Insurance Agent Forum

[healthagent]

Bank Of America Overdraft Fees Dropped: Bank Will End Fees By Summer 2010

For those who don't know, come July a Federal law kicks in where banks must obtain customer approval before they can process negative transactions and slap on those overdraft fees.

However, be very careful and warn either the younger people you know or those who are not doing well financially and live check to check with low daily balances.

This might seem great to them, no more $30 X 5 transactions over stupid stuff like $3.50 here, $8 there, etc...

But there's another side to this. If you do indeed live on the financial edge, come July those transactions are declined.

Yeah, you're pissed when you found out that the Starbucks $4.50 latte put you negative and you got hit with the $30 fee, however, now imagine you're checking out and hear "I'm sorry, we can't process this card."

Now imagine that at a restaurant - try to run that card for $50 and declined - you though you had enough funds but you were off by $5 and the transaction is declined.

In that situation you''d better come up with the $50 or it's very possible the police can be called and now you're arrested for theft of services.

When your trying to but an item you're fine, just put it all back. Embarrassing...yes. However, when you've received a service, like a haircut and can't pay you're in deep s**t.

So warn your sons, daughters, nieces, nephews about this.

You'd like to say "hey, just manage your money." It's not always that simple. I just got hit with a $108 unauthorized transaction. I had cancelled my web conferencing service in January and went with another service. But I check my account and boom - there's another charge. They're reversing the charge and everything's fine, but just saying...

[Full Throttle]

For those who don't know, come July a Federal law kicks in where banks must obtain customer approval before they can process negative transactions and slap on those overdraft fees.

I have a good buddy who is a banker, we were just discussing this over a few beers last week. Congress comes in the save the consumer, as a result, the banks need to make up the lost revenue from somewhere. The result, all the major banks are going to start charging monthly fees in their personal checking account programs to make up for the lost revenue. Unintended consquences, now everyone gets screwed.

My buddy told me that on over-draft fees alone, his bank (a decent sized regional) made 20 times more revenue than their entire investment/annuity departments. Over-draft fees and ATM fees are a cash cow for banks.

[0b1kanobee]

My girlfriend just had $3,200 stolen out of her checking account on two separate draws of $1,600 on the same day. The only way she found out about it was she tried to take out $100 at the ATM and her card was declined.

She went into the bank and she had racked up almost $600 in overdraft fees, so now she is out $3,800. The bank is doing a fraud check for her but as of now, 3 days later, all they have done is refund like $90 some dollars in fees.

2 months ago we were on our way to Tampa and she tried to use her card and it wouldn't work because they said her account had been compromised. Now 2 months later this happens and they don't believe her

This is Bank Of America. I told her to get a lawyer.

[stormtracker]

The first law of physics applies here: for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Jack with the money and the money will jack with you...

[healthagent]

Originally Posted by 0b1kanobee

My girlfriend just had $3,200 stolen out of her checking account on two separate draws of $1,600 on the same day. The only way she found out about it was she tried to take out $100 at the ATM and her card was declined.

She went into the bank and she had racked up almost $600 in overdraft fees, so now she is out $3,800. The bank is doing a fraud check for her but as of now, 3 days later, all they have done is refund like $90 some dollars in fees.

2 months ago we were on our way to Tampa and she tried to use her card and it wouldn't work because they said her account had been compromised. Now 2 months later this happens and they don't believe her

This is Bank Of America. I told her to get a lawyer.

I keep very low balances in my checking accounts where I either write check or use my debit cards.

The account I keep a fairly decent amount of money in doesn't have any cards attached to it and it's a savings, not checking account.

The only way I can get money out of that account is to visit the bank. The only way that account can get compromised if it someone literally hacked right into my bank...which I believe is next to impossible.

But when there's no debit card (or numbers) to steal, and no routing and account numbers on my checks to steal that's pretty darned safe.

With the very low limits in my other accounts my exposure is very limited. And for my tin foil hat moment, I actually have cash in a safe deposit box....just in case.

Oh, and the safe deposit box helps when my wife takes up with a gym instructor and zero's all the accounts. Lol. (Which actually JUST happened to a good friend of mine last year....8 years of marriage, she wiped out every account and left him while he was at work.)

[Robert Barney]

Actually, with interest rates as low as they are, cash in a safety deposit box sounds pretty smart.

[stormtracker]

I keep very low balances in both my checking and savings accounts. Times have been pretty hard of late...

[healthagent]

Been there.

[AgentOrange]

You know what's funny about this is Banks can't even make money off Banking so they have to squeeze overdraft fees from unknowing customers. Why doesn't thier card get declined for insuffcient funds?

How did Banks prosper before cheating customers? And I'm surprised some of you think that the answer to no more overdraft fees is find another way to screw the customer. Why not Banks getting back to good Banking?

It just shows the American consumer doesn't believe in fair and honest business anymore.

[healthagent]

You don't think the consumer has changed? Our parents saved money and when they borrowed it they paid it back. Now we don't save anything and when we borrow it, heck why pay it back - just go BK.

[AgentOrange]

HA, yes, I agree the consumer has changed. i also think the American economy has changed as well. I think Our parents would have a much harder time navigating this economy than the one as Robust and worker friendly that they knew.

[justinking]

Originally Posted by AgentOrange

HA, yes, I agree the consumer has changed. i also think the American economy has changed as well. I think Our parents would have a much harder time navigating this economy than the one as Robust and worker friendly that they knew.

Completely agree with you