Fees surge as banks hunt for revenue

[marmar]

Fees surge as banks hunt for revenue
Customers whose balances slip hit with $50 levy

January 09, 2012|By Todd Wallack, Globe Staff


Many bank customers have long felt nickeled-and-dimed by fees imposed by financial institutions. But now some banks are demanding much bigger denominations.

The region’s largest banks are charging consumers as much as $50 a month if they do not maintain minimum balances or meet other requirements for certain high-end checking and savings accounts.

Citizens Bank charges customers $50 a month when the balance in a top-end money market account slips below $1,000. Sovereign Bank imposes fees of up to $30 a month, and Bank of America and TD Bank each charge $25 a month whenever customers fall short of minimum balance and other qualifications for some premium checking accounts.

“I haven’t seen anything like $50 a month before,’’ said Greg McBride, an analyst with Bankrate.com, a website that tracks bank fees and interest rates. “That’s a steep price to pay.’’ ...................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://articles.boston.com/2012-01-09/business/30608519_1_overdraft-charges-citizens-bank-td-bank

[Earth_First]

1. Know how much our credit union charges us...?

Guess...

[marmar]

2. $0.00?

nt

[KansDem]

3. Huh?!! Didn't they just get TARP funds?

And what about the $7.77 trillion they got from the Feds?

What's going on?

[quakerboy]

4. That was last year

They got Bonuses gotta get paid, otherwise their top talent might leave, dontcha see?

[arcane1]

5. Gotta keep that stock price up!

And the only way to do that is to keep growing and growing and growing. Nowhere left to grow? Then raise fees. Can't raise fees any higher? Here come the pink slips.

[silverweb]

12. Yes.

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]But who will think of the children shareholders!??!

[Purveyor]

6. Survey Offers More Proof Credit Unions Beat Banks

By Michelle A. Samaad

January 5, 2012
12

Be it rates, fees or the emotional aspects of their relationships, a new survey of credit union members and bank customers showed that credit unions once again came out on top.

That’s according to the 2011 Northeast U.S. Bank & Credit Union Customer Experience Survey released Thursday by Prime Performance, which advises banks on improving the client experience.

Credit unions were the overall customer experience leader with a Prime Experience Index of 79%, which was ahead of the overall bank average of 59%, the data showed.

The Prime Experience Index is a single metric showing how banks and credit unions are performing on delivering a superior customer experience and is comprised of four measures: satisfaction with service, likely to recommend, likely to come to the bank first for additional products or services (repurchase intent) and how effective that bank is at meeting financial needs.

MORE...

http://www.cutimes.com/2012/01/05/survey-offers-more-proof-cus-beat-banks

[ddeclue]

7. This is outrageous. We need to break them up and tell them they can't cross state lines like in the

old days.

[leftyohiolib]

8. if people wake up and pull their money from them they wont need to be broken up

why do people still bank with sharks. if people keep their money in those banks dont they deserve what they get? (insert smilie with shrugged shoulders shaking head)

[AdHocSolver]

9. Banks paying so little interest on depositors' money already amounts to theft of customer assets.

Charging these exorbitant fees, in effect, means that depositors are PAYING THE BANKS for the "privilege" of depositing their money in those banks.

When banks pay 0.10 to 0.20 percent interest on customer deposits, this rate is below the inflation rate. Putting money into a bank becomes a losing proposition.

However, putting money into the Ponzi scheme known as the stock market, is merely another tactic for transferring middle class assets to the 1.0 percent.

Another part of the scheme consists of the banks pushing up real estate prices using "balloon" mortgages to get people to pay more for housing than market conditions can sustain. When the housing bubble inevitably collapses, people owe more on their houses than they can sell them for. This is another angle to the big bank swindle of the American people.

The Federal Reserve, that diddles with the interest rates, and keeps them artificially low, is nothing more than a cabal of the biggest banks that enables this theft.

When a bank charges a customer 6.0 percent on a loan for which they pay the depositor of that money 0.10 percent in interest, the bank is getting a return 60 times greater than what they pay for the use of that money.

The solution to the banking part of our economic problems is fairly straightforward. Reinstate the Glass-Steagall Act, take control of the Federal Reserve away from the banks, and revise the tax code to rein in Wall Street speculation

[sledwreck13]

10. So tired of this

Banks used to make money off the privilege of using our money. Now they treat us like we're privileged to let them take our money.

[gratuitous]

11. How else are they going to make money?

Like, loan it out at competitive rates to reliable borrowers? That'd be, like, work or something. You goddam commies!