WASHINGTON - Free checking accounts may be coming to an end.
Bank of America and others are preparing new fees on basic banking services as a way to replace revenue lost to new regulatory rules.
You may soon have to pay monthly maintenance fees on accounts that don't generate a lot of banking activity, The Wall Street Journal reports.
You might have to maintain certain account balances or frequently use credit and debit cards, automated teller machines and online accounts to avoid the fees.
Free checking accounts have helped middle-class and low-income consumers, but more than half of all checking accounts are currently unprofitable, according to a report by Celent, a unit of Marsh & McLennan Cos.
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9 comments:
Two words: Credit Unions.
Why should we EXPECT something for nothing? That's not fair or reasonable under most circumstances....banks have NEVER done things out of the goodness of their hearts...as a matter of fact most banks (especially the big ones) have no hearts.
We pay to play, and that way we can perhaps pay for ONLY what we use and consume, rather than subsidize those whose poor judgment got them in over their heads. I'll pay for my checking account, gladly, as long as I don't have to pay for someones foreclosure.
1:08 I think you need to understand how banks work some before you go off agreeing to pay for a checking account. To the bank you checking account is free money they can use to make money. They take your checking account and use it to fund a loan for someone to buy a car. They charge that person 8% for the loan, they have now used your money which you gave them for free to make an 8% return. The more money the bank has in these checking accounts the less it has to pay for money either in the form of a CD or borrowing the money from another bank or the fed. When the bank gives you 2% on a cd they again use that money to fund another car loan at 8% but this time they only have a 6% return becuse they had to pay you to attract the money.
So to sum it up, this is the banks basicly saying hey we are not making enough money off the free money you gave us, we are now going to charge you for giving us that money. So the bank gets its 8% interest and its 10$ a year fee.
Just wanted to give a very simple break down of how it works.
Damn you Obama
Thanks for that. My MBA didn't get that elementary.
Meanwhile my point WAS we should not expect something aka services for nothing. Nor should they expect us to underwrite their bad loans.
1:35 is totally right! But, I would add that some banks, Bank of America in particular, are also in the business of credit cards. In which case, they are lending your free money out at interest rates ranging from 17% to even 33%!! Free checking is the very least these greedy, GREEDY institutions can offer.
I know some of you may not like this but i have my check deposited into my Wal-mart visa card account , it cost me three dollars a month, there is no overdraft fees , because if its not there you cant spend it ,and i use just like i did with my BANK OF AMERICA card because it is a visa debit minus all the bulls$$t.
SECU!!!!!! Love them!!!
countrygirl@heart
HMMM, BOA just might lose me as a customer.
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