I just checked my account and found out I was charged a $15 "account maintenance fee" for the first time. Assholes. Better check your account - different types of accounts have different fees associated with them, and knowing what a bunch of dirtbags run Wells Fargo, I'd guess that they classified just about everyone as holding the account that charges the higher fees. I hate banks. I hate them so much.
My Wachovia checking account just recently became a Wells Fargo account. I checked and have not been assessed a monthly fee so far but will definitely be on the lookout for any. I will not hesitate to open an account elsewhere if any charges appear. That's BS.
Chase did the exact same thing to me last month. You have to watch banks, utility companies, etc. It's a rare month when i don't have to call one of them and get a BS charge reversed. As for WF- They suck anyway. They freaking charged me $5 to cash one of my insurance checks from Ike. I took it there because it was the issuing bank. The teller said she would reverse the charge...if I opened an account. I politely told her that she had just ensured that I would never do business with them again (the $5 being the "business").
Why shouldn't they charge a fee? Do you expect banks to hold your money for free and provide all the conveniences of modern day banking for nothing? Back in the day it was common place for every bank to charge a monthly fee. You seem to have a sense of entitlement that should not be there.
This is why they give out 'free' checking: Free Checking Designed to Generate Fee Income by Jim Wang Nearly three years ago, I talked about how free checking isn’t really free because you are earning 0% interest on your money there. Today, as I’m reading The Big Short by Michael Lewis, I reached a passage in which Lewis shares an anecdote at a lunch where Herb Sandler, the CEO of Golden West Financial Corporation shared his thoughts on “free checking.” Sandler said he didn’t believe in free checking because “it was really a tax on poor people – in the form of fines for overdrawing their checking accounts. And that banks that used it were really just banking on being able to rip off poor people even more than they could if they charged them for their checks.” We now know that new banking regulation make overdrafts opt-in. In 2009, overdraft fees generated $38 billion in revenue for banks, according to USA Today. That’s a lot of cash. In fact, some banks see over a quarter of their revenues come from service charges on accounts like free checking (and they’re talking about taking away free checking). As an aside: Golden West Financial was the second largest savings and loan in the United States and was purchased by Wachovia for around $24.3 billion in May 2006. Golden West Financial had about $122 billion in option-ARMs, which many believe severely hurt Wachovia’s financial position. You may recall, Wells Fargo purchased Wachovia in late 2008 as it neared failure. So, if you plan on taking advantage of free checking, be aware that banks see you as a way to generate fees. They say free, but they’re really thinking fee.
I fired Wells Fargo long ago when they charged us fees on a free checking account. The fees were for writing too many checks. Wells Fargo has always sucked.
I've been happy with WF but I came from Bank of America which is the ultimate suck ( was a customer since Nationsbank days). Once WF pisses me off I will switch to a local credit union or Frost Bank since thye are Texas based
I'm with Wells Fargo and so far nothing. But I have a college checking account (free) so I to remember to keep an eye out for them after I graduate as they might change mine to one that includes the fees
I've been with Wells Fargo since the 90's when they took over First Interstate. I haven't had any issues with them in that time. I guess I'll keep an eye out for "fees". Usually if they change the fee structure on your account, they mail you something telling you so (that most of us probably throw away anyway), but if they did so without telling you, or are taking it for no reason, well... that sucks.
With the new laws kicking in they are no longer able to generate as much income from over draft fee's and now "have to" generate income from other sources. The days of free checking accounts are over. Big banks are nothing but corporate greed who want your money in their bank to make money off it.
I've never used a credit union. But the argument is that they're not-for profit, so they're unlikely to charge unnecessary fees.
I'm sure they all do at this point, but the online stuff certainly isn't as refined as bigger banks with the resources to continually upgrade. I was with a credit union for years but switched to Chase when I moved to DFW. I tried to make it work with the credit union, because they 'partner' with each other to form a chain where you can go in and make deposits. But it's a big hassle- you have to fill out a form, etc. My old Credit union would charge for bill pay, too. I've never understood that. Why charge me for saving you time and money by not processing the checks I write? Stupid.
These are my sentiments as well. Big banks did not get big because they were greedy, it was because they offered better services. I do not want to pay 25 cents to send an electronic check to the electric company.
