Posts Tagged ‘online bank’

Online Banking: Not What You Hoped For

If you have a checking account that allows you to look at your balance online you probably have come into the same situations as what I have.

I logged into my bank account and was happy that Washington mutual allowed me to move money from my checking account to my savings account without any fees or waiting time. That was great, I didn’t have to deal with showing my nappy driver’s license to some snotty kid who thinks it’s not worth her time to move 20 bucks to my savings. I can kind of see how they get that way, especially after they see hundreds of people who are a mess-load wealthier than I am moving huge sums of money all around.

All week long I logged into my checking and savings account and looked at the money and had huge plans of saving money for a future. After about seven lunch transactions and a check to car note, I noticed that no transactions where showing up. Three days later the car note check went through, and then came the seven from before. The first one to go through was a the big one, and then the next six went through and bam, I messed up and went overdraft. Five charges to over draft, at $35 a charge, $175 + lunch totals. 5 lunches of $3 at Wendy’s. Then came my income tax check to save me and pull me out of the hole.

I go up there to talk to teller at Washington Mutual. The man says ” I see that you signed up online, I’m very sorry but I can not help you. You will have to contact the reps online”. So I contact the online help via “contact us” .. that was miserable. The final verdict was ” We are very sorry but our online balance is not a perfect program”. IT’S A FRICKIN’ ONLINE BANK ACCOUNT WHERE YOU CANNOT TALK TO REAL LIFE TELLERS! How in the blue hell is it that the service is not better? I can assume they do it on purpose. Lack of perfection is just an excuse. I know, nothing is perfect, but for god sakes we can do better than what they are giving us.

See I am not blaming them for my poor accounting skills. I do how ever blame them for making me believe that online = online. nowhere on the site does it tell you that the small transactions will be held until the big one goes through. No where on the site does it say “hey our software and online account is pointless but we make it available to you” .

I mean really, if you buy a car that doesn’t actually drive to places you want to go…. Then you didn’t actually get the car they advertised. You actually didn’t get what you were looking for.

Ok I took the bullet on that and accepted the fact that I suck at accounting, I knew it when I signed up. I really thought they could help, They did not. Here is what gets me the funniest. It frickin’ happened again, right before the Stimulus check. It’s almost like they are saying ” Hey look extra money is coming, shut the servers down and slow the cache down and don’t update the website until next month, except when people go over their limit.” It really feels that way. Call me pathetic, call me what you will, but I have since then opened a new checking account elsewhere. I am letting what ever overdraft is in there or about to pile up, in there, when the direct deposit of the stimulus check goes through, I will let it pay off what it can. If there is anything left over I will yank it out. If there is anything left that I owe to the bank, I will pay it next week.

i see how it’s my fault for trusting them to be more reliable with their service, Yet I still feel violated.

Online Checking Accounts Versus Walk-In Bank Accounts

As I have noticed, all the banks with online setup for checking and savings, have new “no minimal setups” and “no minimal deposits.” I have to say, the setup goes smoothly and you do not have to hand anything to a half wit and hope they do not fumble your investment money. You just make sure that you do not screw it up.

I have been charged 27 times for overdraft fees that never actually happened, 8 of them at one time. This set me back quite a bit of money, $216 to be exact. It all came out of one check and the day before my car note was due. After many hours of hearing “but you spent it.” and being transferred, I emailed a bank representative. I mean, they were saying it was because I went into the red, which is bull. Finally, I got someone with an IQ, and she said, “Oh, I see what happened. You should see a refund in three days.” Well, 12 phone calls and a month later, I still have not received my money back.

The whole “no nickel and dime” slogan rings true: Sure, they will not nickel and dime you; they will dollar and five you. They charge you $20+ to do a balance inquiry from another bank’s ATM. God forbid someone in a store checks the validity of your account by having you type in your PIN code. Sure, the checks are free.

That looks like a nickel to me.  I paid  for something online in Virginia.
Now, I have been using Prosperity Bank for a few years. I was going to that bank, back before it changed its name on me twice. I had issues with the way a few things changed, so I took out all of my money last year except for 95 cents. I went to an online checking account at a very popular bank, the one bank that tells of “No hassle” and they “won’t nickel and dime you.” BS! Well, as I am seeing things, I will go back to Prosperity Bank. See, I didn’t know what they were up against with everything changing around them, I guess I just needed to evolve with them or die out there on my own. This walk in only bank has accounts that have minimal amounts limitations or they charge you small fees. Luckily, I have an account older than the company’s logo, so I still have 100% free checking. The downside is, the checks cost me money.

Online checking = free checks, ATM fees out the yin-yang, no minimum savings, no lines to wait in when making adjustments to your account, and your security is as high as your encryptions.

Walk-in checking = costly checks, no fee to check your balance at any ATM, savings are $2000 minimal, and you have to wait in line to transfer money around accounts. Savings is a hassle.

Who in their right mind trusts a bank with a name that looks like “watch over ya” but pronounces it “walk over ya?”