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BofA drops debit card fee

Karen G

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geekette

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Cracked me up. Idiots.

Make a big bad decision, which causes other banks to follow suit because they think they can get away with it, too, and then scrap the idea. What, did they think consumers would just Take It??

actually, might as well drag competitors into "egg on your face, too" or "keep annoying your customers so they come to BOA!" The course reverse is embarrassing. Banks that jumped on the bandwagon should be embarrassed to have not done their own research.

I won't be banking with BOA, I like my no-fee, no minimum interest-bearing checking and savings plenty.
 

DaveNV

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It's a bit too little too late. The abuse of their customers is ongoing, and I have every reason to think B of A will find some other way to unreasonably squeeze honest customers. This was the last straw for me, and after a lot of years with them, I'm in process of switching from B of A to a credit union. Losing my business isn't going to break the bank, but I have the right to vote with my feet. And I am. :)

Dave
 

vacationhopeful

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Having experience the B of A logic of "Must have a ATM card to get cash by swiping it at the teller's window" ... the teller's look of disbelief when I calming state I don't need the ATM and here is my id ... give me my money. It is the teller who spends 2-3 minutes entering my info into their computer. The computer does NOT store this info.

Ha, Ha. If you did that 4 times a month and everyone else did --- how much more would that cost them over the $5 ATM card?
 

bogey21

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I agree that the $5 fee was a bad idea. I also sympathize with the Banks. Congress arbitrarily cut the fee they could charge Merchants for debit card transactions by 50%. That would be fine if the Merchants would pass their windfall on to their customers in the form of lower prices. But do you really think that will happen? So the Banks lose income, the Merchants get a bonanza, and the public gets nothing except that the Banks will figure another way to make up for their lost revenue. And believe me, it will be from their customers in one form or another.

George
 

Talent312

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It couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of cretins, which I rank one notch above TS salesmen, and a rather inglorious chapter in the life of a bank which has forgotten the meaning of customer service.

When my DW and I moved in together many moons ago, one of the first things I did was remove her from the clutches of BoA which was robbing blind with fees. Then, when BoA bought MBNA, I immediately locked their CC away, never to see the light of day again.
 

bogey21

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I keep a no cost, no minimum balance account at Bank of America primarily so I can transfer funds into my kids BofA Accounts, and so I can use BofA's ATMs throughout the US. Both services are free. What is wrong with free? The bigger they are means more ATMs, and the more ATMs they have, the happier I am. The only cost to me is lost interest on my relatively small balance. And at today's interest rates that is next to nothing.

George
 

Don

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I told them I would turn in my debit card if/when I was going to be charged a fee, and I suspected many, many others would do the same. I'm glad they came to their senses, especially since they were pushing the debit cards, so hard, years ago.
 

Karen G

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I've had only good experiences with Bank of America, and I'm glad they dropped the fee. I don't pay any fees now and don't want to add any. I really like their online bill paying service.
 

Mel

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We have been happy with our service at BofA. If they had started charging to use their own ATM, then we would have considered moving our accounts. But otherwise, we like having easy access to our cash both at home and when on vacation.

I can get a low- or no-fee debit card at a local bank, but then I have to pay fees when I want cash away from home, and have limited potions even at home. Many of the local banks charge a per-transaction fee, after a set number of monthly transactions (and each item deposited is considered a transaction, so it doesn't help to deposit 5 checks at once). A credit union might be the way to go, except even they are hurting - they will be hit with the same loss of revenue from the cuts to the fees the merchants pay.

The banks aren't to blame on this one - the merchant fees were part of the cost of doing business; part of the cost of providing a convenience to your customers.
 

ScoopKona

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So.... everyone's OK with banks receiving massive bailouts and then using our money to give big bonuses to their executives?

I don't care how many ATMs a bank has*, I can't see rewarding that kind of behavior. I've always used credit unions -- for the same reason I only do business with mutual insurance companies and watch a lot of PBS. Some things are a lot better when the profit motive is removed.


* Actually, I really don't care how many ATMs a bank has because I don't use ATMs. I don't need to score $400 at 2 a.m. And I can't think of anyplace where my credit card or an electronic transfer won't work. Who uses cash? Even for private transactions I'm more likely to use PayPal than greenbacks.
 

Fern Modena

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You don't need an account with BofA to transfer funds to your kids accounts. All you need is their account numbers. Then, when you want to transfer money, just go to BofA and deposit the money into their bank account. I've used that method to transfer money into WAMU accounts before (I am not a WAMU customer) and it always works.

Fern

I keep a no cost, no minimum balance account at Bank of America primarily so I can transfer funds into my kids BofA Accounts, and so I can use BofA's ATMs throughout the US. Both services are free. What is wrong with free? The bigger they are means more ATMs, and the more ATMs they have, the happier I am. The only cost to me is lost interest on my relatively small balance. And at today's interest rates that is next to nothing.

George
 

Fern Modena

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ALLY Bank

I bank with Ally Bank for my day to day spending. They are fee-free, pay interest on no minimum, and give rewards (money back) for various purchases. Every couple months I get $2. for using Walgreens, and I've gotten $5. for purchases at Home Depot and Bed, Bath and Beyond. But that isn't the whole story.

Ally has no ATMs of their own. Ing doesn't either, but Ing makes you use a specific network which doesn't have a lot of convenient ATM's. ALLY. on the other hand, allows you to use *any* ATM, and at the end of the month they reverse any fees you've been charged. It is that easy. Every open ATM is *my* ATM. Pretty cool.

Fern
 

geekette

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True that ING does not have ATMs, and that their "no fee transaction" ATMs are an obscure brand I've not seen. I won't pay to access my own money.

I generally don't carry much cash, so the cash back option at Target, CVS, etc., takes care of it for me.

----

I thought it was crazy when banks started charging to use tellers.

While I have a modest amount of sympathy for banks over the merchant fee debacle, tough crap. Cut costs like everyone else has to and aborb the increase.

Yeah, George, you're right - it's going to come from us one way or another. But I'd rather it be passed along in something I don't use!!!
 

bogey21

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You don't need an account with BofA to transfer funds to your kids accounts. All you need is their account numbers. Then, when you want to transfer money, just go to BofA and deposit the money into their bank account.

I don't want to come off as a apologist for any bank, particularly BofA. But if I am up in Kalamazoo, MI and my Son in college in Texas needs money to buy a book for one of his classes and my Daughter in college in Missouri needs money to take her dog to the vet, I much prefer pulling up my BofA Account on my laptop to transfer the money rather than try to find a BofA Branch in a town I'm not familar with. It is convenient, costs me nothing, and is relatively instantaneous. Incidentially my examples are not made up. They really happened.

George
 

Stressy

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You don't need an account with BofA to transfer funds to your kids accounts. All you need is their account numbers. Then, when you want to transfer money, just go to BofA and deposit the money into their bank account. I've used that method to transfer money into WAMU accounts before (I am not a WAMU customer) and it always works.

Fern

Fern,

I tried to do this at Wells Fargo. My Father passed and had a small balance in a checking account at Wells Fargo. He didn't have an estate so I did the simplistic paperwork by hand. Everything was in order. His balance was to be split between my sister and I. I did NOT have an account at Wells Fargo...sister did. They would NOT let me put her share in to her account. They agreed that she should get the share...but they couldn't/wouldn't put it in her account. They gave it to me...even though she went in to her local branch and signed paperwork..etc.

It was really ridiculous. She was THEIR customer...and they wouldn't help her.


That said, I do love my credit union. I can pull up online banking and deposit $$ in to my kids' accounts or any one else for that matter...as long as I have their account numbers. Of course, their accounts have to be there already-but that's not a problem for us.
 
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Fern Modena

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Amazing, and stupid on their part. You were trying to deposit money into their bank for their customer. How dumb can they be?

Fern

Fern,

I tried to do this at Wells Fargo. My Father passed and had a small balance in a checking account at Wells Fargo. He didn't have an estate so I did the simplistic paperwork by hand. Everything was in order. His balance was to be split between my sister and I. I did NOT have an account at Wells Fargo...sister did. They would NOT let me put her share in to her account. They agreed that she should get the share...but they couldn't/wouldn't put it in her account. They gave it to me...even though she went in to her local branch and signed paperwork..etc.

It was really ridiculous. She was THEIR customer...and they wouldn't help her.


That said, I do love my credit union. I can pull up online banking and deposit $$ in to my kids' accounts or any one else for that matter...as long as I have their account numbers. Of course, their accounts have to be there already-but that's not a problem for us.
 

ScoopKona

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Amazing, and stupid on their part. You were trying to deposit money into their bank for their customer. How dumb can they be?

I have faced this same situation. "Hey, if someone is trying to deposit money into my account, please, LET THEM."

And the response I received from the bank manager was that someone they didn't know was trying to access my account -- if even to put money in. Now that someone has knowledge of my account number and the routing number. Banks (and credit unions and s&ls) want a good reason why someone is trying to access another person's account.

And while I'd still like everyone to please transfer loads of moolah into my account, I can see their point.
 

Ken555

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I have faced this same situation. "Hey, if someone is trying to deposit money into my account, please, LET THEM."

And the response I received from the bank manager was that someone they didn't know was trying to access my account -- if even to put money in. Now that someone has knowledge of my account number and the routing number. Banks (and credit unions and s&ls) want a good reason why someone is trying to access another person's account.

And while I'd still like everyone to please transfer loads of moolah into my account, I can see their point.

I've done this many times over the years and have had other people deposit into my accounts - both business and personal - without any problems. I suspect there's more to this than was posted. In fact, I've occasionally deposited checks into a vendors account without any issue.
 
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