Robert
Irvine,#2Consumer Comment
Tue, March 17, 2009
These are my favorite where people swear there is some vast consipiracy that have banks just laying in wait for people to have low balances and then all of the sudden change their banking policy to charge a bunch of overdraft fees. Yea and I have a nice bridge in San Francisco for sale. No, the facts are the policy does not change, they are just more noticeable when you have a low balance and end up overdrafting by YOUR actions(or lack of action). It appears to be the fact that you are not keeping a register. Not once in this report did I see you state that you actually keep track of your balance using a register. Saturday or Sunday is NOT(and has never been) banking days that is why everything was "held" until Monday. You appear to be relying on-line banking instead. This is not inaccruate for many reasons, beyond the banks control. It also was never meant to be the sole(or even primary) method of account management. It shows what merchants submit in as real-time as they get it from the merchant, which is why you sometimes see things "disappear". Another problem is that the merchant may not submit the charge for 2-3 days after you made it. This is why a register is important because you can write it down as soon as you spend the money. The best advise is if you refuse to keep a register then when your balance gets low. STOP using your debit card for those small purchases. Go back to the old way and use cash. Just try and get that $3 cup of coffee with $2 in your wallet.
Edgeman
Chico,#3Consumer Comment
Tue, March 17, 2009
The problem can be found in this paragraph: "Basically, the first issue i have with them is their insufficient funds policy. Ive made credit transactions 2-3 days before i had the sufficient funds in the account. I check online every day and the transactions havent cleared before i put made the deposit. I was never charged for any uncleared or pending transactions as long as i made an adequate deposit (to cover the charges) by 4pm of the day the transactions clear. Last week i made a few credit transactions on thursday (March 12th 2009) and friday (march 13th 2009). I deposited enough money to cover the transactions on saturday (march 14th 2009) around 2pm." Firstly- never use online banking to determine your account balance. You must keep a register or ledger. By its nature, online banking is inaccurate. What if a hold expires and then the merchant submits the charge? What if you buy $28 worth of gas at the pump and the hold is only for $1? What if a restaurant places a hold on your account for the cost of dinner but leaves out the tip until the charge is submitted? Only use a properly updated ledger or register for your transactions. Secondly- You are attempting to float transactions. There was once a time when you could overdraw your account balance and make a deposit to cover the shortage, but those days are gone. A negative balance will result in an overdraft charge... period. Lastly- There is no Saturday as far as transactions are concerned. The bank is open as a courtesy but that deposit is actually took place on Monday as far as the books are concerned. Best of luck to you.