Posted on 01/06/2011 3:22:47 PM PST by ninonitti
Bank of America will begin testing a new slate of checking accounts in Massachusetts and two other states later this month in an effort to generate more revenue from customers..........
A second new account, called “Premium,’’ will cost $15 a month unless customers either maintain a $5,000 minimum balance, use a Bank of America credit card at least once a month, or add $2,000 to the account every month.
A third new account, labeled “Enhanced,’’ will cost $25 per month unless holders maintain at least $20,000 in deposits and investments in certain accounts or link their accounts to a Bank of America mortgage.
The bank is also testing the accounts in Arizona and Georgia
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
How special....
They already do this in Florida, until you close your account where they act surprised.
Seems like a great way to transfer customers to other banks...
Paging Captain Obvious!
They do that here in WA and I’m gone.
one time and im gone!!!!!
I have a CC from them. I have some direct deposits going into checking but I’m going to change them over to the CU where I’m a member just keeping the CC.
I predict this is going to become much more common over time. With interest rates so low, banks are now relying more than ever on fees and penalties as revenue sources.
I would hope that FReepers cut all ties to BoA after it was revealed some years ago that they were helping illegals to open accounts in the US.
20’th century: NOW account. Bank pay interest to customer
21’st century: BOHICA account. Bank sticks it to customer with monthly fees
Not a shill for Walmart, but this card absolutely saved my college aged son’s bacon:
http://www.walmart.com/cp/1073524
His paycheck had been direct deposited into a Huntington Bank account and 4 days later, my son would call me and lament that his check was gone before he’d even paid his rent. Long story short, when he would use his debit card, if he was mistaken by even ten cents, instead of turning down the charge, HNB would pay it without alerting the kid that he was overdrawn even a dime. So, they charged him $ 37.50 for the privilege of advancing him that dime (that he didn’t know about), and then $ 37.50 per day he was overdrawn. Those charges were lying in wait for the kid’s next direct deposit, and grabbed the moment his paycheck hit the account. Yes, of course, I lectured him about checking his balance daily, yada yada yada. But, kids can be stubborn. And let’s face it, lectures by Mom are boring. I got a lot less boring when he allowed these fees to consume ALL of one paycheck and half of the next check, without any of his bills being paid. This caused him to go into full PANIC mode, which got his attention better than I ever did. Mind you, through all this, HNB was texting him about all the great deals they had for him, but never once that his account was overdrawn. No phone call, no email.
I loaned him the money to get back on track with the caveat that he HAD to open this precise account at Walmart and have it paycheck direct deposited in there. Period. Why? There are NO OVERDRAFT fees. If your account contains $ 2.00, and the loaf of bread you want is $ 2.29, it will decline your debit request. End of story. No fee, nothing. Go back and pick out a cheaper loaf of bread, sonny.
He picks up one money order a month for his rent, and pays the rest of his bills using it as a debit card. It’s been nearly a year and he has had NO problems at all.
Chase is doing the same exact thing here in WA effective Feb. 1'st.
However... an account is exempt if there's a qualifying direct deposit of $500 or more each month, or the above-mentioned balances.
The cause of this is the new Federal regulation forbidding banks from charging for more than 3 overdrafts per day. The banks need to find a way to cover the costs incurred by people who bounce loads of checks all the time.
OMG! Those nasty corporations are making everyone pay for the sins of the few because the great and benevolent government says that personal responsibility is passe?
[/SARC]
IMHO we're getting close to the global banking business becoming a cartel - a cartel that owns legislatures and whole governments outright.
Basicly it'll force many of us to drop the multiple free accounts. My wife and I have 8 accounts... mainly to keep transactions seperate (for our rental properties, business, personal, joint accounts for taxes, etc) to make things easier for accounting. Now, we'll have to run everything through a couple accounts instead (and do more bookkeeping).
Yep. Banks make a profit on giving out LOANS.
Debt = Money
Here is a fun animation of the housing crash mixed in with a very quick history of money.
It is pretty funny. Bit of Back to the Future, Twilight Zone, and ends with a nod to 300, only 29 minutes long.
The American Dream
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kv2oCXbW4r0&feature=player_embedded
Well, I MIND what they’re doing.
They just stuck it to that taxpayers, with Treasury’s help, settling for 1 cent on the dollar:
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2011/01/bofa-putbacks-freddie-mac/
This isn’t normal profit making, which I don’t mind. This is legalized theft with the help of the Obama administration.
Ok, thanks for that info. So what it amounts to is we pay for others mistakes. I can understand a bounced check every so often but doesn’t the bank charge them for it? What’s it up to? Something like $30 per plus whatever the merchant charges back?
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