Everyone has banking woes at some point or another. Growing up I would see NSF over and over again on my parent’s bank statements. Fortunately I am one of those people who can learn through other people’s mistakes and doesn’t have to experience them herself. I have never received any penalties from any of my banking accounts. When I received a notice from Chase saying that my free checking account was going to include a “new monthly Service Fee” I was upset, to say the least.
Of course there were ways to get out of the $12 Service Fee:
- Have at least one direct deposit of $500 or more
- OR keep a minimum daily balance of $1,500 or more in your checking account
- OR keep an average balance of $5,000 or more in a combination of deposit account with Chase and/or investments account with Chase Investment Service Corp.
- OR pay $25 or more in qualifying account fees (not including the monthly Service Fee)
Did you read that last line? If I had more than $25 in qualifying account fees my $12 monthly service fee would be waived. How sweet of you Chase (insert sarcasm). People already paying you double the amount of the new fee are exempt from paying the twelve dollars. What pals!
This particular account was set up for all of my rebate and mystery shopping money. The most this account ever had in it was $700. So Chase penalized me for being a good customer and I called to close my account. According to my letter I called one day after the new imposed service fee was implemented.
It is always weird calling places that ask for so much personal information over the phone. I had to provide my name, account number, address, and answer really weird security questions. I actually failed the first round. I guess I don’t know myself all that well (and I still can’t figure out who the Gelanar person they asked about it. What kind of name is that anyway?) Each time I had to give this information over the phone I thought “Wait, did I dial correctly? Can’t they tell me some bit of information so I know I am talking to Chase rather than some phone scammer?” Yes, the paranoia was in full force!
After a few minutes the representative said my account would close in 1 to 2 business days and that a check would be on the way. There was no mention of the $12 service fee. I guess I got lucky!
Research shows that more than 70 percent of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. Have you experienced any banking woes lately?
Leandrea is a married mom of two girls, ages 13 and 12, living in Atlanta, GA. She is passionate about helping people save money one coupon at a time. Read more
We and several family members have had nothing but bad times with Chase. We’ve all switched.
Hope it gets better!
Janet
http://www.homeward4.blogspot.com
haha, we also closed our accounts with Chase because of this. We have been with the same bank since getting married ten years ago(WaMu, who was bought by Chase), and this is just bad customer service. So we switched last month. When we went in to close our accounts at our branch, the teller told us they have been losing accounts like crazy because of the $12 fee. Chase, you deserve less business for this little scam. And it sounds like it’s happening.
I have had numerous problems with banking. When I was 19, I had an account that because of miscalculating by 36 cents, I ended up in the end paying over $400 in fees and penalties to the bank and various businesses. I didn’t have an account after that for years, because I was sooo traumatized. Then, I opened an account, but would not use checks to try to prevent this from happening. I was quick to learn that shopping and doing business on the internet could really mess up your account, with wrong amounts charged, automatic subscription and account renewals, etc. I ended up with several $34 fees for NSF. Now, I am so paranoid that I check my account repeatedly each day, just to make sure there aren’t any strange charges that are going to wreck my account balance.
With the new legislation making it harder for banks to charge overdraft and exorbitant credit card fees, they are looking to make up for that income. I think we will see more and more banks doing away with truly “free” checking.
I switched over my direct deposit and major accounts to Navy Federal Credit Union about 8 months ago and can’t say enough good things about them. You need to have a family member who is in the military, but it’s so worth it if you can get in!
What perfect timing for this post.. I also bank with Chase and didn’t like all of their new service fees. I am going to switch to my fiance’s bank soon.
Was it easy to switch over to a new bank? How long does it take for everything to transfer over?