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Weeks before graduation, I received a letter from my bank telling me I would no longer qualify for a student account and that I needed an average daily balance of $1,500. Boo!
With my student account I managed to avoid bank fees as long as I never stepped in to the bank and only used the ATM for my transactions. According to the bank’s letter, the fees would kick in on or after June 4. I prepared by transferring money from my savings account on June 1.
A couple days later, I was slapped with a $8.75 fee. What?!?! I couldn’t believe it. I immediately called my bank.
“Hi. I’d like to know why I was charged a fee when I met the average daily balance for my account.”
“Sure, let me check our records,” said the bank teller.
Turns out I
misread the letter. The letter stated the fee would take effect on my statement beginning on or after June 4. My statement had begun May 19 and I made the transfer in the middle of my statement period, which was not enough to bring my average daily balance to $1,500. Rats! How could I complain when I hadn’t been diligent enough to make sure I understood when the fees would start?
This is the only bank fee I’ve ever had to pay, knock on wood! This account had several fees that I managed to avoid. Fortunately, I did not have a limit on how many times I could make transactions. I avoided paying a $3 bank fee plus the other ATM’s charge by only using my bank’s ATMs. I also avoided a $8.95 fee for entering the bank to talk to a teller by calling them instead.
There had been no monthly cost up until the $8.75 fee for not meeting the average daily balance — and I wanted it to continue this way.
“Is there a way to avoid having a minimum on my account?”
“Yes. You can set up a direct deposit.”
“That won’t work. How about another type of account?”
“We have eBanking, but you can’t walk in to the bank to speak to tellers and you have to receive your statements online or you’ll be fined.”
“That’s fine. Can you please change my account?”
An hour later, I had solved my main problem. No more average daily balance for me. Though I never did get out of paying the $8.75 fee.
I’m going to try this new account for a while and if it ends up not working for me, I’m walking. I’ll find a better bank to save money. Have you changed banks to avoid fees? What did you look for?
Welcome to Bargain Babe! I’m Mara, and I’m so glad you’re here. I am an obsessive bargain hunter and penny pincher, and I am determined to live a full life without EVER paying full price. 
I’m frustrated reading this! I would call back and push for a refund of the original $8.75 fee. It sounds like – and I could be wrong – the letter explaining the new fees was incredibly confusing. The bank could have done more to clarify when the fees would kick in and what you could have done to avoid them, no?
You tried your best, made a transfer to avoid the fee, and, assuming you’ve been a good loyal customer, you deserve a break.
If the first rep you get on the line can’t help you ask for the manager until someone will help you. Be polite but VERY persistent!
It amazes me that there is a charge for going into the bank and talking face-to-face with a teller! Isn’t that part of doing business in general and having a relationship with your bank in particular? What other businesses can pull this off and get away with it? Which ones would try?
We’ve changed banks based on interest rates, convenience of ATMs, and such. We’re presently with Ally, which is online only, but it has lots of types of interest-bearing accounts, reimburses for ATM fees, you can contact someone 24/7, etc. So far, so good overall.
One of the things that I wanted to mention is that direct deposit doesn’t have to be from an employer, it can be set up from bank account to bank account.
DH and I had this problem in keeping our local back-up account active – so we had a transfer arranged from our main bank account each month and presto! no fee.
Just thought I’d add that in case someone else didn’t know – we were blown away when we learned about it!
@Connie It would be great if my bank considered transfers from account to account a direct deposit. I would totally do it, but they don’t. Bummer!
@Diane I’ll keep your bank in mind in case I have to ditch mine.
I would look for a community friendly place like a credit union instead… the banks are very unfriendly (never mind the smiles and occasional free candy!)… they are harsh and cruel business people… They regulations are terribly archaic and not user friendly. I had a day when I realized I was going to bounce a number of transactions… I caught it early in the day and raced over to the bank before the damage would be a disaster… there were several transfers and payments scheduled and I definitely didn’t have the funds in the account… I spoke in person (no charge) to a rep in the bank, she said it would be fine and I could make a deposit to cover the amounts… phew! Right? Nope… Although I put it way more money (I wrote a check from another local bank, a credit union actually)… when I looked it up the next day I had multiple fines… $35 each! They do the biggest to lowest transactions first… that way, my balance dropped immediately, then the 2 $25 dollar transfers already had insufficient funds, another $12 insurance transfer bounced too… I went back to complain/ talk about it (none of the charges showed up till the next day)… she told me that since I deposited a check rather than cash, (cash would have been the first transaction retroactively of the day) there was a delay of clearing the check… in this day of electronic banking??? Why didn’t she tell me in person so I could have gotten the cash instead? I did manage to weasel out of 2 of the fines, but all those little amounts caused a huge headache! Yes, I take responsibility for the mistake of my balance, but the computer program hadn’t posted anything until the next day… Very frustrating and they have lost the majority of my business. Not all, due to the incredible convenience of their location in our supermarket for Sunday