Comments on: How to charge $37.50 for a cup of café latte

By: Dave

Dave — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 04:49:52 +0000

There is a new B of A debit card that won’t let you buy anything if the purchase will cause an overdraft. I think there are other ways the bank is still able to charge you, so don’t cry for them.

By: Nigel

Nigel — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 03:29:22 +0000

One step in the right direction has just occurred in Australia. When you use an ATM and there are fees involved in the transaction, be it just a fee for an account balance or a fee for using another banks ATM, the machine has to display the fee and give you option of canceling the transaction at no cost.
I have noticed that many ATM’s now also itemize the fee involved in the transaction on the receipt.

By: Gail Frederick

Gail Frederick — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 01:06:03 +0000

Another reason to support your local credit union! Credit unions are customer-owned and operate outside the profit-driven banking industry. When we opened checking accounts at our local credit union, we simply requested that transactions be declined that would overdraft ourt debit cards. The credit union was happy to make the change and satisfy their new member/owner.

By: Brrr

Brrr — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 10:52:29 +0000

mark wrote:

“they cannot deny a charge that you requested. They must pay the merchant. The Newspaper guy who had issues with his daughter’s acct was wrong. You can’t ask a bank to deny a charge the daughter requested. 1. The customer, the daughter requested it.
2. The merchant must be paid.
3. A fee will be incurred if the charge went over the available balance.”

Sure they can. Mine does. If I’m going to be overdrawn, my debit card transaction will be declined, and I have the option of using another account, a credit card, or to accept the charge and go into overdraft. Until I read this article, and the comments section, I had no idea that other banks did not operate the way mine does. It just seems like the logical way to serve your customer.

By: dave

dave — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 20:01:47 +0000

BofA used to pull that crap on me many years back.

And EVERY time i would go into the bank and threaten to withdraw my funds if the didnt reverse the charges.

and EVERY time they made an “exception” and reversed the charges.

By: Donna

Donna — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 04:52:58 +0000

I am torn about this issue. I can honestly say that I do everything that I know how to act resposibly when it comes to my finances and checking account. But should we really let the banks outright “steal” from people because they are uneducated in these matters? The answer is NO! Not everyone is in a position in life to recieve the same formal education when it comes to finances. The banks owe their customers a fairer shake on this. And it wouldn’t hurt if mandatory personal finance classes started as early as 1st grade in all public and private schools. Unfortunately most people have to learn these things through the mistakes they make and some people can’t even grasp the subject then. Do Americans have to become homeless, jobless, and penniless before anyone steps in and makes the banks act in the best interest of all concerned? I know that there are always winnners and losers in the econmics of life but that doesn’t mean it’s okay ruin lives because of greed!!!

By: Mike

Mike — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 18:19:43 +0000

Fire your bank. Withdraw your money and close your account. If enough people do it, the bank will fail due to undercapitalization. It should.

The tough part is finding a bank that behaves reasonably. A bank with reasonable policies which were specificically advertised would likely gain quite a bit in this environment.

By: Matthew J. Marshall

Matthew J. Marshall — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 16:09:55 +0000

I was a retail bank manager for about 5 years and more than 50% of our branch profit was generated via overdraft fees. From an incentive standpoint, we were held to impossibly high standards regarding the amount of fees that we were allowed to refund (i.e., the best branch manager would refund $0 fees ever).

The entire customer-bank relationship needs a paradox shift from one based on conflicting interests to one based upon mutual gain.

P.S. the justification that we used for putting through the most expensive items first (besides the obvious fee generation) was that more expensive items tended to be more important to have paid (mortgage/car note) rather than the $3 lattes. I know it’s a crock, but it’s what we used!

By: jbuford39

jbuford39 — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 03:06:02 +0000

I still want to know why the government permits banks to charge both the depositor and the check writer when a check bounces. The depositor is an innocent bystander. Banks always try to rip consumers off, and why not, since they know the government will always bail them out and protect them.

By: Jago

Jago — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 09:44:55 +0000

I live in Holland and fortunately, we don’t have these criminal constructions, most banks offer a standard overdraft credit (with interest of course, but based on a yearly rate).

But I came up close and personal with this thing when I was in Australia: http://jcvda.blogspot.com/2007/01/honour-fee-vs-foreigner.html