Mon 1/17 Question - Bank Fees

[Deleted]

How much do you get hit with bank fees?

Special thanks to Bundle for the idea for this thread.

[toservewithlove]

As a rule I don't have bank fees. My checking account is free and pays me 4% interest as long as I use my debit card a minimum of 10x per month and have at least one automatic deposit or withdrawl. My bank will reimburse $20 worth of ATM fees per month, however you are not reimbursed what the other bank charged you. I try to only use my bank's ATMs and if I find myself out of town and in need of cash, I will find a big box store to make a purchase and get cash back.

[marvholly]

No fees here either. I will NOT accept them.
The bank has the use of MY money why do I need to pay them too (except for overdraft or some VERY special service)?

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

I've not had any bank fees since 1986, when I started banking at USAA. The previous year, I had about $12/mo in fees and realized that that was ridiculous, so moved my account to this bank and have been very happy with them since then. Even when I moved, I could find few reasons to move to a local bank.

I don't even have to pay attention to which ATM that I use as USAA will pay for 10 withdrawals/mo. Normally, I use the ATM at work and am not charged for using that (so nothing to refund) but when I forget to get money at work, it's nice to know that I can get money anywhere.

[readsalot]

Our local bank charges $6 a month for our checking acct. We get interest (lol, a few cents) and we don't pay for checks. I'm fine with this as it's only a few blocks from our house and we love that it's local and they know us.

[kimber45]

Zero and my bank pays me 10 cents every time I use my debit card (in lieu of interest)

[Deleted]

Zero bank fees... unless you count the payment on the safe deposit box!

Never paid a fee, and don't ever plan to....
Our checking accounts have no minimum balance; they pay interest; they give free checks.

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

Our credit union doesn't seem to really charge any bank fees that impact us. I did need to stop payment on two checks a few months ago and there was a fee for that, but I think that's pretty standard. I've never bounced a check with them, but I assume there is a fee for that, as well.

Our other bank doesn't really seem to charge a lot of fees, either. Though there was a 30 cent "international transaction fee" involved with using the credit card out of the country ~ but I think that's fairly common for most banks these days (except for a few, and I'm not changing banks over that issue.)

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

I did need to stop payment on two checks a few months ago and there was a fee for that, but I think that's pretty standard.

Actually, it depends on the reason. The last time I had to stop payment on a check, it was because the day's receipts from my gyn's office had gotten stolen. My gyn office called me to let me know and tell me to get a stop payment on the check.

When I called USAA, they didn't charge me for this when they found out the reason. They also said that they'd extend it, if necessary.

When I used my USAA ATM card out of the country in Turkey a couple years ago, I got a very good exchange rate on the money - same when I went to Mexico last year - with no additional charges.

[Deleted]

I had to look it up to be sure, but no bank fees here! I just have to watch the ATM fees. Once in a while I will get stuck needing cash when I'm no where near one of my ATM's.

[Waffle]

No bank fees. One thing I'm doing right, YEAH ME! ;D

[telephus44]

No bank fees. I won't use a bank that charges fees for everyday things.

Of course, I did just get hit with an overdraft for the first time since I was 17, I accidentally double paid my credit card bill online, and they sent the second payment back for insufficient funds. Grrr.

[Malarky]

A $250 balance in my checking account exempts me from fees.
Thats an average daily balance, so if I dip below, it doesn't matter
as long as I don't leave it low for long. I get email notification on those rare occasions that I go below.
There are plenty of ATM's in my stomping grounds although I occasionally pay a fee when I'm on vacation.
If I didn't keep the balance, it would cost $8 a month.

[vnot]

No bank fees for me either. And it's almost been 2-3 years that I haven't had a single overdraft fee. I shudder to think how much money I just gave freely to the bank due to my own bad financial habits. No longer!

[tiredboomer]

I moved my money so I wouldn't have to pay fees. I just couldn't accept that my last bank was making money with my money, and yet increased my fees.

[notallwhowander]

We have a credit union and no bank fees. Also ING, no fees.

I used to use Bank of America exclusively for checking and savings. Then, after six years, they slapped me with an almost $20 monthly maintenance fee for my checking. They claimed it was because my balance was less than $5,000, and that fee had always been there. I set up the account as a 17 year old student with far less than $5,000 and had never been charged a fee, but they told me that wasn't true. I withdrew every penny from my BofA savings accounts, closed my checking as soon as all checks cleared, closed my credit card, and got the heck out of there.

[suzwantstobefree]

I use a "national" bank and they don't charge me any fees. I have to have $10,000 in relationships with them so I have a $10K balance credit card that I use and pay off every month. If I didn't use the cc at all I would still have free checking and savings. It works great for me as the banks are everywhere (not BOA - they are terrible) and I can always find an ATM.

[Peace77]

I don't pay any fees to my credit union.

They pay me $6.17% interest and require a $5 balance.

[dancinmama]

No bank fees for me either. Free checking, free checks, free wire transfers (both incoming and outgoing), free safe deposit box, etc. When we relocated (5) years ago, I interviewed banks and I am so happy with what I selected. They have called me by name from day one.

[Apple]

I don't pay fees either. I've been with my credit union pretty much since I was born (my dad set up accounts for all the kids when we were young, shortly after I was born). They've had two mergers since then and while I like that they have a few better features (like an ATM--finally!) I miss the local feel to it--we don't even have a local number to call anymore

I tried a bank for a while since they had debit cards and my CU didn't, but after being hit with fee after fee ($4 a month to have a savings account, $5 a month to use our savings for overdraft--something we didn't need to use but wanted "just in case", etc.) When I went to close the account the teller got really mean with me, telling me that Credit Unions are for profit just like banks and that I wouldn't have so many fees if I didn't overdraft (which I didn't! it was the regular bank fees I was sick of). Anyway, I told her that because of her I would never use that bank again no matter what. I should have reported her--I wonder how many customers she convinced to drop their accounts.

[motherto2]

no fees here. I use the local credit union that I've been a member of since I was about five years old. Most of the workers are local so I know several of them. They have helped in many ways over the years and I'm totally satisfied. They do charge for checks, but I ordered them elsewhere and never have had any problems with them. Now since I use my debit card and have all bills except water set up for automatic debit, I don't write more than maybe 3 checks a month, so they should last me for years.

[Deleted]

No fees, however I would like a safety deposit box but can't find one for free, dancin, would you mind telling me what bank you get that with?

[Deleted]

Jan 17, 2011 8:52:28 GMT -5 @justaposter said:

How much do you get hit with bank fees?

Special thanks to Bundle for the idea for this thread.

My bank charges $39.00 per decline. Luckly, I haven't had a declined/return payment in over a year!

[Agatha]

I don't pay any fees with my current bank. Even if I were to use another bank's ATM my bank will refund the fee to my account. Maybe I'm prejudiced against large national banks but I love smaller regional banks.

The year DH died (almost 20 years ago) I took the life insurance check to our bank and was told because the check was so large they were going to charge me fee of something like $75, maybe more. I blew my stack right there and then. By the time the dust settled, the manager (called over, no doubt, to deal with me) waived the bank's fee. I still can't understand why the fee was necessary.

I also talked my aging parents into putting their money into another bank after I discovered they were charging them simply to talk to a teller. My folks were retired, recieving direct deposits from SS and pension plans, were not on the internet, and did not use the ATM. They were racking up 30 to 40 dollars a month in fees my little mother could not understand.

I guess this all goes to show. . .shop around! I know banks need to make money just like any other business but jeese Louise!

. . .end of wordy rant