Complaint Review: CHASE BANK

From the OP:

"I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHAT WE, AS A GROUP CAN DO TO MAKE THINGS BETTER."

You can:

Make certain that funds are fully available before writing checks or authorizing debits based on those funds.


Stay within your account balance - do not attempt to "float" or "kite" funds. Even if your "receivables" are overdue you must understand that writing checks against funds that aren't in the bank yet will result in overdraft fees.


Maintain an accurate ledger or check register.


Locate your Caps Lock key.

All Banks Are The Same. The only differences between them are the names.

I own 2 small businesses and have a few business bank and credit card accounts. I offer this advice to consumers but you can apply it to your business as well. Be aware that most banks have different rules for business/commercial accounts.

Ways to avoid these NSF/OD fees:

Using an account register and reconciling that register with a monthly account statement from the bank will prevent any account holder from causing any NSF/OD fees.

The majority (if not all) of the reports I've read about NSF/OD fees have common behaviors of the account holders:

-using atm cards for everyday purchases.
-using more than ONE card attached to the account (husband and wife)
-using atm cards for online purchases.
-using atm cards for 'auto-bill pay' (autodebits)
**relying upon telephone or online account balances to determine what money is available for that shopping trip to Walmart.
**NOT using an account register.
**NOT verifying deposits have cleared.

1. Use an account register and reconcile the account register with a monthly written statement generated by the bank. If the bank is not mailing statements, contact customer service to have monthly statements MAILED to you.

1a. Be aware of ATM fees, such as the 'non-bank ATM fee' that most banks charge when you use an ATM that is not owned by your bank to make a withdrawal and post that fee in your account register immediately.

1b. Also be aware of any monthly 'account service fee' charged by your bank and post that to your register on the appropriate date.

2. Do NOT GIVE bank account information (or ATM card info) to any merchant, service provider, utility, online service to pay for services and goods. Use a REAL credit card for this purpose (either secured cc or unsecured cc.) Do not setup any automatic deposit to an account that is attached to said cc-NO auto payments to CC company-mail a check each month. If the entity demanding payment makes a mistake, you're gonna have a host of problems and risk OD/NSF fees.

3. Do NOT use an ATM card for everyday expenses-USE CASH. Establish a monthly budget and withdrawal a weekly 'allowance' for every day expenses such as 'milk and bread' from the corner store, Burger King, etc. This will reduce the amount of transactions on the bank account which in turn makes RECONCILING the account and detecting ERRORS easier to accomplish. Again, if the entity demanding payment makes a mistake, you're gonna risk NSF/OD fees.

***In your case, use petty cash for those small expenditures.

4. Do not shop with the ATM card-use a real credit card. A real credit card offers protections that you don't have with an ATM card. If the merchant/service makes a mistake, you can dispute it with the CC company WITHOUT getting any OD/NSF. Not true if you use an ATM card-if the merchant makes a mistake, your money is gone until you can convince your bank to give it back, as well as OD/NSF fees.

***If you don't have a legitimate BUSINESS credit card-GET ONE. Do not use a debit card for your business expenditures. Better yet, write checks from your business checking account to pay business obligations.

5. ONLY ONE ATM CARD to one account. Do NOT have 2 or more atm cards for one bank account. Having 'his and hers' ATM cards attached to the same account is the same as in the old days when some folks would have 2 checkbooks for writing checks. It was an invitation to disaster then, and it is today.

6. Verify that deposits to the account have actually cleared. Deposits can take anywhere between 1 and 5 BUSINESS days to clear depending on the type and/or source of the deposit. Deposits over $5000 can take even LONGER before they are posted to the account.

****these processing delays may be longer or shorted depending on the type of service you're willing to pay for on your business account(s).

The Federal Reserve publishes a Consumer Compliance Handbook which gives detailed information about what banks can and cannot do with deposits, holds, and funds availability. You can download this handbook at http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/supmanual/cch/200711/cch200711.pdf

****the rules are different for BUSINESS bank accounts-they are not the same as for consumer accounts. Essentially you get what your PAY FOR. IF you desire almost instant processing (read: clearing of deposits) you will have to PAY for this expedited service. I know of no bank that offers expedited processing on commercial accounts for FREE. You should ask them for their WRITTEN policies about deposits, holds, available funds, etc. for COMMERCIAL ACCOUNTS and what additional expedited services they may offer.

Follow ALL of these suggestions and you will NEVER pay an OD/NSF fee again unless it is a LEGITIMATE bank error or caused by a merchant. If it is caused by a bank error the bank will rectify the situation and credit any fees generated as well as contact payees and cover any fees the payees assess to you. If the fee is caused by a merchant error, you will need to hold the merchant accountable for the fees, although in many cases the bank may reverse the fees as a courtesy if the merchant confirms that the merchant made an error.

This is a tried and true method to avoid these fees. It works EVERY TIME it's tried.