Bank is charging me fees if I don't put more cash in

[Goldy1]

So I got a nice letter in the mail today. It from Bank of AMerica where I have a checking account. I generally keep about 2 to 3 grand TOPS in this account.
I keep my emergency fund and my savings in ING. I have only ING savings(no checking with ING)

The letter from Bank of AMer. said they are going to charge me $20 per month as a fee for each month I don't average a 5K balance in there or have a mortgage with them.

I use Bank of AMer for just paying some bills I have on autopay(mortgage) I only write a few paper checks a year. I do onot know if ING issues paper checks . I have a debit card but never use it b/c I prefer getting points for credit card rewards.

Now I have to find a place where I can get my money out of this bank. The interest rate is near 0 . Hence the ING account. I also use this Bank of AMer. account to occasionally cash a check written to me(rebate checks etc)


sigh.

[kork13]

Shop around. Look into local credit unions, or regional banks. In today's banking industry, there's no reason you should be paying simply for the privilege of holding a checking account at any given bank. Find a new bank and bid BofA auf wiedersehen.

[simpleyme]

I guess they are telling you they do not value you,as difficult as it is to change banks I would
If you are not willing to change you are going to have to meet their demands as no way in hell would i pay them 20 bucks a month

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Those are the worst terms for banking minimums I have ever heard. I'd get down there as soon as possible and ask them to waive it. Are you thinking to close this account?

[getforfree]

I also have Bank of america. They have student account with no fees. If you tell them, you are a student, they will change the account type for you, and you even get to keep the same account number. You don't have to bring any documents or proof.

[minnie1928]

I would just call BofA and ask them if they have a "free" checking account...most banks have something like this. If they don't, then walk to another bank and sign up for their free account.

[Goldy1]

Yea, when I was a student away at college, I used to pay about $5 for having a low balance on my savings account. (at the time is was usually $20 and just a place to cash my pay check)

I will find something. Actually I just finished up a certificate program as a student adn I have to go back for some testing so I honestly am a student! lol

[disneysteve]

I have free checking with BoA. Have had it for years. I'm not sure what the minimum is but I know it is way less than 5K because I don't generally have that much in there. It might be $1,000 but I'm honestly not sure.

[simpleyme]

my credit union has a 5 dollar monthly fee if you do not have 5K there but they add up all your acounts to get to that total and since I have an Ira with ithem i do not ever have to worry about it

back in the day when we did not have 5k there they did not impose that kind of fee,just my credit union slowly turning into a bank I assume suck for people just starting out today

[creditcardfree]

It looks like BOA's regular savings only requires a $300 minimum and has free online bill pay. I'd just switch types of accounts.

[MonkeyMama]

My credit union only has a $1 minimum. I only have to keep $1 in there for a free checking and savings account. ATM withdrawals are free, etc.

I'd certainly shop around.

I use my CU as a conduit - and ACH transfer everything into higher interest online accounts and to all our investment accounts. Well, pay all the bills too - but generally run the account to $0 since the interest is abyssmal.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Earlier this year my husband asked our bank to waive the small fee if the balance should go below $1000. I was surprised they were happy to do that, just for the asking. That was good for us as it is the account out of which we prefer to pay bills, but its interest is below 1%. We run our paychecks through our credit union account where we also keep our most fluid emergency fund. The credit union account had no minimum to open and paid 5+% until just a few days ago when it dropped a full percentage point. They also just added a $50 minimum to open the account, but no minimum monthly balance required. There are about a dozen credit unions we qualify for, but this one was much more attractive than the others. So, yeah, look around.

[Goldy1]

I went down to BOA and found out tey have 3 differnt kinds of checking accounts(basically different balance rules and fees etc.
I was in one called advantage which waved fees if you kep the 7 grand in there or have a mortgage with them.
well my mortgage was sold multiple times during my tay with this bank as well as the bank chnging names 3 times.

I got into a checking acct. that waved fees if you have direct deposit going in there and this one has no min. balance rules. I already had direct deposit so all the rep did was change the type of checking I had which took one keystroke.
They are sneaky trying to get fees out of people hoping they will not open the letter and respond. the letter said nothing about the other types of accounts.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

They are sneaky trying to get fees out of people hoping they will not open the letter and respond. the letter said nothing about the other types of accounts.

I'm sure we all hope everyone opens every piece of mail from a bank they do business with, even when it has the kind of postage that indicates a mass mailing. Maybe that is just one more small point that needs to be deliberately told to people when they are beginning to establish their own financial life.

[GREENBACK]

BOA has really lost my trust over time. My dealings with them have only been with a credit card and I've hardly used it but the stories I see time and again of them screwing people over have really made me wonder.

Goldy 1

I think it's ridicoulus that they would begin to charge a $20 monthly minimum on an account that basically earns no interest. I once had a "super now" account that required a big minimum but also paid about 5-6%. my basic checking account is now with National City and I rarely have over about 2k in it and their are no fees even when it goes below 1k. There are surely better options out there than BOA.