[OldChum]

Probably not new but Iam tired of paying service charges to a bank, which has ask me to put my money in them. Where their service is better then the guy down the street, so they say . Why should I pay to get told on the phone how much of my money is there, just a thought.

[Mr_Canada]

I agree.

I hate banks, tbh.

[Brenda]

Actually, it surprised me when I moved here that banks charged for an account... And for EVERYTHING you do with your money...

Charging only businesses and getting the interest of OUR money should be plenty to keep banks alive...

[gigs]

CIBC/PC Financial.

Service Charges....ZERO

[commanderkai]

It pisses me off too. I have to pay them...to access my own damn money. What the fuck kind of logic is that? I'm thankful, at least, that I have free ATM usage, but seriously.

[raydan]

I do ALL my banking online and pretty much never go to the bank.
You may find this strange since I worked 23 years in the industry.
Since I pay everything online, I write maybe 1-2 checks a year so I pay very little service charges.

Not to defend banks but it's a strange business to run.
They have few options to offset rising costs:

cutting costs (not much more they can cut here)
raising the difference between the cost of money (interest paid out) and the revenue from that money (interest on loans)
raising service charges

We've been hearing since the beginning of the recession how solid our banking industry is. Don't forget that this has a cost, to banks first and eventually to consumers.

But you're right, service charges suck big time.

[Brenda]

I bank online too, I don't even HAVE cheques (from one bank. I do from another), but not every company is set up to bank online. Not even the government. And then still, you have your monthly fee. Unless you have an x amount in your account, always. Hello, MY MONEY!! Why would THEY get the interest and I can't touch it, unless I want to pay monthly fees??

Then, I can't use my cards when I have less than x in my account... And that x is not 0... Ridiculous, really...

Oh, btw, when I asked someone at my bank about banking online, she said: "I don't know, I NEVER bank online..." I mean.. wtf??

[raydan]

What??? not the government.

I pay my taxes online.
City and school taxes as well.
Driver's license and car registration.

If someone at my bank answered a question like she did, I'd change banks.

[commanderkai]

Brenda wrote:

I bank online too, I don't even HAVE cheques (from one bank. I do from another), but not every company is set up to bank online....And then still, you have your monthly fee. Unless you have an x amount in your account, always. Hello, MY MONEY!! Why would THEY get the interest and I can't touch it, unless I want to pay monthly fees??

Then, I can't use my cards when I have less than x in my account... And that x is not 0... Ridiculous, really...

I'm exactly in the same boat as you, Brenda. I'm a 19 year old university student. The fact I have ANY money should make the bank happy, but every month, it seems that my bank account is charged 1.25 or something for having money in their bank. I mean, don't pay interest on my God damn money if you're going to freaking take more out in service charges.

[Tricks]

I wonder if these charges had anything to do with our banks doing so well through the market crash....

[BartSimpson]

I've had Washington Mutual/Chase since 1998 and I have never paid a fee and they also give me free checks.

[herbie]

Open a business account. They charge you to deposit money in their bank. Plus ZERO interest.
Toss in fees to have an account, fees to transfer, fees to withdraw, and they'll impose daily limits on how much you can withdraw, pay online, etc. with your own money in their bank they don't pay interest on.
They'll also want up to 6 times the money they might lend you in personal guaranteed collateral.

It's a bloody wonder there ARE any businesses in this country.

[Mr_Canada]

It's insane. Hell, $2.50 charge for each swipe of the card? That cuts deep quickly.

[Brenda]

herbie wrote:

Open a business account. They charge you to deposit money in their bank. Plus ZERO interest.
Toss in fees to have an account, fees to transfer, fees to withdraw, and they'll impose daily limits on how much you can withdraw, pay online, etc. with your own money in their bank they don't pay interest on.
They'll also want up to 6 times the money they might lend you in personal guaranteed collateral.

It's a bloody wonder there ARE any businesses in this country.

Its even worse. They GET interest on your money, because they lend it to the government. The government pays interest (yep, from your taxes) over the money they borrowed.

[herbie]

That's my gripe with the HST. I'm lending the gov't 12% of my capital every month interest free.