Green Panda Treehouse

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Photo Credit: Arthaey

My friend was willing to pay $6 in ATM fees to access his own money. That’s insane! As far as I know Bank of America, Chase, and Wachovia are among banks that have the highest ATM charge, $3.00 for out of network users. My friend used a Bank of America ATM this weekend to get cash. (Note: Our friend’s goal was to always know what was in the account.) Banks were getting richer from him withdrawing his money.
I don’t disagree that there should be a fee for out of network customers, but $3 is ridiculous. the good news is that you are able to drastically reduce and in some cases eliminate those ATM fees.

How? Go to your bank’s ATMs to withdraw your money. It may be a little less convienent, but it saves you some cash. This is something completely doable on your part.

You may say that the ATMs are really out of the way and cost that amount in gasoline. I’d doubt you, but maybe that is the case.
If your bank doesn’t have enough ATM machine to fufill your needs, then you have some options:

1. Make a bigger withdrawl when you’re at your bank’s/credt union’s ATM. Try ti reduce the amount of trips you make to the ATMs. If you kept track of your spending, you’ll have a general idea of how much money you need to withdrawl. If you want to stay with this bank and not continue to lose money, then you have to change your behavior.
2. Switch your bank or credit union with more convient ATM locations. Sometimes we get comfortable with a place and just stay there to avoid headaches. Today is a great time reevaluate the pros and cons of your financial institution. Does it offer no fee checking? Are there enough ATMs to fit your lifestyle? It’s not that hard to switch.
3. Instead of withdrawing money from a machine use the card to purchase items/services. Buying with your check card make sit easier to track, but if you’re inclined to spend more with a crd, then pass on this one.
4. If you still need cash, just get cash back from your purchase. There’s the cash back option. I’m not too crazy about this as you have to make a purchase to access it. In some cases it’s cheaper to get a candy bar and some cash then visiting an out of network ATM.
5. Try using the Allpoint network. ING Direct and other banks use this network for their banking ATM services and it’s a great feature. Why?

Allpoint is America’s largest surcharge-free ATM network. With over 32,000 ATMs, Allpoint is your single source for surcharge-free access coast to coast.

Five options to choose from that work on reducing this fee from your budget. Personally I think #1 and #2 make the most sense, at least for me. Get a better bank/credit union and modify your behavior to reduce charges. It is unlikely that banks will lower their ATM fees; there’s just too much money involved in it. Almost $4 1/2 billion dollars were collected by banks from ATM fees.

Make no mistake: this behavior is making banks richer while consumers are losing their cash. Don’t be an ignorant consumer. Plan ahead and make sure your bank/credit union treats you right.

Photo Credit: Kaleid 

“What’s in Your Wallet?”

Answer: “Not a Capital One Card”

PT tagged me to share my wallet’s contents and I guess I’ll spill my guts…er…wallet. It’s not exciting, but it’s working for me.

Here’s what I have in center of my wallet:

• Driver’s License (I don’t like the picture, so it’s hidden.)
• ING DIRECT Electric Orange Debit/Credit Card
• Local Credit Union Debit/Credit Card

I have a left section for medical:

• Medical Directive (Easy to find, if I’m unconscious it lists my medical conditions and contact information for my husband.)
• Blue Cross Blue Shield Insurance Card

I have a right section with one pocket:

•   A copy of my Car Insurance information in there.

I currently have $20 in my cash fold and no change. I put change in the jar at the end of the night.

Note: My policy is not to keep my credit card in my wallet unless I’m on a trip.  I’ve been known to keep it in there for a few days after a trip because I can be a bit lazy. This little trip has helped my keep my credit card spending to a minimum. I do pay my balance in full each month.

Yeah, I keep my wallet light, but it’s easier for me to spend less using this et-up. I want to thank my friend “Ani” for picking me up this wallet. Interested to find what’s in other people’s wallets? Here’s a few on the web:

• PT’s Wallet @ Prime Time Money
• Mrs Micah’s Wallet @Mrs. Micah
• FMF’s Wallet - FreeMoneyFinance.com
• Jim’s wallet - Blueprint for Financial Prosperity
•  JLP’s wallet - AllThingsFinancial.com
• Flexo’s wallet - ConsumerismCommentary.com

I’m so glad Ana from DebtFree Revolution brought this scheme to her readers’ attention. I felt so outraged about this rate jacking that I want to pass this on to people that could possibly be affected.

Business Week released an article about the rate hike. Even Bank of America’s spokesperson had no reasonable explanation.

Bank of America had sent out a letter to its customers notifying them that their rates would increase. In fine print there was an opt-out clause requiring them to send a letter to Bank of America. Interestingly, calling the bank is not an option. If they did not do this then their old balances and new balances would increase.

The shady part of this hike was how Bank of America was calculating it. Business Week explains it:

What’s striking is how arbitrary the Bank of America rate increases appear, credit industry experts say… JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Citigroup (C) announced ahead of Levin’s hearing that they would stop the practice of raising card rates based solely on FICO scores.

But Bank of America appears to be taking an even more aggressive stance because, beyond credit scores, it is using internal criteria that aren’t available to consumers. That makes the reason for the rate increase even more opaque.

I’m glad we didn’t get a credit card from Bank of America. What can you do? Here’s some things I thought:

• If you have a card with them and a balance on it, please opt-out of this rate hike. They make it difficult, but spare yourself a larger headache.
• Try to pay the debt off as soon as possible. You may want to use your income tax return if you got one.
• See if you can transfer the balance to a card with a lower rate, preferably one with 0%.
• Try to pay the debt off as soon as possible.
• If your Bank of America card is one of your oldest cards, don’t cancel it, as it could lower your FICO score. Just don’t carry a balance on it.

I understand banks are a business. What I don’t get is when they try to increase revenue by hurting their customers. That’s so short-sighted. If you’re looking for a different bank, try ING Direct or a local credit union. I use both and I’m satisfied.