Banking Hell
I typically love my bank. The customer service representatives are friendly and useful. But I just accumulated $375 of fees during the past week. How?
My Visa debit card is linked to my checking and savings accounts. Because of a business transaction that I am preparing to make, I have been depositing only into my savings account. There is no real differentiation between accounts, as they both accrue the same interest.
I used my debit card for purchases during spring break. For each purchase, I was charged a $30 fee because of my bank’s protection
plan. This protection
transferred money from my savings to my checking account in order to pay Visa. For this value added service, I paid $30 per transaction. I could understand such a fee if this service existed to allow small overages, but I have thousands of dollars in my savings account. The transfer made between my accounts was automatic and completed electronically with no human intervention. Yet, I was charged $30 to access my own money, under one account number, but in a different account type.
The shift manager at my bank said that he would refund half of the charges, but he could not refund them all. Being that I accrued so many fees, I obviously was unaware of this bank policy. The protection
did not actually involve any human effort to provide, so basically my bank is profiting over a hundred dollars because I incorrectly accessed my own money. This is pure incompetence.
This entry was posted on Monday, March 14th, 2005 at 20:05 and is tagged life. 
March 14th, 2005 at 21:07
Yes, banks can be very tricky with their rules and hidden fees. So far I haven’t had any issues with my bank and I’m very happy with them.
They actually have a line of credit as my overdraft protection and there are no fees when I use it. Just interest if I don’t pay it off within 48 hours. So in essence it turns my checking account and debit card into a credit card.
But I almost never use my debit card anyway. Mainly I use my Amex and make one check out at the end of the month to pay it (well electronically pay it since I don’t ever use checks).
March 14th, 2005 at 21:20
I would use my credit card more, but I avoid my Visa credit card because it has a max limit of $600 and Capital One takes forever to process online payments. My Discover card has a $1000 limit, but is not accepted anywhere. I have a great credit score and I have built a small but good credit history through a series of small loans paid on time and quickly. I guess the reason I cannot get a credit card with a higher limit is because I make less than $25,000 a year. I just need the higher limit for making occasional expensive purchases for my small business.
March 14th, 2005 at 22:34
I read somewhere that with these hidden fees that banks charge on bank accounts such you’re describing it would be something like 600% interest a year if it were a credit card. D’oh!
March 15th, 2005 at 8:47
Typically if you call the number on the back of your card and complain you can get those fees taken off… Though, half might be the best you’ll get.
I used to bank with Wells-Fargo, but they started charging such outrageous fees (You’d get double charged if you used a non-WF ATM, so you’d typically end up paying $4-$5 just to take out money) that I transfered to Principal bank, which pretty much has 0 fees. They make all the money off of loans, so checking realy is free. Only problem is that they have no bank branchs, and unless you are close to a SHAZAM network, you have no free ATM’s. (Principal doesn’t charge you, the ATM owner charges you)
March 16th, 2005 at 0:08
A friend had this happen to her. She wasn’t checking her statements and didn’t realize that AOL was still billing her a year after she dropped it. I think she had well over $1000 in these type fees.
March 17th, 2005 at 11:09
Dear Jeremiah,
Please be advised that the links to HI-USA (Hostelling International USA - HI AYH) on your web site are directing to http://www.hiayh.org. This link is found on your webpage http://jeremiahlee.com/blog/2004/11/14/sophomores-honors-trip/. You may also contain this link in other sections of your website.
Can you please change these links to reflect the current branding of HI-USA?
Our main url is: http://www.hiusa.org
Our hostel department e-mail is: hostels@hiusa.org
Our Membership department e-mail is: members@hiusa.org
Any Technical issues should be brought to the attention of: webmaster@hiusa.org
Marketing, Advertising and Reciprocal inquiries should be sent to: mvidalin@hiusa.org
Thank you, Jeremiah. We see that some of your readers were recently attempting to link to our site.
Sincerely,
HI-USA Web Management Team
Hostelling International USA
8401 Coleville Road, Suite 600
Silver Spring, MD 20610
Phone: (301) 495-1240 Fax: (301) 495-6697
webmaster@hiusa.org
March 18th, 2005 at 12:51
“My Visa debit card is linked to my checking and savings accounts. Because of a business transaction that I am preparing to make, I have been depositing only into my savings account. There is no real differentiation between accounts, as they both accrue the same interest.”
I’m betting that’s where the bank “gotcha” on a hidden rule; most debit cards, while they allow you to deposit or withdraw money from either checking or savings (like any other ATM card), are strictly tied to checking for the purpose of VISA-type purchases. But shame on them if they buried that fact in 4-point type somewhere (Bank of America made that really obvious to me when I first got mine), and if you’d never had a problem before, that’s just weird. I’m glad they were at least willing to refund some of the charges.
March 21st, 2005 at 23:56
If your business is legally incorporated, try getting an American Express Cash Rebate Card for Small Business. I got one for mine and my credit limit was substantially higher than my personal credit limit.
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