Just discovered a new way to screw the poor.

[Stonepounder]

A few years ago (less than six, probably around five) we retired and made the decision to sell our RV. (It was old, not worth a whole lot, and had gotten just to expensive to keep.) When it sold, we got a check, drawn on XYZ bank. I can't remember why we wanted the money in cash, but anyway, we stopped at the nearest branch of XYZ bank, presented our identification and cashed the check. No big deal.

A couple of weeks ago our daughter gave us a check for a couple of hundred dollars that we had loaned her. It was drawn on ABC bank. We were going grocery shopping and there happened to be a branch of ABC bank in the grocery store. So, we presented the check and asked to cash it. "Do you have an account with us?" inquired the sweet young thing behind the counter. Umm, no we bank at the 123 bank. "Well there will be a $4.00 charge to cash the check" the SYT told us sweetly. Say WHAT?!?! We chose to not cash the check.

The next time I was in our own bank I asked and, yes, banks now charge to cash checks drawn by their own customers on their own bank if you don't have an account with them. So, sometime in the last five years, banks have gone from cashing checks drawn on their own banks as a courtesy, to charging 1% of the amount of the check (minimum $4.00). I asked our bank why and they said it was to deter money laundering. Say, WHAT?!? It is just another way for banks to make money. And if you don't have a bank and you get paid by check, guess what? You are just SOL and lost 1% (minimum of $4.00) of your paycheck just to get it cashed.

Sheesch!

[n2doc]

1. Yeah, like a 1% charge is doing to deter money laundering n/t

[Art_from_Ark]

2. Any excuse to squeeze more money out of us

[WDIM]

3. All bank fees should be illegal.

Some will rob you with a six-gun, and some with a fountain pen.

[Hoyt]

4. Seldom get checks anymore, but I deposit them if I do. Don't like standing in line, waiting for

approval, or paying fees. I think that is the easiest way around that.

Nowadays, you can even deposit checks using a phone. You essentially take a photo and that's it.

I do see it as a problem for folks who don't have a bank account.

[djean111]

5. Been happening for a while. It especially hurts a lot of construction workers,

who have to go to the bank the check is drawn on, and pay the fee if they don't have an account there, or go to a check-cashing place or grocery store, and pay a fee.

[closeupready]

6. That's been standard operating procedure at consumer banks in New York here for ages.

Probably at least 15 years that I can recall, maybe longer.

Yes, I have always hated this intensely. It's not the $4 or whatever, it's the principle.

[world wide wally]

7. Banks should ne nationalized like Lincoln tried to do.

[Xyzse]

8. That's been the case for years actually.

Screw ABC bank, stay with XYZse...


I kid around, but yeah, I dislike their fees. They will create as many different convenience fees as possible since they try to leech as much money out of their customers as possible.

If you can get to a credit union, they usually have better terms.
Not much better, but still, every little bit helps I guess.

[Travis_0004]

9. you dont bank with them, so they dont need your business.

I can see why they would charge a fee. Its their check, but you are not their customer.


I bank at bank A. I cash a check from bank B. If that check is fraudulent they have my bank account and info on me to get their money back.

If I go to bank B with a fraudulent check bank B may have nothing more than my drivers liscense number. Sure the person who the check belongs to banks there but they may not be liable for the check.

[Fumesucker]

10. I know someone who cashes checks drawn on other banks at their own bank..

If your bank knows you well some of them will cash other checks for you, particularly if you have enough in your account already to cover the check if it should bounce.

[localroger]

11. Having enough to cover it is the criterion

Mere cashiers aren't allowed to cash checks for more than your balance in case the check bounces.

These fees have been around for over 10 years but creeping throughout the industry. They never should have been allowed but there's no real regulation any more, and they create a real potential problem for employers because an employee could challenge the fee-bound check as being a short wage payment. I'm very surprised this has never come up and suspect it's because the only people affected can't afford a lawyer either.

[undergroundpanther]

12. M and t

Bank Charges ten bucks to cash a check if you don't have an account with them. Greedy fuckers.