Banks don't want my business unless they can make money.

[CountryBoy19]

We pay $1.95 a mth fraud protection, earn a very small percentage on checking and savings and as long as I use ATM's in the network, no ATM fees.

Which Credit Union are you thinking of?

+1 No credit union should be costing money...

I'm a member of a CU, I don't pay ANY fees on ANY accounts. Free checking, free savings, free ATM, free everything... as a matter of fact, they pay me to keep my money there, my free checking account is interest bearing with no minimum balance, and it is totally free to have my savings account tied to the checking account to protect from overdraft (never used that feature but it's nice to know it's there)...

If you're paying to be a member of a CU, or paying to have an account there find a new CU... one that is member owned & non-profit (I earn dividends based upon my account balances), and the CU doesn't "profit" from it's members.

 

[indyjs]

Banks don't give good service to their own customers. Welcome to the service economy

 

[rockhopper46038]

Soooooo, you don't think that banks should collateralize a car on a car loan or a house on a mortgage? Personal loans are becoming a thing of the past. No bank is going to loan you money without some protection on the back end. Be it a house, car, or line of credit. I am someone who knows. My house is pledged for our line of credit. We used to give loans to the company to cover large expenditures, but stopped as it was inconvenient an the business needed to get a credit rating.

Noooooo, there's a big difference between collateralizing a loan, and the bank asking for a personal guarantee. I would certainly be willing to pledge unencumbered business assets equal to the value of the loan as collateral.

 

[Bill of Rights]

+1 No credit union should be costing money...

I'm a member of a CU, I don't pay ANY fees on ANY accounts. Free checking, free savings, free ATM, free everything... as a matter of fact, they pay me to keep my money there, my free checking account is interest bearing with no minimum balance, and it is totally free to have my savings account tied to the checking account to protect from overdraft (never used that feature but it's nice to know it's there)...

If you're paying to be a member of a CU, or paying to have an account there find a new CU... one that is member owned & non-profit (I earn dividends based upon my account balances), and the CU doesn't "profit" from it's members.

I was reading this thread and I'm glad to see someone else make this comment. I bank with Chase and like you, I pay no fees for anything, though I do have to have direct deposit.

It amazes me to see what some banks think they're entitled to charge to provide. Time was that you opened an account at a bank, they'd give you a free toaster or some other premium to do so. When you had money in a savings account, they'd pay you a percentage of the amount you had as compensation for you allowing them to use your money to make loans to others, from which they would make money. Checking accounts didn't pay interest, but you had the convenience of having the money there for your own use as needed. Somewhere along the way, the financial industry decided that they should be paid to make loans to people AND they should be paid for the privilege of allowing people to store money with them to make those loans possible. It would be the same as a store expecting its vendors to pay for the privilege of bringing product to them, customers to pay them to take the product, and employees to pay to be allowed to make it all possible, or conversely, a customer expecting the store to pay him to take the product and the garbage company to pay him to take his garbage away at the end of the week.

Somewhere along the way, the model shifted and I'm not very fond of how it changed. I'm very happy that my bank has resisted the temptation to shift along with it. FTR, not only do they understand that the customer is not an interruption of their work but the reason they have jobs, they also respect my right to carry.

And no, Chase has never once asked me if I had an account unless the transaction involved risk to them (such as cashing a to-party check.(I think that's the correct "to" to use, though most seem to call it a "two-party" check ))

OP, I'd drop a note to the customer service dept. of the bank you asked to help you. Let them know where you were and if you recall, to whom you talked. Tell them you don't want anyone in trouble, but that you would like to know if the attitude you received is indicative of their policies or an anomaly. When they answer, thank them and tell them either that they've gained a potential customer (if the employee failed to follow their policies) or lost one (if the reverse.)

At the same time, I'd write to Chase's customer service dept. and let them know you appreciate what they do and how they treat people who don't have accounts with them. If there is a reason you don't have accounts with them (such as a business that uses some service of another bank or some such), you might tell them why, but add that if those reasons ever change, that they will be the first financial institution you'll consider for your business.

Come to think of it, I think I'll write a similar letter to them myself.

Blessings,
Bill

 

[Indy317]

Who said anything about charity? I don't follow...

Having worked as a teller, in a very, very busy, old established branch (read: Been the neighborhood branch forever, even though multiple buyouts), there are a few reasons why they don't want to deal with making change request:

#1: Counterfeit money: This is the biggest issue. Most people want change for a $50 or $100. Just so happens those are likely the bills you are likely to see counterfeited. The current scheme is to "wash" a $5.00 and re-print it with $50 or $100 patterns. If you look for just a strip, it will be there. If you look for just a watermark, it will be there. You have to read the strip, and actually look at the picture of the watermark. All this takes time, and even then, it isn't 100% that a busy teller will check.

#2: At our bank, we would have a line to the door on certain Fridays, and every Saturday the line was out the door for the entire three or four hours we were open. At least 20 people in line, most of them were customers and non-customers who are willing to pay $7 to cash a check. Having to deal with rolling coins, taking rolled coins, making change, only adds to that line. I would estimate that 99% of the people who asked me for change had no real wealth to be a customer worth anything. You are more likely to see banks make exceptions in non-busy branches, in more middle or upper income areas. There are some branches that know they are one of two or three in town, and you get more of a relationship with those branches.

#3: Tellers only make $10ish/hour. You get applicants on the higher half of the intelligence scale, but you don't always get very logical or bright people. Some won't think the 50 year old lady would dare to pass a bad bill, or that the rolled coins aren't rolled coins. Having to break open rolls and count money takes time, which is an issue with #2 above.

While it seems like no big deal, it can really be a big deal for certain branches. As such, one may find that "bank policy" might change from branch to branch. I saw plenty as a teller, really opened my eyes to the fraud folks go to defraud the bank. One example: There are still old Interurban Tokens (there are the old Indpls. area trolly tokens) floating around. My dad has some he found in my grandfathers belongings, a few antique/coin shops sell them. They are pretty much exactly the size of a dime. One of my co-workers took seven or eight rolls of "dimes" that were actually these tokens. She got nailed for a short drawer that was over $3. You rack up too many of those, you get fired.

 

[ccordray]

They're hardly freebies. As a bank customer, I routinely pay banks for the privilege of letting them use my money. I pay a per-transaction fee at the ATM when I withdraw money, I pay a teller fee if I talk to a teller more than twice a month, I pay a monthly fee if I don't let the bank use enough of my money every month, I pay to be allowed to pay my bills electronically, etc. I'm not looking for freebies. I'm looking for value. With a checking account that earns no interest, I'm basically paying the bank for everything and the only thing I get in return is the convenience of not having to mail an envelope full of cash to my mortgage company.

You really do need a better bank. I switched over to an account that pays interest on my cash and doesn't hit you with any ridiculous fees. They even rebate any ATM fees incurred at the end of the month.

 

[finnegan]

So glad I switched to a credit union after Regions tried to charge me for using my own money. Centra is who I go through. No fees unless you want the debit rewards program or withdraw funds from another bank's atm more than 2 or 3 times a month. Regions would charge me $2 just to check my account balance at another banks atm, then a $4 fee to have the card, then another $2 to withdraw funds, and then the other atm (usually Chase since I work in Louisville) would charge $3. So to get a $20 out at work, it costs $11.

 

[VaGriller]

I like how banks have started charging people to cash their payroll checks, from the accounts that their employer stores their money in and writes their checks from.

My company doesn't offer direct deposit, and my bank is across town. So what I had been doing was cashing my paycheck at their bank right around the corner from my work, using that cash for daycare expenses, then splitting the cash with my wife for food, gas, etc and depositing the leftovers whenever we made it to our bank. My wifes check gets direct deposited so we still have money in our account and there was never a rush to get mine in.

I found out their bank offers students free accounts, since I'm a student at IU I opened a free account with them so they wouldnt charge me 1.5% to cash my check.

 

[Prometheus]

One thing did throw me a few years back though. I went into a bank to buy a money order with cash. They said they won't sell me one unless I had an account with them. I was amazed, my bank would never be that dumb.

Lol. My bank charges a higher fee for MO's to non customers.

I have a story about service...

I was doing some biologics consulting and they cut me a check from Standard bank.

On my way home I didn't pass by any of my branches but I realized there was one in M'ville right next to the meijer I was already shopping at, so I figured I'd just drop by and cash it in person. Why not? It's THEIR check, shouldn't be a problem...

They wanted to charge me about $25 to cash the check since I didn't have an account. WTF?!?! It's not like I brought in a competitors check or something.

I just waited until the next week when I was passing by one of my branches but still I wasn't pleased by the experience.

What a crock.

 

[Lex Concord]

Banks are a for profit business who's product is the transfer and secure storage of 10% of their deposited American and foreign currencies. They are not a charity.

FIFY