Complaint Review: Compass Bank - Mobile Alabama

You asked: "I have a question--has anyone noticed when you check on line the transactions will change through out the day in sequence??" It would be because the bank officially posts your transactions in ORDER from highest check/charge to lowest check/charge. So when transactions post to your account, the account will change based on the checks processed. Can they do this? YES, they have the right to post transactions in anyway they wish. They can do this because it's legal. Virtually every major bank, including your new bank, Wachovia, does it. Yes, they do it to maximize their profits. There are very few banks that post in order of transaction processed and those banks become fewer each year. It's not a rip-off, it is how the industry handles this. Courts have always ruled in favor of the bank for posting these transactions - except in a case where there was insufficient disclosure. In that case, the attorney arguing for greater disclosure admitted the policy to sequence transactions in descending dollar order IS legal. In the end, it doesn't matter what they say, even in writing. It only matters what the account agreement states, and that agreement (including the one you signed with Wachovia) gives the bank the right to post these transactions in descending dollar order. Once the account becomes positive again, just close the account. If they don't, then find out why and keep pursuing. Don't decide not to pay it, otherwise they will ding your credit report. I would pursue this as high as you can go. I mean it won't get you your money back since the bank hasn't done anything wrong from what you've written, but you will learn something about how banks work better than most. Best of luck to you.

The Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) addressed manipulation of transaction clearing rules in the Final Guidance on Thrift Overdraft Programs issued in 2005. The OTS advised thrifts that transaction-clearing rules (including check-clearing and batch debit processing) should not be administered unfairly or manipulated to inflate fees.11 The Guidelines issued by the other federal regulatory agencies merely urged banks and credit unions to explain the impact of their transaction clearing policies. The Interagency Best Practices state: Clearly explain to consumers that transactions may not be processed in the order in which they occurred, and that the order in which transactions are received by the institution and processed can affect the total amount of overdraft fees incurred by the consumers. Please people contact the ots. thanks

I contacted Jack Evans he is over the Alabama State Chartered Banks--I am waiting to hear back. I have a question--has anyone noticed when you check on line the transactions will change through out the day in sequence?? I have an email where I asked this question to COMPASS and the response was debits happen in real time--B.S They move things around to encourage NSF FEES. I am lucky that I print this off. Also I printed off where the ach debits were posted prior to the direct deposit. I made a complaint with the BBB and Brandi Thorpe Client Care Analyst (1-866-531-8101) responded and nothing she stated in the letter was even close to the print-offs I have-- So I took it upon myself faxed this letter along with all the statements I have printed showing she was not exactly correct and that during the course of a day the on-line statement will vary according to how much money they want to make off of you. I think if all these complaints were made at the proper venues something can and will be done about this bank. Just a note-- I have tried to close this account with a negative balance and even brought it back from negative and they refuse. I have sent faxes gone to the main branch emailed sent letters and nope still have an opened account-- I havent used this account since last month and I received a service charge on a FREE CHECKING account now once again I am negative plus the 7.00 a day-- I am not paying it--I wanted to close this account and was denied-- Fax numbers--205-297-6257 fax away people Thanks

JB, we are currently going thru the same exact thing. My husband gets his direct desposit,the same day every week...I know for a fact they can see the electronic direct deposit coming in. (Ive worked at a bank:)...) But,they insist on running debits before the credit.....all the time! They are a rip off. I dont buy this,balance your check book better.Whatever. They ran our debits before the credit,and it all posted the same day. They can and should run that deposit before your debits,if its all coming in on the same time/day.But,they refuse.Thats how they make their money. Id like to contact you and get some info from you on who to contact etc. I refuse to pay the nsf's...and wont. I actually took all my money out of the acct,and just letting the nsf fees sit there for now. I have a copy of my statement where on the same date the direct deposit came in ,they ran the debits first...whatajoke! Please contact me:)

It was an ach no delays in direct deposit.. Why cant anyone except the fact that this is how COMPASS is I have already filed complaints with the fdic.gov,the al state charted bank, and the bbb.org. I am working with CHRISTI GOWAN who handles complaints against COMPASS> I have since moved to Wachovia. So yes this is an ach debit posted prior to a deposit It is not the first time this has happened. I understand how banks work not COMPASS though.

Check with your employer and make sure they did not delay the posting of the direct deposit. Usually when pay is directly deposited, the employer must have clear funds in their account 2 days before the actual direct deposit. Or, if everything was OK on your employer's end, maybe the company that handles the direct deposits screwed up. We had that happen once. The payroll company we use screwed up and everyone's direct deposits were made later than usual. Also, ask the bank what time that particular direct deposit came through to them. I think the direct deposits have to be at the bank by cutoff time Thursday for Friday availability. If it was after the cutoff time Thursday, then the funds wouldn't have been available until Saturday. Never schedule ACH's for the same day as payday. Schedule ACH's for a couple days later. Anything can happen.

DIRECT DEPOSIT No one likes to wait in line to just deposit a check. With Direct Deposit, you save yourself a trip to the bank by having your paycheck, Social Security benefit, or even interest and dividend payments automatically deposited into your account. Its convenient and confidential. Any check deposited through Direct Deposit is cleared and available to you at the start of the business payday. Funds are immediately available for withdrawal. Plus, your deposit information is confidential. Only you and the source of your deposits know the amounts. It's simple to set up. Direct Deposit is simple to set up. All you need is your basic personal information, your Social Security number, the name and address of your employer or payer, and your account number. Youll also need the transit routing number, which is the first set of numbers at the bottom left on your personal checks.

The 90.00 was an ach I have had this ach for the last 2 pay-checks. It has never been posted prior to my direct deposit until 10.12.07. My direct deposit have always been available on FRIDAY. I banked with COMPASS for 2 yrs had direct deposit for 2 yrs same company check. I have moved to Wachovia, and enjoy it very much the site is easier to use and transaction do not change sequence like on compassbank.com. I did not make any errors the only error I made was using COMPASS. As far as a credit union, I like the idea but we dont really have many to chose from here in MOBILE. Thanks

It depends on the bank as to when direct deposits are available. Usually, if your payday is Friday, your direct deposit will post Thursday, sometime between midnight and morning. This fools many people because they think the direct deposit will pay the items that come through at midnight Thursday too. That doesn't work. Anything that comes through Thursday night, whether it be before midnight or after, are posted with Thursday's date and the direct deposit is posted with Friday's date. At the banks that do it this way, you can begin using your money on Friday (not for Thursday's posted items). However, there are some banks out there that treat direct deposits like a regular deposit. So, if your money is supposed to be in on Friday, you cannot use it until Saturday (just like if you went to the bank on Friday and deposited cash. Your direct deposit may stay in a pending area all day Friday until it's posted Friday night.

When are direct deposits available for withdrawal? National banks must make funds available for withdrawal on the payment date. This is the date on which the funds are actually payable, not the date on which the bank received the deposit.

Just a couple of thoughts: 1. It sounds like the $90 you tried to pay someone through your ATM debit could not go through for whatever reason. Have you found out from either the vendor or the bank why this didn't happen? You might want to just deal with the vendor at this point and pay them the $90 by other means of tender. 2. Almost all banks, including Wachovia, post debits first and then deposits. You did not provide information regarding your balance in the account as of 10/12/07, but from your posting, I calculated the balance in your account to be -$447.33, so that's one fact left off your OP. I might be off somewhat because I don't think I have all of the information, but there is no question the balance is negative. Accordingly, the $114 in NSF fees from the 12th appear to be correct. You might have a case for one of the NSF's since the fee never went through (the $90), however your cavalier attitude toward NSF's would probably make that attempt unsuccessful. 3. Generally speaking, transactions posting on a Saturday will post on a Monday but that doesn't mean the transaction will have a Monday date. If you withdraw money from an ATM on a Saturday, the bank will reflect the withdrawl on a Saturday - that is when you took possession of the money. You're trying to pull a fast one on the bank with your idea - the bank's have that angle covered; it doesn't work the way you think. Instead of Wachovia, seek out a credit union. I think you'll have better luck.

Just a couple of thoughts: 1. It sounds like the $90 you tried to pay someone through your ATM debit could not go through for whatever reason. Have you found out from either the vendor or the bank why this didn't happen? You might want to just deal with the vendor at this point and pay them the $90 by other means of tender. 2. Almost all banks, including Wachovia, post debits first and then deposits. You did not provide information regarding your balance in the account as of 10/12/07, but from your posting, I calculated the balance in your account to be -$447.33, so that's one fact left off your OP. I might be off somewhat because I don't think I have all of the information, but there is no question the balance is negative. Accordingly, the $114 in NSF fees from the 12th appear to be correct. You might have a case for one of the NSF's since the fee never went through (the $90), however your cavalier attitude toward NSF's would probably make that attempt unsuccessful. 3. Generally speaking, transactions posting on a Saturday will post on a Monday but that doesn't mean the transaction will have a Monday date. If you withdraw money from an ATM on a Saturday, the bank will reflect the withdrawl on a Saturday - that is when you took possession of the money. You're trying to pull a fast one on the bank with your idea - the bank's have that angle covered; it doesn't work the way you think. Instead of Wachovia, seek out a credit union. I think you'll have better luck.

Just a couple of thoughts: 1. It sounds like the $90 you tried to pay someone through your ATM debit could not go through for whatever reason. Have you found out from either the vendor or the bank why this didn't happen? You might want to just deal with the vendor at this point and pay them the $90 by other means of tender. 2. Almost all banks, including Wachovia, post debits first and then deposits. You did not provide information regarding your balance in the account as of 10/12/07, but from your posting, I calculated the balance in your account to be -$447.33, so that's one fact left off your OP. I might be off somewhat because I don't think I have all of the information, but there is no question the balance is negative. Accordingly, the $114 in NSF fees from the 12th appear to be correct. You might have a case for one of the NSF's since the fee never went through (the $90), however your cavalier attitude toward NSF's would probably make that attempt unsuccessful. 3. Generally speaking, transactions posting on a Saturday will post on a Monday but that doesn't mean the transaction will have a Monday date. If you withdraw money from an ATM on a Saturday, the bank will reflect the withdrawl on a Saturday - that is when you took possession of the money. You're trying to pull a fast one on the bank with your idea - the bank's have that angle covered; it doesn't work the way you think. Instead of Wachovia, seek out a credit union. I think you'll have better luck.

Just a couple of thoughts: 1. It sounds like the $90 you tried to pay someone through your ATM debit could not go through for whatever reason. Have you found out from either the vendor or the bank why this didn't happen? You might want to just deal with the vendor at this point and pay them the $90 by other means of tender. 2. Almost all banks, including Wachovia, post debits first and then deposits. You did not provide information regarding your balance in the account as of 10/12/07, but from your posting, I calculated the balance in your account to be -$447.33, so that's one fact left off your OP. I might be off somewhat because I don't think I have all of the information, but there is no question the balance is negative. Accordingly, the $114 in NSF fees from the 12th appear to be correct. You might have a case for one of the NSF's since the fee never went through (the $90), however your cavalier attitude toward NSF's would probably make that attempt unsuccessful. 3. Generally speaking, transactions posting on a Saturday will post on a Monday but that doesn't mean the transaction will have a Monday date. If you withdraw money from an ATM on a Saturday, the bank will reflect the withdrawl on a Saturday - that is when you took possession of the money. You're trying to pull a fast one on the bank with your idea - the bank's have that angle covered; it doesn't work the way you think. Instead of Wachovia, seek out a credit union. I think you'll have better luck.