Interesting Letter Sent To Bank of America

[Bodhi]

Originally posted by JB73
i know alot of smaller companies like landscape companies and such that still write out checks. in fact my last employer 5 years ago handed out checks... no deposit available and they had like 200 employees. it was a independant photo lab in a suburb of Milwaukee. most of the employees were HS drop-outs or kids with work permits (except us in mgnt. or quality control which i was in charge of )

My employer still sends us hand written checks once a month.  Guess he must be a high school drop out too...  funny thing is, this dinosaur as some of you refer to his kind as, took in over 10 figures last fiscal year.  yeah, I will gladly keep accepting my hand written check and deposit it in the ATM like i do every month.  I carry little cash, but unfortunately it is still needed espcially in rural NC.

[capt. apathy]

charging non-customers to cash checks. What's so evil about that?

because it's not just charging non-customers to do them a service.  it's charging extra for something they are already obligated to do.  

when you set up a checking acount the bank agrees to honor your checks when presented for payment (as long as they are genine, there is suficient funds, signitures match, proper id, etc).

the account holder has an agreement with the bank, he is their customer.  when I go to a bank and cash a check that is drawn on that bank, they aren't providing a service for me, they are providing a service for their customer- the man who wrote the check- who has already payed for this service through the service fee's he pays on his account.

even though I generally just deposit my checks. sometimes I am out of town and need to turn them into cash imediately to cover expenses. and it's a rip off for them to charge me a fee when their customer already pays them to handle his account.

on general principal I won't knowingly acsept checks if they are drawn on a bank that charges an extra fee to cash these checks, unless the person writing them includes enough extra to cover the charge.  I figure that this will make it more expensive  for people to do bussiness with these banks (if it cost me an extra $5 every time I wrote a check I'd look for a new bank).

I encorage everyone who agrees that this practice is wrong to do the same thing.  if enough people insist then these banks will have to change to stay in business.  one person can't make much of a difference but if enough people refuse to put up with this then they have to change.

btw- the banks don't charge each other for payment of each check. why should we have to pay?

[Pooh21]

Nothing wrong with that. German banks are cool. On the other hand I know why my old bank used a stagecoach as its mascot,cause they wanted to be staagecoach robbers.

[sling322]

Originally posted by myelo
OK smart guys, when you stuff a debit card in a stripper's g-string, does she give it back?

Excellent point!!!

[majic]

Originally posted by capt. apathy
because it's not just charging non-customers to do them a service.  it's charging extra for something they are already obligated to do.

I'm sorrry, I disagree.  I think you are reading to much into the services a bank should provide

when you set up a checking acount the bank agrees to honor your checks when presented for payment (as long as they are genine, there is suficient funds, signitures match, proper id, etc).

They agree to pay the check, yes sir.  The proper way to present a check is to go to your bank and deposit it.

the account holder has an agreement with the bank, he is their customer.  when I go to a bank and cash a check that is drawn on that bank, they aren't providing a service for me, they are providing a service for their customer- the man who wrote the check- who has already payed for this service through the service fee's he pays on his account.

even though I generally just deposit my checks. sometimes I am out of town and need to turn them into cash imediately to cover expenses. and it's a rip off for them to charge me a fee when their customer already pays them to handle his account.

You feel that the bank here is providing you no service?   Again, I disagree.

on general principal I won't knowingly acsept checks if they are drawn on a bank that charges an extra fee to cash these checks, unless the person writing them includes enough extra to cover the charge.  I figure that this will make it more expensive  for people to do bussiness with these banks (if it cost me an extra $5 every time I wrote a check I'd look for a new bank).

I encorage everyone who agrees that this practice is wrong to do the same thing.  if enough people insist then these banks will have to change to stay in business.  one person can't make much of a difference but if enough people refuse to put up with this then they have to change.

btw- the banks don't charge each other for payment of each check. why should we have to pay?

 


To answer your last question, while they might not charge each other, (where would that get them anyway?) it still costs money to process these transfers and to pay the tellers, and to transport the cash, etc...  (you know, overhead)  It's cool that some banks will just go ahead and cash them, and yeah, it is better service that may lead to more customers for a bank that does, but it is not mandated service.

However, I am guessing we will just have to agree to disagree on this one...

[capt. apathy]

but it is not mandated service.

I see that it is.  what good would a checking acount be if they didn't cash the checks?  having the bank hold the money for you and then give it to people (or banks) who present the check as proof of their entitlement to the payment, is the whole point of a checking acount.  without that paying out part of the arangement it's a savings account.

while your account would be much bigger if they refused to pay out on your checks not many people would be accepting checks from you.

[mosgood]

If you have a checking account at a bank, theyu should not be able to make $5 everytime you do business with someone that isn't a customer of there's.

The bank knows that if someone was able to deposit there check into their own account somewhere else, they would.  All the bank is doing is making $ off someone in a bad spot that doesn't have a bank account and has no other choice.

mho

[Reschke]

Two bank accounts here. One (Amsouth) that gets a direct deposit and the other (local CU) that gets the remainder after I get whats left over from my direct deposit. I still get a check every two weeks. In fact the money I keep out every pay period goes to the computer upgrade fund and has been that way for the last three years. My wife knows she just doesn't know how much she doesn't get to spend.

[Sixpence]

I think the point here is the bank is charging 5 bucks to honor it's own check, no?

[whydah]

There´s no bussines like bank bussines.

[OIO]

However, you can all see how distasteful it is to give someone, especially a client of yours or someone that works FOR you, a check and then have them be charged $5 to cash it in the same bank that issued the check.