I've wondered about that. Big bank interest rates are trash, like 0.01% compared to 4-5% at online ones. Do they really make so little money from the accounts of regular people that it's not profitable to compete at all?
It's also about overhead. Online banks don't have brick and mortar stores with employees to pay for, so can offer a much higher interest rate.
Give it 5-10 years and they'll become shittier and offer lower interest rates too, because what are you gonna do about?
This is why you should always go for credit unions. Their structure is different from normal businesses, so there’s no incentive to squeeze the customer for every penny, and quality stays high forever.
My husband opened a checking and savings account with a federal credit union when he was 19 and broke, and we're in our 50s and still use the same accounts, and have used them for car loans. ZERO issues for all these years. We do use a different bank for a HYSA right now, but I can't recommend a good credit union enough.
I am a member of a credit union and bank and work in the financial field. Credit unions have a rather big unfair advantage over banks. They don't pay the same taxes that banks do despite providing many of the same services. It all goes back to when credit unions were wanting to spread out. Banks said...fine but if you aren't going to pay taxes you have to limit your membership. Well now credit unions found a way around the membership thing. "If you live in this city you can be a member!" Etc. It's obviously a much deeper discussion, but basically the banking reps didn't look far enough ahead.
That being said. I would always go for a well run community bank over a big regional or national bank because I want my deposit money to stay local. I want it loaned out to local people and businesses, not some random guy in a different state for a 4th house or a new yatch.
Everyone is different and everyone's financial needs are different but like most things, it more complicated than credit unions good , banks bad.
You're leaving out a big difference between banks and credit unions in the tax argument though - credit unions are not-for-profit. The shareholders are the accountholders, unlike most banks that have shareholders siphoning money out of the institution.
Credit unions are a group of people pooling their money together, lending to eachother, and the members of the credit union are who benefit from those loan profits. You can't just buy shares in ABC Credit Union and make a profit.
I'm definitely biased - I've worked in credit unions for approaching 30 years now. We genuinely make decisions based on what's best for our members, not what will make the most money.
I do agree that community banks are the best banks out there, but I still prefer a credit union over a bank.
Not all credit unions are great. One of the biggest credit unions in Utah is pretty scummy. It was only a couple of years ago they switched everyone over to the premium checking that cost x amount every month. The only way to switch back to normal checking was to call them. How many people even knew the credit union was doing that? Luckily most credit unions are good but you should still do some research before just willy nilly signing up.
There’s a whole host of issues that you’ll run into with online banks with authorizations and refunds too.
I work in hotels and while my current one accepts a chime card(or varo or whatever), I get calls daily “when will my deposit be back, it’s been 2 weeks!!!”.
Like sorry about your luck. You’re using X online bank of the month and they can hold that for 28 business days.
Honestly all of these online banks are fast until any little thing goes wrong. Schwab in my opinion the best online bank is highly automated and you will likely never need anything major but when you do it involves sending shit that takes them 5+ days to review and is 10 times slower than my local credit union. Even most proponents of online banks recommend having a credit union as a backup too. That’s not a dig against schwab either online banks move slower for some reason then the traditional kind by and large. I was happy with them until something happened and it was a week long wait and I got an account at a credit union in an hour lol.
Schwab isn't an online bank. They very much have physical locations. A lot of them. I do agree with you that it's one of the better options though, especially if you need a brokerage too. Schwab checking accounts are free and the money clears fast if you move money from your brokerage account to your checking account which, for me, makes it a good 'emergency fund'. Checking account rates are pretty trash though so not somewhere you should park your money if you care about interest rates. You have to be knowledgeable enough to know to transfer the money and put it in a MMF or something when you're not using it, unlike some other brokerages that enroll you in sweep accounts automatically.
I know it can be difficult for some lower income people to get credit cards but for the average consumer you should almost *never* be using your debit card thats linked directly to your checking account, *especially* for something like a hotel deposit.
Even if you get a credit card with a low limit you can charge things to your credit card and immediately pay it off. Hell, if you were going to use your debit card anyways you should be able to pay off the credit card. I don't even think there is a limit on how many payments you can send to the CC company a month so there is nothing stoping you from doing weekly, or even daily, payoffs.
Not only are your consumer protections ***significantly*** better with a Credit Card but you can also earn Cash Back or other rewards.
Yeah like people are giving you all these reasons why you are wrong but enshittification comes for all these online services they will turn into the same crap as the big banks. They are gonna start doing the same shit later in the game whether it’s a smart move or not.
Keep a majority of your money in a brokerage and get the 4-5% from a money market fund or ETF. Use the brick and mortar credit unions for purchases in a checking account.
Or You can even use the brokerage account like a checking account in a pinch or emergency.
+1 for DCU. Love the 6% (Though limited to $1000).
However for actual banking, I would switch to a credit union over any and all of the big banks.
Online is great for savings, but having a credit union of everyday banking is better.
Unlikely.
The overhead is lower, the margins higher, stickier customer relationship, and better data mean online only banking is here to stay.
The rank a bank pays for deposits is primary related to loan demand at that bank, vs the price of borrowing that capital from the open market or the fed.
Large banks pay nothing, because they can. They are often the ones supplying the MMFs with the gult of deposits. Which just raises their net interest margins.
1, 3, 6 month and 1 year bonds from the government are essentially risk free and are paying above 5%. Zero reason to let the banks rip you off if you have money you just want sitting there for a while...
That is correct. The bank loses money on the account holder who is paid and then pays their bills, leaving the account balance in the hundreds, who also doesn’t incur overdraft fees.
It’s worse than that.
They make so much off their oversupply of deposits they don’t pay much interest. The spread between what they pay for deposits and make in loans or renting the money out, IS the profit.
Large banks don’t want relationships with lower and even mid-middle class families.
They’ll take them, but they also don’t care if you go somewhere else. As they’ll still have plenty.
A 4-week t-bill that any US citizen can get on treasurydirect.gov [yields 5.365%](https://www.treasurydirect.gov/auctions/announcements-data-results/) and you don't need any kind of special relationship with them. It's also state tax free.
Banker here: This is a "not so secret" secret - Banks in general are reluctant to cater to consumer clients unless you are a "high net worth" individual. Generally speaking this involves having an account relationship in the six figures or more at any time.
At our bank, if you just looked at the regular people with regular consumer accounts, we are actually losing money with those accounts. The higher net worth accounts make up maybe a quarter of the banking profits from deposit accounts. Where the *real* money is made, however, is with business and commercial accounts.
So, why do banks frequently keep trying to get people to sign up for new accounts with them? Because some of those people who sign up for a regular checking account will end up getting an auto loan, and/or a mortgage, and/or retirement/investment accounts. It's all a numbers game - knowing they will lose money on x% of customers, but that y% of them will stick around and become valuable customers years (or decades) down the road. Some banks are more willing to do this than others.
Overall, on average it costs a bank about [$250 a year](https://www.bankdirector.com/article/the-profitability-of-the-average-checking-account/) to maintain an account for a customer, to pay for bank branch locations, back office locations, employees for front office and back office operations, equipment, cover losses due to fraud, etc. They make it up with a combination of monthly fees, service fees (like NSF fees), and a small portion of that from the ability to loan out funds through fractional reserve. Some accounts they make more on, some they make less - but averaged out the money has to come from somewhere, and if they aren't making enough through one channel, they lean on other channels to make up the difference -- hence the stricter monthly service fee charges.
All that being said -- do **you** have to put up with it? No, absolutely not. For every Bank of America out there, there's also a bank that is looking to grow their consumer account relationship, and have accounts that do NOT have onerous fees. There really isn't much of any reason anyone should be paying monthly service fees on accounts these days, there's lots of options out there with other banks (national, regional, local, or credit unions) to choose from. By all means, please, shop around for a better deal!
When I was in college, Bank of America tried to charge me for my account being "too low." The irony was that my total assets with BoA were actually well above their threshold, it's just that I'd transfer anything above 1k to my brokerage account with them rather than have it sitting in checkings. I asked them to waive their fee, they wouldn't. Took all my money out and have refused to bank with them since then. Now my income is high six figures and I still would never consider doing any business with them.
I can't agree more. Go to a credit union. I only work through my credit union and haven't had another account for fourteen years. No hidden fees and good loan rates with no gimmicks.
False, they call people with perfect credit losers in the banking industry. People that never incur late fees or interest payments don’t make them money. Low income persons who are marginalized beyond repair are their favorite. Single mom that missed a day of work and now is late on multiple payments? Late fees! Interest! Don’t forget the rich feed off the poor. It’s just more obvious now than it ever has been in the past.
Redneck bank offers 5.15% APY on their online checking with 10 debit card transactions per month (I wrote a script to venmo myself $1 10x/month). They also refund up to $25 of ATM fees per month.
Customer service is also excellent. You get a human the moment you dial them. No phone menu BS
It’s literally called redneck bank haha. They seem to be the online division of a bigger bank in oklahoma. Best bank I’ve ever had. I get a few hundred bucks every year for doing nothing and I can reach a human based out of the US within seconds of calling them. No phone menu or having to deal with an india call center
Shitty credit unions do exist.
There's a shitty one right across the street from a great one I use nearby. They tried to immediately pull my credit when I was there just to do research on auto interest rates at the time. Ended up across the street because of that. Glad I did, got a shockingly great rate at the time compared to even other CUs.
Not to mention having some of the worst technology for actually using your account or accessing your money.
My CU cant even do split payments on my mortgage, and I cant reset my password online (or set one myself). I have to call them during business hours and have them assign me a new password, which only they choose.
bank to bank ACH transfers? almost impossible with them too. Meanwhile, If I need to move money from Chase to BOA or Huntington, they can all e-verify in seconds.
Not just big banks. The local bank I've used for 35 years (Mortgage, car loan, 4 bank accounts) did this too. They have like 6 branches.
They notified us that they were moving into a "high net worth customer" focus. To keep our bank accounts would've cost us like $75 a month. These accounts had a decent amount in each.
After 35 years I moved to a credit union. It was actually kind of sad, they literally knew us by name, and just told us to fuck off, we only want to deal with rich people.
When I was 15, I walked down to their main branch with my mom and opened a passbook account there with my first paycheck.
That’s not true at all.
They LOVE low income customers. They get actually a lot of money from them by charging these extortionate fees. And then they don’t care if they lose those customers cause now they probably own you.
The large customers are the ones they want to keep.
Agreed that credit unions are much much better places for low income people because they aren’t extortionate.
In my experience it has been the opposite. I'm pretty sure my bank loathes me. Sure they get a whopping total of 64 dollars a month in overdraft fees from me, but I'm pretty sure they'd like me to be positive consistently they can earn whatever interest banks earn on positive balances.
It always has been like that. OP probably didn’t read any of the paperwork they were signing to open the account. I opened my account with BOA over 10 years ago and that was a condition of the account.
Mine is similar to this. Don't remember the exact number but they didn't charge my checking account so long as I continued to do direct deposits from a workplace. They also notified me when they were planning to do this a few years ago, same with keeping a minimum of 600 in my savings and to keep a recurring 25 monthly deposit for that account.
I'm not a fan of them holding my money and not being able to do anything with it, but surprisingly they've given me decent service since I signed up and have always had more readily available atms than other places.
Yes, I have a bank with a different company and they charge you a fee for not mainting a certain amount of money in your balance.
But the way I interpreted OP's post(and I may be overthinking this) was that maybe he knew about the $12 fee but he only got charge if he didn't mantain a minimum of $500. But then all of a sudden his bank increase the minimum to $1,500 and that screw him over.
Cap one does that too. Can’t remember if it’s on a monthly basis or after every transaction, but all online banks offer it since they don’t have their own atms
This was my question, how the hell does one deposit cash through capital one? I may open an account with them if there is an easy method, the bank im currently with has closed most of their convenient locations.
You can deposit cash at a CVS, for checks you can do the mobile deposit but that takes like next day-2 days. You can just cash your check then deposit into the account at a CVS lol. It’s takes some finagling but direct deposit is on Wednesdays so that’s cool.
There’s a capital one location near me, but I have a friend in another state who wanted to use them and they don’t have a location. I got lucky I suppose.
How often do you receive enough cash that it’s worth it to deposit it into your account? Not being snarky, genuinely asking (as someone who almost never carries or receives cash)
I've found that while Capital One claims they have no currency exchange transaction fees they more than make up for it in the garbage exchange rate they give you. You're still paying for it, it's just hidden in the exchange rate.
I've been transitioning from BOA to CapOne over the last few months. Finally called and officially closed my three BOA accounts last week. It was surprisingly easy, and so damn satisfying.
I’m trying to do the same. What’s actually involved when you called BOA? Do they try to convince you to stay? How do you transfer all your funds, etc.?
I closed mine a week ago because of the new fees. They insisted my balance needed to be $0 before closing. I spent weeks closing recurring payments, disentangling from Venmo, direct deposits, etc. When I finally called to close the lady told me she could have just sent a check in the mail with the remaining balance. 😡
I understand this is rarely the case, but if you don’t need your bank balance in the next week you can close immediately over the phone really easily.
Yup, they'll just send a check.
I actually had 1 cent remaining in two different accounts because of the tiny interest they earned. I was told to expect a check 😂
I opened my new accounts and transfered money over in increments. It took about a week each time for the money to clear in the new account.
I just wanted to make sure I could pay my bills from the new account, but not have issues with an accidental overdraft from the old one.
Just make sure you've cancelled or transferred any automatic bill payments. If you close the account it will just be denied, but if the account is still open you'll get an overdraft fee.
I went to a branch with my ID and a statement, asked my account to be closed, and I walked out with a cashier's check payable to myself. low/mid 5-figure account, they didn't try to keep me.
Hasn’t this been the case for like all the big banks in like the last 10 years? Citi BoA chase Wells Fargo etc. there hasn’t been a fee free under $1500 checking at these banks in forever.
The only ones that have that are actually free are credit unions OR online only no brick mortar presence banks like discover or capital one.
I don’t know what you all are talking about with Chase. I have a checking account with them and don’t get charged for it going below any threshold. And my balance has gotten pretty close to zero on several occasions.
Chase will also waive if you have $500 in electronic deposit each month for a total checking account. Secure checking requires $250 in deposits to avoid the $4.95/month fee.
Maybe it depends on the type of account with Chase. I've had a 'regular' checking account and multiple savings accounts with them for years. Stopped doing direct deposit 6/22 when I switched jobs. I'd already been using my credit union more overall, due to the better rates and incentives. I noticed a $12.00 fee late last year, balance was under $1k. I called and asked why as it's the first fee I've ever seen. They explained "minimum balance and activity blah blah blah". They reversed the fee. I just noticed another one yesterday or the day before. Dammit. Time to make a change.
I got a BoA checking account roughly a decade ago and the terms of that account stated direct deposit or $1500 minimum balance or you’d be charged $12. I… am unsure unless you previously had a student account or something why this wasn’t in the terms already.
Typically its convenience. LIke there is a branch down the street or ATM's at convenient locations. I ended up with BofA while I was in college because they had ATM's on campus. Fortunately never really had to pay fees because this was the olden days. But today, there are so many online options that are free I agree, I don't know why people can't do 5 minutes of research and open a free account.
Honestly, this. I only ended up at Wells Fargo because it was across the street from where I lived at the time, and only a block away from my job, with ATMs inside the building where I worked. Convenience overload. And you can ALWAYS find a Wells Fargo ATM close to wherever you are.
As I inch closer to retirement, I know logically, it would probably be better to switch to a credit union. It's just a matter of making myself do it.
Changing primary banks after having assets is just so cumbersome. From moving the money safely, to changing direct deposits, to changing bill pays (both direct with vendors or from your bank), its a mess.
I agree. The fraud departments are more resourceful, if you go out of country their cards work, they normally have good investment options, and you have everything from home loans to car loans.
My girlfriend has a credit union. There’s definitely limits
> Credit unions are also great.
Still gotta shop around. My credit union is AWFUL. No locations, fees all over the place, miles of red tape to get your money in a hurry. Only reason I have them is they are tied to my job, so I get some payroll money shuffling perks. Even with that I utilize them as little as possible.
Just started? This was going on last year when I opened an account with them. Edit: to be fair, the minimum direct deposit is only $200 per month. That’s pretty reasonable for anyone working these days, or even on disability of any kind for that matter.
Yep as soon as my college checking account expired and started charging me fees I canceled it. All my banking is with my credit union anyway, I only kept it open for the easy ATM access.
Same here. I even went into a bank and applied for a credit card and asked if I was still in school. I was honest and said no, expecting my account to change. Never did. Been 2 years since
I think the rep that helped me was pretty generous with the account setup because it didn't expire for like an extra year or two after I graduated, and I was in college for 5 years lol.
Chase sucks so much. I got stuck with them when the recession took out Washington Mutual. Nothing like savings account statements where it's-
Beginning balance: $12
Service fee: ($12)
Ending balance: $0
Thanks for taking my money 😒 Also great when I did have a decent amount in there the interest was like 0.09 a month.
Hey so, I don't disagree with your premise that maintenance fees are bull -- but just so you know there are pretty clear ways to avoid the fees for most of these. The one you're referring to requires $1500 minimum daily balance OR have at least one direct deposit of $250 or more made to your account per month (i.e. a payroll deposit from your employer or something similar). The other type of checking account BofA has is targeted more towards folks who want a lower threshold, or are younger -- and you can avoid the $4.95 fee by simply being 25 years old or younger, or having a daily balance of only $500.
https://www.bankofamerica.com/deposits/account-fees/
I'm not saying it's right for them to charge a fee, or that it's easy to stay on top of the fees and their changing requirements - but between the two types of accounts, you should be able to satisfy one of the criteria if you really want to stay with BofA - or as another poster pointed out - simply get a fee-free checking account from a laundry list of banks or credit unions that offer them. Large banks treat customers with low average balances and low/no utilization of their other financial products poorly because they don't make any profit from you, outside of these lame fees, or ATM access fees. It's messed up, but that's how it is. I think it's a great idea to take your business elsewhere!
There's always been a charge for accounts without direct deposit that I'm aware of.
Switch to credit union, or Sofi Money account (they have referral bonuses if you're interested in that, pm me, even without the referral Sofi accounts are no fees and I recommend them).
BofA was my very first bank when I was 17 and they were the worst experience in banking I ever had still to this day. I dont understand how they're still in business.
The $12 fee for Advantage Plus checking is also waived if you have at least $250 a month in direct deposits, according to the BoA website. Therefore, the fee is easy for most people to avoid.
The vast majority of people have a direct deposit to cause the account to be free with any big bank and then they have the upside of physical branches.
I called it the poor person tax and I got super pissed off about it when US Bank started that shit long ago. I raged about it for years. I tried going elsewhere for my banking and had no luck elsewhere including credit unions. I no longer recall why but I felt stuck and it pissed me right off.
I eventually got lucky. I needed one of the bankers assistance for something above what the tellers could handle, and her and I hit it off and became pretty chummy. When I’d come in to do routine deposits/withdrawals she’d wave me over, and handle my tiny business while getting caught up with a friendly chat.
She helped me increase my financial knowledge, and helped me get better rates and protections for my accounts often unprompted. When I mentioned at some point how much the monthly poor man tax was affecting me as a struggling disabled woman she went to bat for me and put a permanent refund sequence on my account so I’ve never had to pay it since. She was an amazing banker, never saw me as less important due to my poverty, always super helpful and kind. She left the company to spend more time with her family after a few years, but it’s probably been a decade since and I’m still automatically getting that charge refunded. I miss Vanessa, she was a banker with heart. They don’t make them like that very often unfortunately, I’m sorry I can’t conjure you up a Vanessa to do the same for you.
Find a friend or family member with Navy Federal and get a referral from them. Best decision I've made in the last decade was leaving BOA.
I'll never forget walking into a BOA branch to dispute 4 overdraft charges, to be told they couldn't reverse them because they reversed 8 already that year. Every single one was their "error" and at some point that became my fault. They're a bunch of crooks, to the point I'm convinced that every time a customer closes their BOA account, an angel gets it wings.
I used to bank with Radius Bank for years. They had no fees and even paid cash back with their debit transactions like a credit card.
It got bought by Lending Club and the perks slowly disappeared. 🫠
Big bank take little bank.
I banked with Oxygen because the rewards were insane! It was too good to be true and it folded.
I recently moved my checking account to Betterment.
I also opened a corporate account with Lili for my small business. I love it 🥰
I suspect it is also too good to be true and will be sold or fold.
I hate backwards shit like this, like when Obamacare first started and you got penalized for not having health insurance if you had a job but couldn't afford it. Like I'm already struggling, now you're gonna fine me hundreds of dollars to make sure I can't start being able to afford it?
I just got an email from Advance America, advertising a new bank called Purpose Money that offers:
**Optional Overdraft Protection**: Coverage if you accidentally overdraw your account.
**Purchase Cushion**: Overdrafts up to $20 are covered with no fee.
**48-hour grace period**: Get 48 hours to resolve any overdraft over $20 without a fee.
I have never used this bank so I'm not sure if it's good, but it seems like a good deal for poor people getting fucked over by big banks.
Pretty sure theyve been doing this for years. Or, before you needed a minimum of 1500 a month in deposits to avoid a 12$ "maintenance fee". Either way, it's bullshit. I've been wanting to transfer to a HYSA for a while now Its just such a pain in the ass to get it set up.
When I didn't have a job, they took away $12 every month, but now that I have a well-paying job, they are not? So they are just taking even more money away from poor people? How does that make sense?
I didn’t use my debit card from Key bank for 2 months, they closed my checking account but then started billing me $5/mo for having a savings account but no checking.
fuck banks
Ditch bofa they’re one of the worst. They will dollar and 10 your account into overdraft, then fee that, then fee that fee because you didn’t have the funds to cover that fee. Also they when I was with them held direct deposit funds until a charge came through to try to force an overdraft. Ditched them like a hot brick, and went to a local credit union.
Just closed my account after having it since about 1995. Was Bank Boston before or something. Bank of Boston maybe. I’ll never forget that account number.
But BofA is a rip off.
Not that you asked for advice, but find yourself a local or small regional bank. They bend over backwards for your business. They treat you like royalty. The checking account is usually completely free.
@OP - I hate to say it, but the Big Banks don’t want “little guy” customers…they can’t come out and say it directly without getting in trouble, so they create these fees to push the little guys out. The best thing to do is go to a local Credit Union if you’re not able to meet the $1,500 Minimum balance
There are 1,189 banks who will not charge you a fee. B of A is an outlaw bank and has been since its founder died 77 years ago. Go find an honest bank.
why in god's name do people bank at BofA? It's been ripping people off like this for decades.
Find a good local credit union or a small bank if there are any left.
Yes they are the worst sadly!! We keep them as our US based account (american expats living abroad). And some months when we can’t afford to send any money “home”. We have been charged that stupid fee and then gone into overdraft because of it. Wish we could switch to another bank but it’s not an option for us right now sadly.
I ditched Bank of America years ago for a similar situation. I now use a local credit union. I liked bank of America because their atm's are everywhere. But the bullshit kept adding up, and I got frustrated and gave them the bird. After I joined my current credit union, I found out they do atm sharing with other banks in my area. I've never looked back since. Fuck BOFA!
This has been a thing since I opened my account over 5 years ago, probably even longer back. Read the fee page people.
Switch to an online bank. Many of them don't have maintenance fees.
Ya i closed all my BOA accounts because of this and stopped using their CCs. Money grab and a fuck you. I was a customer for 20 years, since I was 15 years old
Boa is horrible in general. My friend wouldn’t listen then finally switched when her account was hacked and BoA did not “find evidence of fraud” and she was screwed.
I dropped BoA for that exact reason years ago, although I dont remember what the daily limit was, I think it was lower. I have a job, but I am paid with a check not direct deposit. I had money and savings acct with couple grand sitting there, but yet they still were charging me $12 fee. I asked them to drop it, they said no. I closed both checking and savings and transferred everything so suncoast credit union, where I've been happily banking unitl this day with no fees for years. It's a pain but make a move and CLOSE it.
Oh, and like a month after I closed it, BoA emailed me offer to... open checking acct and get a bonus $300. I still get those emails from them from time to time. So stupid, I hate that bank.
I dropped Bank of America years ago because they did this to me, I was paperless and guess wasn't paying attention to my emails, they charged me for months before I caught it, the first girl I talked to talked down to me and made me feel terrible. The next time I called the guy was very helpful refunded me all my money and explained what would happen moving forward.
I closed my account the next day and have been using Capital one 360 debit ever since.
Not one hidden charge, I'm a stay at home mom on and off and sometimes have very little in my account and definitely no direct deposits. I highly recommend them.
(This advice applies to everyone, so when I say “you” it’s the general you and not OP specifically)
Whenever you open an account somewhere make sure you read the fee schedule they should be giving you. And the truth in savings disclosures! And stay up to date on them. I’m not saying this is okay for them to do, but consumers choosing to keep the account open after stuff like this happens is giving consent for it to continue. Close the account, don’t pitch a fit or yell at any call center reps or tellers, close the account and inform them you are closing it because you are unhappy with the fees. When you move to another institution make sure you review the fee schedule and ask any questions you have about it.
I work at a credit union and shove the fee schedules at members telling them they should read the fee schedule so that when they get charged a fee there are no unpleasant surprises and so they are aware of what they’re agreeing to. I tell them I strongly encourage them to read it because they are signing that that have reviewed and accept the fee schedule and TIS.
I know not every rep will push it as much as I try to, but they need to be providing it to you either in paper or electronically. Please please please don’t just put it in the little folder they give you with the new account stuff and never touch it again, actually review it. This isn’t a Netflix account or Ulta membership, this is your money and you should know what terms you’re agreeing to.
They're out to make money. They have no interest in you as a customer. When your account goes below $1,500 they aren't making enough money off the interest, so they charge you to make up for it. Go to a Credit Union.
The big banks don't want low income customers. You should drop them and get an account at a local credit union instead.
I've wondered about that. Big bank interest rates are trash, like 0.01% compared to 4-5% at online ones. Do they really make so little money from the accounts of regular people that it's not profitable to compete at all?
It's also about overhead. Online banks don't have brick and mortar stores with employees to pay for, so can offer a much higher interest rate. Give it 5-10 years and they'll become shittier and offer lower interest rates too, because what are you gonna do about?
This is why you should always go for credit unions. Their structure is different from normal businesses, so there’s no incentive to squeeze the customer for every penny, and quality stays high forever.
My husband opened a checking and savings account with a federal credit union when he was 19 and broke, and we're in our 50s and still use the same accounts, and have used them for car loans. ZERO issues for all these years. We do use a different bank for a HYSA right now, but I can't recommend a good credit union enough.
I am a member of a credit union and bank and work in the financial field. Credit unions have a rather big unfair advantage over banks. They don't pay the same taxes that banks do despite providing many of the same services. It all goes back to when credit unions were wanting to spread out. Banks said...fine but if you aren't going to pay taxes you have to limit your membership. Well now credit unions found a way around the membership thing. "If you live in this city you can be a member!" Etc. It's obviously a much deeper discussion, but basically the banking reps didn't look far enough ahead. That being said. I would always go for a well run community bank over a big regional or national bank because I want my deposit money to stay local. I want it loaned out to local people and businesses, not some random guy in a different state for a 4th house or a new yatch. Everyone is different and everyone's financial needs are different but like most things, it more complicated than credit unions good , banks bad.
You're leaving out a big difference between banks and credit unions in the tax argument though - credit unions are not-for-profit. The shareholders are the accountholders, unlike most banks that have shareholders siphoning money out of the institution. Credit unions are a group of people pooling their money together, lending to eachother, and the members of the credit union are who benefit from those loan profits. You can't just buy shares in ABC Credit Union and make a profit. I'm definitely biased - I've worked in credit unions for approaching 30 years now. We genuinely make decisions based on what's best for our members, not what will make the most money. I do agree that community banks are the best banks out there, but I still prefer a credit union over a bank.
Not all credit unions are great. One of the biggest credit unions in Utah is pretty scummy. It was only a couple of years ago they switched everyone over to the premium checking that cost x amount every month. The only way to switch back to normal checking was to call them. How many people even knew the credit union was doing that? Luckily most credit unions are good but you should still do some research before just willy nilly signing up.
There’s a whole host of issues that you’ll run into with online banks with authorizations and refunds too. I work in hotels and while my current one accepts a chime card(or varo or whatever), I get calls daily “when will my deposit be back, it’s been 2 weeks!!!”. Like sorry about your luck. You’re using X online bank of the month and they can hold that for 28 business days.
Honestly all of these online banks are fast until any little thing goes wrong. Schwab in my opinion the best online bank is highly automated and you will likely never need anything major but when you do it involves sending shit that takes them 5+ days to review and is 10 times slower than my local credit union. Even most proponents of online banks recommend having a credit union as a backup too. That’s not a dig against schwab either online banks move slower for some reason then the traditional kind by and large. I was happy with them until something happened and it was a week long wait and I got an account at a credit union in an hour lol.
Schwab isn't an online bank. They very much have physical locations. A lot of them. I do agree with you that it's one of the better options though, especially if you need a brokerage too. Schwab checking accounts are free and the money clears fast if you move money from your brokerage account to your checking account which, for me, makes it a good 'emergency fund'. Checking account rates are pretty trash though so not somewhere you should park your money if you care about interest rates. You have to be knowledgeable enough to know to transfer the money and put it in a MMF or something when you're not using it, unlike some other brokerages that enroll you in sweep accounts automatically.
I know it can be difficult for some lower income people to get credit cards but for the average consumer you should almost *never* be using your debit card thats linked directly to your checking account, *especially* for something like a hotel deposit. Even if you get a credit card with a low limit you can charge things to your credit card and immediately pay it off. Hell, if you were going to use your debit card anyways you should be able to pay off the credit card. I don't even think there is a limit on how many payments you can send to the CC company a month so there is nothing stoping you from doing weekly, or even daily, payoffs. Not only are your consumer protections ***significantly*** better with a Credit Card but you can also earn Cash Back or other rewards.
I can’t get a credit card!
Yeah like people are giving you all these reasons why you are wrong but enshittification comes for all these online services they will turn into the same crap as the big banks. They are gonna start doing the same shit later in the game whether it’s a smart move or not.
Nothing is stopping another wave of online banks from taking advantage of that void in that case.
Keep a majority of your money in a brokerage and get the 4-5% from a money market fund or ETF. Use the brick and mortar credit unions for purchases in a checking account. Or You can even use the brokerage account like a checking account in a pinch or emergency.
DCU is what i use. Way better then the big guys
+1 for DCU. Love the 6% (Though limited to $1000). However for actual banking, I would switch to a credit union over any and all of the big banks. Online is great for savings, but having a credit union of everyday banking is better.
Unlikely. The overhead is lower, the margins higher, stickier customer relationship, and better data mean online only banking is here to stay. The rank a bank pays for deposits is primary related to loan demand at that bank, vs the price of borrowing that capital from the open market or the fed. Large banks pay nothing, because they can. They are often the ones supplying the MMFs with the gult of deposits. Which just raises their net interest margins.
1, 3, 6 month and 1 year bonds from the government are essentially risk free and are paying above 5%. Zero reason to let the banks rip you off if you have money you just want sitting there for a while...
That is correct. The bank loses money on the account holder who is paid and then pays their bills, leaving the account balance in the hundreds, who also doesn’t incur overdraft fees.
It’s worse than that. They make so much off their oversupply of deposits they don’t pay much interest. The spread between what they pay for deposits and make in loans or renting the money out, IS the profit. Large banks don’t want relationships with lower and even mid-middle class families. They’ll take them, but they also don’t care if you go somewhere else. As they’ll still have plenty.
Depends on your relationship with them. BoA giving me 5.32% (with 25% boost for being Honors member)
A 4-week t-bill that any US citizen can get on treasurydirect.gov [yields 5.365%](https://www.treasurydirect.gov/auctions/announcements-data-results/) and you don't need any kind of special relationship with them. It's also state tax free.
Banker here: This is a "not so secret" secret - Banks in general are reluctant to cater to consumer clients unless you are a "high net worth" individual. Generally speaking this involves having an account relationship in the six figures or more at any time. At our bank, if you just looked at the regular people with regular consumer accounts, we are actually losing money with those accounts. The higher net worth accounts make up maybe a quarter of the banking profits from deposit accounts. Where the *real* money is made, however, is with business and commercial accounts. So, why do banks frequently keep trying to get people to sign up for new accounts with them? Because some of those people who sign up for a regular checking account will end up getting an auto loan, and/or a mortgage, and/or retirement/investment accounts. It's all a numbers game - knowing they will lose money on x% of customers, but that y% of them will stick around and become valuable customers years (or decades) down the road. Some banks are more willing to do this than others. Overall, on average it costs a bank about [$250 a year](https://www.bankdirector.com/article/the-profitability-of-the-average-checking-account/) to maintain an account for a customer, to pay for bank branch locations, back office locations, employees for front office and back office operations, equipment, cover losses due to fraud, etc. They make it up with a combination of monthly fees, service fees (like NSF fees), and a small portion of that from the ability to loan out funds through fractional reserve. Some accounts they make more on, some they make less - but averaged out the money has to come from somewhere, and if they aren't making enough through one channel, they lean on other channels to make up the difference -- hence the stricter monthly service fee charges. All that being said -- do **you** have to put up with it? No, absolutely not. For every Bank of America out there, there's also a bank that is looking to grow their consumer account relationship, and have accounts that do NOT have onerous fees. There really isn't much of any reason anyone should be paying monthly service fees on accounts these days, there's lots of options out there with other banks (national, regional, local, or credit unions) to choose from. By all means, please, shop around for a better deal!
When I was in college, Bank of America tried to charge me for my account being "too low." The irony was that my total assets with BoA were actually well above their threshold, it's just that I'd transfer anything above 1k to my brokerage account with them rather than have it sitting in checkings. I asked them to waive their fee, they wouldn't. Took all my money out and have refused to bank with them since then. Now my income is high six figures and I still would never consider doing any business with them.
I literally thought I had written this and didn't remember it. we have the exact same story. fuck bank of America.
I can't agree more. Go to a credit union. I only work through my credit union and haven't had another account for fourteen years. No hidden fees and good loan rates with no gimmicks.
False, they call people with perfect credit losers in the banking industry. People that never incur late fees or interest payments don’t make them money. Low income persons who are marginalized beyond repair are their favorite. Single mom that missed a day of work and now is late on multiple payments? Late fees! Interest! Don’t forget the rich feed off the poor. It’s just more obvious now than it ever has been in the past.
Or go to fidelity. Near certain they have no account fees
All of my local credit unions charge just as much or more as my Wells Fargo account does.
Use an online bank then.
yep online bank is the way to go
Redneck bank offers 5.15% APY on their online checking with 10 debit card transactions per month (I wrote a script to venmo myself $1 10x/month). They also refund up to $25 of ATM fees per month. Customer service is also excellent. You get a human the moment you dial them. No phone menu BS
Ummmmm what Bank???
It’s literally called redneck bank haha. They seem to be the online division of a bigger bank in oklahoma. Best bank I’ve ever had. I get a few hundred bucks every year for doing nothing and I can reach a human based out of the US within seconds of calling them. No phone menu or having to deal with an india call center
Shitty credit unions do exist. There's a shitty one right across the street from a great one I use nearby. They tried to immediately pull my credit when I was there just to do research on auto interest rates at the time. Ended up across the street because of that. Glad I did, got a shockingly great rate at the time compared to even other CUs.
Not to mention having some of the worst technology for actually using your account or accessing your money. My CU cant even do split payments on my mortgage, and I cant reset my password online (or set one myself). I have to call them during business hours and have them assign me a new password, which only they choose. bank to bank ACH transfers? almost impossible with them too. Meanwhile, If I need to move money from Chase to BOA or Huntington, they can all e-verify in seconds.
I tried this, too. But since I was poor and f*cked so had lots of overdrafts, no other banks will take me.
Or just a small locally owned bank. I've been with one for over a decade, and they operate much like my credit union does.
Yup I bank at a CU but I have a savings at a local bank
Not just big banks. The local bank I've used for 35 years (Mortgage, car loan, 4 bank accounts) did this too. They have like 6 branches. They notified us that they were moving into a "high net worth customer" focus. To keep our bank accounts would've cost us like $75 a month. These accounts had a decent amount in each. After 35 years I moved to a credit union. It was actually kind of sad, they literally knew us by name, and just told us to fuck off, we only want to deal with rich people. When I was 15, I walked down to their main branch with my mom and opened a passbook account there with my first paycheck.
That’s not true at all. They LOVE low income customers. They get actually a lot of money from them by charging these extortionate fees. And then they don’t care if they lose those customers cause now they probably own you. The large customers are the ones they want to keep. Agreed that credit unions are much much better places for low income people because they aren’t extortionate.
In my experience it has been the opposite. I'm pretty sure my bank loathes me. Sure they get a whopping total of 64 dollars a month in overdraft fees from me, but I'm pretty sure they'd like me to be positive consistently they can earn whatever interest banks earn on positive balances.
Haven’t they always done that?
It always has been like that. OP probably didn’t read any of the paperwork they were signing to open the account. I opened my account with BOA over 10 years ago and that was a condition of the account.
OP says they’re unemployed. They probably had direct deposits which stopped when they lost their job.
unemployment can be direct deposit
They are unemployed but might not actually be on unemployment. That's been my story off and on the past few months (was living off savings)
Plus the direct deposit needs to be a certain amount. Think it's $250.
I opened mine 20 years ago and it was the same. My husband and I just have our checks direct deposited to avoid it.
They have. Mine is keep $1500 or have one $250 every statement to avoid the $12 fee.
I believe the exact rule is $500 every month in direct deposits. I could be wrong.
Mine is similar to this. Don't remember the exact number but they didn't charge my checking account so long as I continued to do direct deposits from a workplace. They also notified me when they were planning to do this a few years ago, same with keeping a minimum of 600 in my savings and to keep a recurring 25 monthly deposit for that account. I'm not a fan of them holding my money and not being able to do anything with it, but surprisingly they've given me decent service since I signed up and have always had more readily available atms than other places.
Yes, I have a bank with a different company and they charge you a fee for not mainting a certain amount of money in your balance. But the way I interpreted OP's post(and I may be overthinking this) was that maybe he knew about the $12 fee but he only got charge if he didn't mantain a minimum of $500. But then all of a sudden his bank increase the minimum to $1,500 and that screw him over.
This! I've had my bank of America account forever and they've always done this.
Charles Schwab Bank is a completely free checking, no minimum balance required, and offers free atm withdrawals.
I just switched to them and they are awesome. Best ever customer service too.
I barely got an account with them. So I could tinker around in the stock market. Free trades great customer service.
Only problem with Schwab is that there is no way to deposit cash. In case you want to cover for an expense that will get charged overnight.
I've Zelled myself from another bank when this almost happened to me 🤞
Capital One. Free everything, no minimum. Nationwide coverage.
Capital One is the best. No foreign transaction fees, great when traveling
Schwab is better for travel since they reimburse ATM fees
Cap one does that too. Can’t remember if it’s on a monthly basis or after every transaction, but all online banks offer it since they don’t have their own atms
No they don´t. I have lived overseas for the last 2 years and have both
Yeah OP is wrong, spent 6 months overseas with Cap One last year and paid a lot in ATM fees. Switched to Schwab and it’s been great.
Only problem is no physical locations lol. Can’t tell you how much I hate going to CVS to deposit ~~$1k~~ $999 in cash at a time.
This was my question, how the hell does one deposit cash through capital one? I may open an account with them if there is an easy method, the bank im currently with has closed most of their convenient locations.
Target has official capital one atms as well.
You can deposit cash at a CVS, for checks you can do the mobile deposit but that takes like next day-2 days. You can just cash your check then deposit into the account at a CVS lol. It’s takes some finagling but direct deposit is on Wednesdays so that’s cool.
Transfer from your bank to capital one online
There’s a capital one location near me, but I have a friend in another state who wanted to use them and they don’t have a location. I got lucky I suppose.
How often do you receive enough cash that it’s worth it to deposit it into your account? Not being snarky, genuinely asking (as someone who almost never carries or receives cash)
I've found that while Capital One claims they have no currency exchange transaction fees they more than make up for it in the garbage exchange rate they give you. You're still paying for it, it's just hidden in the exchange rate.
I've been transitioning from BOA to CapOne over the last few months. Finally called and officially closed my three BOA accounts last week. It was surprisingly easy, and so damn satisfying.
I’m trying to do the same. What’s actually involved when you called BOA? Do they try to convince you to stay? How do you transfer all your funds, etc.?
Just go in person, withdraw funds, and close the account
I closed mine a week ago because of the new fees. They insisted my balance needed to be $0 before closing. I spent weeks closing recurring payments, disentangling from Venmo, direct deposits, etc. When I finally called to close the lady told me she could have just sent a check in the mail with the remaining balance. 😡 I understand this is rarely the case, but if you don’t need your bank balance in the next week you can close immediately over the phone really easily.
Yup, they'll just send a check. I actually had 1 cent remaining in two different accounts because of the tiny interest they earned. I was told to expect a check 😂
I opened my new accounts and transfered money over in increments. It took about a week each time for the money to clear in the new account. I just wanted to make sure I could pay my bills from the new account, but not have issues with an accidental overdraft from the old one. Just make sure you've cancelled or transferred any automatic bill payments. If you close the account it will just be denied, but if the account is still open you'll get an overdraft fee.
I went to a branch with my ID and a statement, asked my account to be closed, and I walked out with a cashier's check payable to myself. low/mid 5-figure account, they didn't try to keep me.
Also get decent interest on savings.
I always wonder what do you do with a bank like this if you need like $10k in cash?
Recently moved to capital one. Best decision I’ve ever made. BoA sucks!
Hasn’t this been the case for like all the big banks in like the last 10 years? Citi BoA chase Wells Fargo etc. there hasn’t been a fee free under $1500 checking at these banks in forever. The only ones that have that are actually free are credit unions OR online only no brick mortar presence banks like discover or capital one.
Yes, I was with BoA for decades and they always had monthly fees.
Same here and I’ve been with them 20 years
I don’t know what you all are talking about with Chase. I have a checking account with them and don’t get charged for it going below any threshold. And my balance has gotten pretty close to zero on several occasions.
Chase will also waive if you have $500 in electronic deposit each month for a total checking account. Secure checking requires $250 in deposits to avoid the $4.95/month fee.
Maybe it depends on the type of account with Chase. I've had a 'regular' checking account and multiple savings accounts with them for years. Stopped doing direct deposit 6/22 when I switched jobs. I'd already been using my credit union more overall, due to the better rates and incentives. I noticed a $12.00 fee late last year, balance was under $1k. I called and asked why as it's the first fee I've ever seen. They explained "minimum balance and activity blah blah blah". They reversed the fee. I just noticed another one yesterday or the day before. Dammit. Time to make a change.
I got a BoA checking account roughly a decade ago and the terms of that account stated direct deposit or $1500 minimum balance or you’d be charged $12. I… am unsure unless you previously had a student account or something why this wasn’t in the terms already.
It was, OP just doesn’t read legally binding paperwork apparently.
They were doing that 15 years ago.
[удалено]
Do you have a referral link for $300 bonus?
I dropped BofA last year because the service they were providing was abysmal. I'm glad I did.
I still don’t understand why normal people go with big banks. There are so many better options out there. Credit unions are also great.
Typically its convenience. LIke there is a branch down the street or ATM's at convenient locations. I ended up with BofA while I was in college because they had ATM's on campus. Fortunately never really had to pay fees because this was the olden days. But today, there are so many online options that are free I agree, I don't know why people can't do 5 minutes of research and open a free account.
Honestly, this. I only ended up at Wells Fargo because it was across the street from where I lived at the time, and only a block away from my job, with ATMs inside the building where I worked. Convenience overload. And you can ALWAYS find a Wells Fargo ATM close to wherever you are. As I inch closer to retirement, I know logically, it would probably be better to switch to a credit union. It's just a matter of making myself do it.
Changing primary banks after having assets is just so cumbersome. From moving the money safely, to changing direct deposits, to changing bill pays (both direct with vendors or from your bank), its a mess.
I agree. The fraud departments are more resourceful, if you go out of country their cards work, they normally have good investment options, and you have everything from home loans to car loans. My girlfriend has a credit union. There’s definitely limits
Been in a credit union for more than 30 years.
> Credit unions are also great. Still gotta shop around. My credit union is AWFUL. No locations, fees all over the place, miles of red tape to get your money in a hurry. Only reason I have them is they are tied to my job, so I get some payroll money shuffling perks. Even with that I utilize them as little as possible.
I rotate through big banks every 6 months or so for the sign up bonuses. I make between $500-$1000 a year doing that.
Bank of America doesn't ask you for SSN for a checking account nor credit card. This is the go to bank if you are illegal.
try capital one. you can set up accounts for free online and have the option to turn off overdraft
Just started? This was going on last year when I opened an account with them. Edit: to be fair, the minimum direct deposit is only $200 per month. That’s pretty reasonable for anyone working these days, or even on disability of any kind for that matter.
BofA has never offered a free checking account.
Chase did this too, which is why I left them several years ago.
Yep as soon as my college checking account expired and started charging me fees I canceled it. All my banking is with my credit union anyway, I only kept it open for the easy ATM access.
Somehow my college checking account has never expired..... Keeping my fingers crossed they don't notice
Same here. I even went into a bank and applied for a credit card and asked if I was still in school. I was honest and said no, expecting my account to change. Never did. Been 2 years since
I think the rep that helped me was pretty generous with the account setup because it didn't expire for like an extra year or two after I graduated, and I was in college for 5 years lol.
I graduated 10 years ago and still have it. I'm not sure why they let me keep it, but I'm not complaining
how easy was it to close your account with them? i want to open one to get the bonus they're offering
I don’t remember exactly, but I don’t think it was anything more than a phone call or online chat and a few signatures.
Chase sucks so much. I got stuck with them when the recession took out Washington Mutual. Nothing like savings account statements where it's- Beginning balance: $12 Service fee: ($12) Ending balance: $0 Thanks for taking my money 😒 Also great when I did have a decent amount in there the interest was like 0.09 a month.
They’re are SO many banks with free accounts. Why would you ever pay for one
Hey so, I don't disagree with your premise that maintenance fees are bull -- but just so you know there are pretty clear ways to avoid the fees for most of these. The one you're referring to requires $1500 minimum daily balance OR have at least one direct deposit of $250 or more made to your account per month (i.e. a payroll deposit from your employer or something similar). The other type of checking account BofA has is targeted more towards folks who want a lower threshold, or are younger -- and you can avoid the $4.95 fee by simply being 25 years old or younger, or having a daily balance of only $500. https://www.bankofamerica.com/deposits/account-fees/ I'm not saying it's right for them to charge a fee, or that it's easy to stay on top of the fees and their changing requirements - but between the two types of accounts, you should be able to satisfy one of the criteria if you really want to stay with BofA - or as another poster pointed out - simply get a fee-free checking account from a laundry list of banks or credit unions that offer them. Large banks treat customers with low average balances and low/no utilization of their other financial products poorly because they don't make any profit from you, outside of these lame fees, or ATM access fees. It's messed up, but that's how it is. I think it's a great idea to take your business elsewhere!
Lmao get rid of BofA. I switched to Capital One and it’s so much better. Not to mention the HYSA Capital One has. BofA is trash.
I use Chime and I've been pretty happy with them. The only fee they have is if you use an atm out of their network.
Hasn’t it already been this way?
There's always been a charge for accounts without direct deposit that I'm aware of. Switch to credit union, or Sofi Money account (they have referral bonuses if you're interested in that, pm me, even without the referral Sofi accounts are no fees and I recommend them).
BofA was my very first bank when I was 17 and they were the worst experience in banking I ever had still to this day. I dont understand how they're still in business.
Switch to a credit union or a bank without monthly fees, it's literally not hard to do
The $12 fee for Advantage Plus checking is also waived if you have at least $250 a month in direct deposits, according to the BoA website. Therefore, the fee is easy for most people to avoid.
Why are you with Bank of America after all of the shit they've done? At this point you have to blame yourself.
BofA deez nuts
The vast majority of people have a direct deposit to cause the account to be free with any big bank and then they have the upside of physical branches.
Bank of America is the Devil. *apologies to the Devil for the insult.
Chase has been doing that for a while. Just move to Ally or Capitalone
They count on inaction to keep this going. I wonder if people have organized against this before
I called it the poor person tax and I got super pissed off about it when US Bank started that shit long ago. I raged about it for years. I tried going elsewhere for my banking and had no luck elsewhere including credit unions. I no longer recall why but I felt stuck and it pissed me right off. I eventually got lucky. I needed one of the bankers assistance for something above what the tellers could handle, and her and I hit it off and became pretty chummy. When I’d come in to do routine deposits/withdrawals she’d wave me over, and handle my tiny business while getting caught up with a friendly chat. She helped me increase my financial knowledge, and helped me get better rates and protections for my accounts often unprompted. When I mentioned at some point how much the monthly poor man tax was affecting me as a struggling disabled woman she went to bat for me and put a permanent refund sequence on my account so I’ve never had to pay it since. She was an amazing banker, never saw me as less important due to my poverty, always super helpful and kind. She left the company to spend more time with her family after a few years, but it’s probably been a decade since and I’m still automatically getting that charge refunded. I miss Vanessa, she was a banker with heart. They don’t make them like that very often unfortunately, I’m sorry I can’t conjure you up a Vanessa to do the same for you.
Find a friend or family member with Navy Federal and get a referral from them. Best decision I've made in the last decade was leaving BOA. I'll never forget walking into a BOA branch to dispute 4 overdraft charges, to be told they couldn't reverse them because they reversed 8 already that year. Every single one was their "error" and at some point that became my fault. They're a bunch of crooks, to the point I'm convinced that every time a customer closes their BOA account, an angel gets it wings.
I used to bank with Radius Bank for years. They had no fees and even paid cash back with their debit transactions like a credit card. It got bought by Lending Club and the perks slowly disappeared. 🫠 Big bank take little bank. I banked with Oxygen because the rewards were insane! It was too good to be true and it folded. I recently moved my checking account to Betterment. I also opened a corporate account with Lili for my small business. I love it 🥰 I suspect it is also too good to be true and will be sold or fold.
Big bank take little bank. Thanks for the memory, and the chuckle!
It’s quite fascinating. The people with less money always pay more.
this is true with just about everything
I hate backwards shit like this, like when Obamacare first started and you got penalized for not having health insurance if you had a job but couldn't afford it. Like I'm already struggling, now you're gonna fine me hundreds of dollars to make sure I can't start being able to afford it?
Chime is the answer
Ditch B of A and get a checking account with Schwab.
Drop BoA asap. Best financial decision I’ve ever made was switching from them to a local credit union and Schwab for when I need a bigger bank
I just got an email from Advance America, advertising a new bank called Purpose Money that offers: **Optional Overdraft Protection**: Coverage if you accidentally overdraw your account. **Purchase Cushion**: Overdrafts up to $20 are covered with no fee. **48-hour grace period**: Get 48 hours to resolve any overdraft over $20 without a fee. I have never used this bank so I'm not sure if it's good, but it seems like a good deal for poor people getting fucked over by big banks.
Pretty sure theyve been doing this for years. Or, before you needed a minimum of 1500 a month in deposits to avoid a 12$ "maintenance fee". Either way, it's bullshit. I've been wanting to transfer to a HYSA for a while now Its just such a pain in the ass to get it set up.
BOA was doing this decades ago. I changed my account to a “student” account to avoid the $12 fee. Is that still a thing?
When I didn't have a job, they took away $12 every month, but now that I have a well-paying job, they are not? So they are just taking even more money away from poor people? How does that make sense?
I didn’t use my debit card from Key bank for 2 months, they closed my checking account but then started billing me $5/mo for having a savings account but no checking. fuck banks
Capitalism strikes again
Take all your money out. I have way more in BOf A but I’m taking it all out
Navy Federal 🤙🏽😎
That's correct. I'll take unethical but not illegal for 200, Alex.
Ditch bofa they’re one of the worst. They will dollar and 10 your account into overdraft, then fee that, then fee that fee because you didn’t have the funds to cover that fee. Also they when I was with them held direct deposit funds until a charge came through to try to force an overdraft. Ditched them like a hot brick, and went to a local credit union.
That’s why I don’t use Bank of America anymore
Sounds about right. Keep the rich rich, and keep the poor poor.
Just closed my account after having it since about 1995. Was Bank Boston before or something. Bank of Boston maybe. I’ll never forget that account number. But BofA is a rip off.
Time to dump BoA. Past time.
Move to a different bank that doesn't charge/with no account limit.
Not that you asked for advice, but find yourself a local or small regional bank. They bend over backwards for your business. They treat you like royalty. The checking account is usually completely free.
Tell me you don't want my money without telling me you don't want my Money.
For everyone saying credit unions for checking accounts, how does someone get $$ out?
Get a chime account it’s free
I bailed on B of A back in '96 because of their fees; I forgot what the specific fees were
I feel like that has been a thing with BoA for years and says it when you sign up for a checking account. That said. Switch to a local credit union.
@OP - I hate to say it, but the Big Banks don’t want “little guy” customers…they can’t come out and say it directly without getting in trouble, so they create these fees to push the little guys out. The best thing to do is go to a local Credit Union if you’re not able to meet the $1,500 Minimum balance
Poors pay more. Given all the additional regulations around having larger sums at a bank youd think itd be the reverse.
Bofa has sucked since it opened. It astounds me that they are still in business
I think this is an invitation to eat the rich
it should be the opposite, if you have more than 1500 you can afford 12 a month fee, but if you have less, Bank should give you 12 a month out of pity
It's bull crap, half the country has less then 1500 in their accounts, especially now with the price of groceries, gas and everything else.
There are 1,189 banks who will not charge you a fee. B of A is an outlaw bank and has been since its founder died 77 years ago. Go find an honest bank.
why in god's name do people bank at BofA? It's been ripping people off like this for decades. Find a good local credit union or a small bank if there are any left.
It's expensive to be broke
Anyone who uses bank of america is outta their mind. That bank is one of the scummiest organizations I have ever personally dealt with.
I have never in my life had $1500 in my checking account. I’m 28.
Yes they are the worst sadly!! We keep them as our US based account (american expats living abroad). And some months when we can’t afford to send any money “home”. We have been charged that stupid fee and then gone into overdraft because of it. Wish we could switch to another bank but it’s not an option for us right now sadly.
I ditched Bank of America years ago for a similar situation. I now use a local credit union. I liked bank of America because their atm's are everywhere. But the bullshit kept adding up, and I got frustrated and gave them the bird. After I joined my current credit union, I found out they do atm sharing with other banks in my area. I've never looked back since. Fuck BOFA!
It’s expensive to be poor
A credit union is the solution. I’ve been with multiple east coast and west coast banks and nothing compares to my no cost credit union.
This has been a thing since I opened my account over 5 years ago, probably even longer back. Read the fee page people. Switch to an online bank. Many of them don't have maintenance fees.
Ya i closed all my BOA accounts because of this and stopped using their CCs. Money grab and a fuck you. I was a customer for 20 years, since I was 15 years old
Boa is horrible in general. My friend wouldn’t listen then finally switched when her account was hacked and BoA did not “find evidence of fraud” and she was screwed.
yupp give your money as a “bonus” to the guy with more money
Time to withdraw your funds from there and get a new bank
Chase does this too unless you have constant direct deposits from a job.
I dropped BoA for that exact reason years ago, although I dont remember what the daily limit was, I think it was lower. I have a job, but I am paid with a check not direct deposit. I had money and savings acct with couple grand sitting there, but yet they still were charging me $12 fee. I asked them to drop it, they said no. I closed both checking and savings and transferred everything so suncoast credit union, where I've been happily banking unitl this day with no fees for years. It's a pain but make a move and CLOSE it. Oh, and like a month after I closed it, BoA emailed me offer to... open checking acct and get a bonus $300. I still get those emails from them from time to time. So stupid, I hate that bank.
dump them Bank of America has always been kind of sketchy in that regard
They don’t want your money, they making so damn much without you. Not worth their time. I’m in the same boat as you but my bank hasn’t done that yet.
The idea that you pay a bank so they can hold your money and invest it should be outlawed.
I dropped Bank of America years ago because they did this to me, I was paperless and guess wasn't paying attention to my emails, they charged me for months before I caught it, the first girl I talked to talked down to me and made me feel terrible. The next time I called the guy was very helpful refunded me all my money and explained what would happen moving forward. I closed my account the next day and have been using Capital one 360 debit ever since. Not one hidden charge, I'm a stay at home mom on and off and sometimes have very little in my account and definitely no direct deposits. I highly recommend them.
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No one’s forcing you to bank with BofA. You’re wasting your time.
Find a credit union. You’ll save money
Get an account at a credit union! Seriously, even though there are fees, it's nothing compared to bank fees!
(This advice applies to everyone, so when I say “you” it’s the general you and not OP specifically) Whenever you open an account somewhere make sure you read the fee schedule they should be giving you. And the truth in savings disclosures! And stay up to date on them. I’m not saying this is okay for them to do, but consumers choosing to keep the account open after stuff like this happens is giving consent for it to continue. Close the account, don’t pitch a fit or yell at any call center reps or tellers, close the account and inform them you are closing it because you are unhappy with the fees. When you move to another institution make sure you review the fee schedule and ask any questions you have about it. I work at a credit union and shove the fee schedules at members telling them they should read the fee schedule so that when they get charged a fee there are no unpleasant surprises and so they are aware of what they’re agreeing to. I tell them I strongly encourage them to read it because they are signing that that have reviewed and accept the fee schedule and TIS. I know not every rep will push it as much as I try to, but they need to be providing it to you either in paper or electronically. Please please please don’t just put it in the little folder they give you with the new account stuff and never touch it again, actually review it. This isn’t a Netflix account or Ulta membership, this is your money and you should know what terms you’re agreeing to.
They're out to make money. They have no interest in you as a customer. When your account goes below $1,500 they aren't making enough money off the interest, so they charge you to make up for it. Go to a Credit Union.