Posted on 01/08/2011 11:33:26 PM PST by Justaham
Banks, in an attempt to wring more revenue out of customer accounts, are conjuring up new ways to raise fees on basic products like debit cards, cash machines and checking accounts.
As regulation curtailing the financial institutions from levying certain charges on consumers has mounted over the past year, banks have had to dream up new fees to replace those now trimmed by laws.
Banks are considering additional fees on credit cards and checking accounts. But they also are looking at new ways to make money on cash machines and especially debit cards as regulators pinch the cards' conventional revenue streams.
Banks are thinking about imposing annual fees of $25 or $30 on debit cards, according to people familiar with bank strategies. Some also are considering limiting the number of debit-card transactions that a customer can make each month, these people say. Another idea circulating in the industry: limiting the size of a purchase that a customer could make with a debit card.
New debit-card fees are "definitely a 2011 issue," says Robert Hammer, who runs a banking-industry consulting firm in Thousand Oaks, Calif. "The question is which quarter it will be and which bank will go first."
People familiar with banks' thinking say several companies also are considering raising fees on automated-teller machines for noncustomers, which currently average $1.63 per transaction.
Banks also are continuing to add fees to checking accounts, a trend that began last year. Next month, for example, customers of the former Washington Mutual will see their free checking accounts replaced by fee-based accounts from J.P. Morgan Chase, which bought WaMu in 2008. Customers can avoid the fees if they meet certain criteria such as maintaining balances.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Wells Fargo recently went from re-imbursing me for using non-Wells Fargo atms to charging me $2.50 or so. Just caught it. I took out $100 at a machine, got charge something like $2.50 by that company, then $2.50 by Wells Fargo. Going to figure out something. Maybe go with a smaller bank.
Switched all my business and personal checking and savings accounts to my neighborhood credit union. They don’t quite have all the whistles and bells like the big banks do - like auto read of checks for deposit - but they don’t charge a lot of extra fees - plus they actually remember my name when I go in.
just stay away from CoMerica bank...they are horrible for small businesses. I am leaving them shortly.
I’ve only gotten to know Wells Fargo since they bought Wachovia; Wachovia is an expensive bank to deal with.
Fortunately we had TD Bank in our area (they moved in when they bought Commerce Bank), and they seem to want to continue the Commerce Bank policy of attracting as much business as possible. Low or no fees, coin machines free for anyone (including non-customers) to use, open 7 days a week (though I’m not a fan of that one), and the policy that you’ll always get a live person when you call...
“And how is that any different than last year and the year before and the year before and the year before?”
Mainly because the falling interest rates have made them even more dependent on fee income; there is almost no spread anymore between what they lend at and what they pay out to borrow from customers. That is where they had previously made money.
So you expect banks to provide you with services for free? Welcome to capitalism.
Nice!
I hope and pray banks do not do this.
Last I checked banks are getting Federal Reserve money for nothing and paying next to nothing to depositers and loaning it out at 3-4% higher on mortgages.....a no heavy lifting proposition provided they perform due diligence in lending it in the first place and then bother to record (and pay filing fees!) subsequent transfers.
Now what's happened is that regulators have stepped in and begun enforcing laws against, oh say usury, and now the banks are crying poor mouth and effectively telling our legislatures that they're going to do what they damn well please as they immediately cook up more ways(fees) to circumvent the will of the people.......hence the term "bankster"
The whole house of cards is being held up only with the connivance of the Fed.
I changed to TD after Chase bought WAMU, I HATE Chase and my main concern was banking hours. TD is open 7days and that gives me a lot of leeway in getting to the bank. Never used the coin machine because I have too many coins.(heavy)
They also just last month reimbursed me on atm fees from other banks. They are pushing their OverDraft protection, which I am not interested in. But so far so good. Only gripe, shortage of tellers, so I usually use Drive Tru and have my kindle in case of lines.
Same thing with Citibank. They used to reimburse up to 2 non-Citibank ATM withdrawals per month. That went away in September.
If this starts becoming the norm for banks everywhere, I’ll be re’visiting the days of buying money orders for my bills.
Gotta agree with Grams A., C.U. is the way to go. I’ve had a C.U. account for more than 40 years and no complaints from me. No charges on checking (they used to pay interest on checking) no fees on ATMs. On line accounts available, after age 60 they even give you the check books. If you’re still just a kid, they charge a small amount for checks.
Don’t expect any big interest on savings accounts though. I only keep about a thousand dollars in it any more, the last time I noticed they were paying .4% interest (Please note the decimal point), banks are probably not much better though.
I checked my account statement pretty closely for the first 30-35 years and never caught them in a mistake, I sure made my share of arithmetic mistakes in that time.
On a side note, I used my C.U. debit at a restaurant about 5 years ago, around $30. I kept waiting for about 6 months for it to show up on my statement, being an honest person, I went back to the restaurant and told them about it and offered to pay and they told me to “forget about it”. (Who says there’s no such thing as a “free lunch”? I’m assuming that was a mistake on the restaurant’s part not the C.U.
I encourage everyone to go with a small "home-town" bank. Forget the behemoths where you're just a number.
Could this be a result of the Dodd-Frank financial bill that was passed? If so the banks need to be giving a shout out to Michele Bachmann who is trying to get it repealed. Fat chance of that, but it could be defunded.
Yep, I also went with a credit union...but there’s a push by the banking industry against credit unions for several years now.
And you are right...amazing they remember you!
The best advice is just dump banks altogether and find a credit union. Rule changes a few years ago make credit unions open to anyone. All you have to do is sign up. I don’t know of any credit unions that charge ANY fees for anything. Most don’t even charge closing costs on mortgages.
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