 to $300 a year to maintain your free checking account. Why should they provide a service for free that costs them hundreds of dollars to maintain?

 

[boogieman_]

To me checks are pretty much worthless anymore. I have used one in the last four years. Debit cards are much better. Really the only benefit of a check is they can allow someone to write a rubber check if needed out of desperation...

As far as using them for gifts and such, checks are a real pain in the rear to cash. Gift cards, cash, or savings bonds are much nicer.

But it is a bad move on the bank's part. At the same time, it's much cheaper to print one plastic card than a book of custom checks and follow the paper trail all the time on them.

 

[Dalejr]

Maybe so, but they are taking your money and investing it left and right. That $200-300 is a cost of doing business and written off, the $100's they made off using your money that you put in to save is pure profit. When we put money in the bank, we are giving them a free loan.

+1. A fun fact I learned during my first economics class in University...

 

[Go West Young Man]

Unless you have six figure deposits, the bank doesn't want you as a customer to begin with. You think they make any money on your couple of thousands of dollars, with interest rates stuck at historic lows?

The basic equation is that if you as a customer don't cover the costs of servicing the account, they would be just as happy to see you go.

 

[mretzloff]

The argument that banks should give you free checking because they are borrowing your money is invalid because we are talking about checking accounts. Not many people keep much money in their checking accounts, which is why the bank is actually not making anything off of you. Even if you have money in your checking account, it will be constantly moving in and out as you are using that account to deposit money and then immediately pay bills. This argument makes perfect sense for a savings account, since that account is not meant to be withdrawn from frequently (most banks actually limit withdrawals from savings accounts), but never for a checking account.

To me checks are pretty much worthless anymore. I have used one in the last four years. Debit cards are much better. Really the only benefit of a check is they can allow someone to write a rubber check if needed out of desperation...

I would advise against debit cards. There is no federal law that protects you from fraud. If you are a victim of fraud, you are at the bank's mercy. On the other hand, if you use a credit card and become a victim of fraud, the most you can be legally forced to pay is $50.

 

[JBagKY]

I would advise against debit cards. There is no federal law that protects you from fraud. If you are a victim of fraud, you are at the bank's mercy. On the other hand, if you use a credit card and become a victim of fraud, the most you can be legally forced to pay is $50.

If you read the print on the debit card terms, they offer the same protection that credit cards do. Granted the bank may not be the quickest at getting you your money back, but that is another issue. The law says that you have 0 fraud liability whether its debit or credit.