New Bank Scam
 

Apparently, some banks are not happy with being bailed out by the American taxpayer or all the other fees that they are getting from customers. They now want to charge a huge fee for use of their debit card. Bank of America and SunTrust Bank are two of the largest who have now decided to scam a monthly fee of about $5/month if you want to access your money using your debit card. Some have been charging people to cash check drawn on these banks if you want to cash it unless you are a bank customer. Some charge as much as $10.

Perhaps it is time to break up these mega banks. They are no better than the Mafia. Perhaps they have been bought out by the mob. At least they are using their tactics. If you have direct deposit or still want to use them as your bank, perhaps you should clean your account out and start paying cash rather than allowing them to shake you down for yet another fee. These banks are already posting record profits in the billions of dollars. Personally, I would close my account and find another bank that did not charge all the extra fees. There are thousands of small community banks and credit unions that don't charge and have lower interest rates on loans. If these banks need to charge these exhorbatant fees then you know that they must be in serious financial difficulty. Banks should be stable. These fees tell me that if I had money in those banks that I might not have my money secure. If enough people moved their money or closed accounts in banks who do this then they would be forced to either change their policies or close the doors. I would prefer to see Bank of America, Suntrust, Wells Fargo and most of the other mega banks broken up into smaller banks that would be more responsible and secure for depositors.

I don't know about you, but I plan on writing letters to my congressional representatives and ask them to break up these banks.

I switched banks about 2 months ago because of the fees they decided to start charging. I had a total of 4 accounts (2 checking, 2 savings) with them. My pay is direct deposit, my wife doesn't work (I transfer money online to her accounts). Well, it was fine originally - we paid $5.95/month for online banking (total for the 4 accounts). They then decided to charge PER account. So, that raised it to $5.95x4. On top of that, any account with a balance under $1,500 would be charged $10/month. So, add 3 accounts on that for another $30. The 2 savings accounts gained VERY little interest (something in the range of $0.26 total for the previous year between the 2 accounts). Checking had zero interest.

I went to a local credit union. I opened up 4 accounts (2 checking, 2 savings), exact same as I had at the previous bank. I now not only get interest on all 4 accounts, but I also have zero monthly fees with them.

My previous bank was BB & T, btw, just in case you wanted to know who to steer clear of. The day I went in to close the accounts (I had been with them for roughly 20 years), the bank manager said that they've had hundreds of people doing the same thing. Mind you, this is in a TINY town in WV.

According to the Bank of America website, that $5 fee is only if you use your debit card in a foreign country. $2 fee if you use a non-Bank of America ATM in the USA. Still free to use a Bank of America ATM in the USA or if you are doing a Point of Service (POS) transaction to pay for a purchase whether or not you are getting cash back on the transaction.

You just watch GMAN, enough people start doing this and I bet they start charging you a fee to cash your check if you don't have DD. I believe a few banks are already doing just that, BofA being one of those.

GMAN, just find a more local bank, the more people who do that the more it will hurt these big banks and make them realize what they are doing wrong.

I heard bad news about Suntrust 9-10 years ago with some of the things they do. I knew right then to stay away from them for my bank account. You put a deposit in and they will hold it 1 week before crediting it into your account. I do have them for my mortgage and have not had any issue's other than their robot calls me asking where my payment now and then even though it's not late.

I hope a lot of people close their accounts with these banks. Most of them who charge for a credit card don't charge as much as they are charging for a debit card. I have a bank where I do most of my checking account business that is out of town. Hopefully, they won't start charging for debit cards. I like doing business with them. Smaller banks and credit unions don't seem to charge the higher fees of the big banks. Perhaps the small banks and credit unions are just better managed. I have felt for years that these big banks should be broken up into smaller pieces. It was much easier to do business when banks were locally owned. These people used to lend on deposits. I expect that most smaller banks still operate that way. The mega banks borrow from the Federal Reserve and then lend money to their customers. These big banks are heavily in debt with few assets. They use smoking mirrors to hide their true condition. Contrary to what the government and these big banks want us to believe, I think the major banks are still in serious financial difficulty and it is still a deck of cards waiting to fall. When Suntrust started charging non customers to cash a check drawn on their bank, I knew then that Suntrust was in financial trouble. That has proven to be a fact. This was prior to the crash in 2008. Suntrust received $7 billion dollars in the bailout. According to one person that I spoke with at Suntrust, they only used $3 1/2 billion. Well, I suppose that should make me feel better that they only used $3 1/2 billion dollars of our tax money. I would love to know where the rest of the money is and what they are doing with it. They don't seem to be making any new loans. And they certainly have not given the balance back to the taxpayers.

According to news reports this morning, Bank of America customers have been keeping the phone lines busy. I have a friend who has been doing business with Bank of America for over 40 years. She hates the idea of changing banks. If I owned a small bank or credit union, I would be throwing out ads touting that I did not charge a fee for using a debit card. I would likely be overwhelmed with new depositors.

The only problem for truckers and a local bank is that if your out on the road and need money then you can't walk into a branch. You have to find an ATM and most all banks like to charge an ATM fee if it's not one of their ATM's. I would like a more national bank for that reason but with all the fee's they are charging it's just not worth the additional headaches that could come with it.

My business account is with wells fargo. My own stuff is with sun east credit union. The credit union is so much better then wells fargo. Only reason i went with wells fargo for a business account. Is they have banks everywhere and are the #1 in class 8 truck loans. My credit union will not do anything with class 8 trucks.

You might take a look at Transportation Alliance Bank www.tabbank.com. They don't have many of the fees as some of the other banks. They have the PDCA Mastercard, which is a debit card. They don't have branches, but do cater to the trucking industry. If you go to a Flying J and use their ATM I don't think the fees are as high as some of the other banks. It may require doing more planning to avoid these fees. Having access to our money while on the road is certainly a consideration, but I don't think that it is worth paying $60/year plus any ATM fees for the privilege. I plan on keeping an eye out and should my bank start charging for using a debit card, I will either start carrying more cash or find a bank that doesn't charge for using a debit card.

I'm guessing that you have a different kind of account than I do. I have BB&T for checking, and it's free as long as I maintain a $6,000 balance with them. I think I also have to do direct deposit to avoid fees. No, it doesn't generate interest, but they haven't charged me any fees on it in the past several years. Online banking is no problem with them either. That being said, I'm thinking of dumping them in favor of Ally (my savings bank) since they offer interest on their checking accounts.
I also wasn't impressed with BB&T's savings accounts. They said 1%, but it was actually 0.1%. Needless to say, I can easily see why you dumped them.

I don't think I would call this a scam..
Banks have been charging various fees for many many years now, it is up to the consumer to resarch and use a bank that fits their needs. I have always had two banks that I have used, one would be a local bank that is fairly small and has free checking, the other bank I have been a member of since 1986 right after I graduated from college and I swear by the services they offer across the board. "USAA Federal Savings Bank" Number one in my book.. Open to anyone who has an affiliation with military service directly or as a dependant. While the company has changed somewhat over the last 10 years they still maintain great service on all of the products they offer. As far as using ATM Cards i have never had one as I refuse to pay the charges affiliated with them, it's as simple as that in my mind...
But we all know how my mind works...

Timberwolf

This is exactly why there are people protesting the Rule of Big Banks in the USA. the Frank- Dodd act limited credit card interest rates and debit card transaction fees on vendors to help consumers and small business. But how regulation goes, theres always a way around it if you can afford $$ lawyers. So now Banks want to squeeze the consumer citing that they 'loose money due to frank-dodd' despite RECORD PROFITS.

What some of these banks have done the last few years is criminal. I detest more regulations, but they may be warranted in this case. Most people want to pay their bills. Some people had credit card interest rates as low as 7% and for no good reason banks would raise their interest rates up to the maximum allowable of 29% in some states. When customers were already having difficulty paying their bills at 7% raising their rates to those levels made it impossible for many to pay their bills. Millions have lost their homes due to the way banks were operating. The housing situation could have been alleviated or not even would have occured had lenders actually worked with their customers. They forced many to file bankruptcy who never would have previously considered it. Many more will file in the coming next couple of years. It hurts our entire economy. Banks not only receive massive tax credits when they repossess homes and have credit cards to write off, but when they foreclose, they own billions in real estate that they can hold until the market turns around giving them huge profits off the backs of the average citizen. I believe the best thing would be to break up these huge banks and prohibit them from selling off mortgages that they write. They should also be prohibited from getting involved in stocks and bonds and other types of business not related to banking. At one time banks were not allowed to get into anything that was not related to banking. We seemed to have a much more stable banking industry when banks only did banking services rather than all the other things they now do. For those who remember the savings and loan banks, they only loaned on real estate and used money that customers deposited to help others buy a home. When commercial banks were allowed to buy out or merge with savings and loans we began to see a change in the industry. And when banks were allowed to either purchase or expand into investments, such as stocks and bonds, it was only a matter of time before banks became unstable. Banks started using depositor's funds to finance their own risky investments until the bottom fell out.

Your the 2nd person I've heard talk very highly of USAA. If I had anything military wise in my background I would be all over it to join them.

I would love to not use an ATM card but since my bank is local/regional it's not hard to find an ATM of theirs. I usually swing in and withdraw some cash from the ATM since I start work before they open each day. It's when I get out of their region that it becomes a PITA with the fee's if I need more cash.

I pretty much took care of the using of the debit card on the road:

I have my pay split so that a portion stays on my fuel card and the rest goes to the bank. Then, I just cash a ComCheck once a week to cover my expenses. Now, I only use my card to buy things that I don't consider 'normal'. I had to take cash out via the debit card on the road a total of 3 times in the past year and a half.

Don't fall for this bulls*** , thank little Dicky Durbin ( senator from Illinois ) and his poorly written bill. Congress just f***ed you and you're blaming a bank.

I spoke with Transportation Alliance Bank earlier today. They told me that they were NOT going to have any debit card fees.

So.... can I put you down as a vote for Obama in 2012? :lol:

Yes, Put me down for a NO vote for Obama.

Welcome aboard, we are the 99% :)
Thats one of the reason we are going out there to organize and if so inclined- protest, join us.Occupy Together | Home

Your link didn't work, One.

Not hardly!

Dead link

There was a segment on the evening news about the protests. According to the report, this started with a small group of protesters. Today it looked like several thousand people were marching. They even brought out some of the union people. I doubt the NYC police will arrest some of their fellow union brothers, even if they are not of the same union. The segment mentioned that protests are taking place all over the country. It looks like this may pick up steam.

The latest word from Bank of America is that they've "backed down" on the monthly debit card fees. They say it had nothing to do with "Occupy Wall Street". Since they announced the fee, they've lost some 65,000 customers. And, over the last 3 months, or so, credit unions have added some 140,000 new customers.

I can't help wondering... "Bank Transfer Day"... All the media attention that Occupy has been getting lately. Why do they suppose so many people knew to leave banks and go over to credit unions in the first place? It's one of the things Occupy has been calling attention to. I guess, if the bank is big enough, they can try to make the public believe what ever suits them....

Some of the protester's sounded like nut cases, but some were expressing valid concerns that many American's have with Wall Street and Bankers in general. They have moved into the realm of distrust known by lawyers for so many years.

It wasn't just BofA who backed off. Several of the others backed off the week before. Wells Fargo, Suntrust.........

They will never admit why they truly backed off but I have a strong suspicion why they suddenly backed off. It wasn't the fact that so many people had suddenly closed their bank accounts with them over this. I truly believe our govt. had a hand in this behind the scenes. Little reminder that they were bailed out by the taxpayers and this is how they say thank you in return, by tacking on additional fees. Govt. probably told them that if the fees weren't dropped there would be some additional legislation against them.

You might be right about the government getting involved in the situation. But, when any company loses tens of thousands of customers after a policy or fee change, they are bound to get their attention.

The BofA spokesman said that their change of heart was not due to the customers who were lost over the last 6 months. He went on to say that because others had a change of heart they decided to change their tune. You have to remember, they have been losing customers in large groups since June, well before the policy changes.

I'd use a Pay Pal credit card to solve this situation. Make a bank transfer to Pay Pal using your local account or credit union, then use the Pay Pal card as a check or debit card. I personally prefer to use a Pay Pal card because if it is stolen or lost, the only money at risk is the money in that account, not your entire bank account. It is also national. To get more money, you need a personal computer, not a bank.