Have you ever been waiting for the ATM to dispense your monies and seen that little headjack for blind people and wondered, hey, how does a blind person use an ATM? This video shows what happens when Tommy Edison, a blind man, uses the ATM for the first time. It takes him 11 minutes. [More]
More Towns To Withdraw Millions From Chase Over Mortgage Mod Practices
By September 13, 2011
We know the story. Chase and other banks got billions in bailouts that they were encouraged, but not required, to use to help people modify their mortgages. Instead they sat on it and smiled like cheshire cats. Now a movement has sprung up to punish Chase for its intransigence by withdrawing money from their accounts. On the individual account level, that’s not much. But in New York state, entire towns are getting in on the act. [More]
Charles Schwab Bank Helps You Avoid Overdrafts And Pay Your Bills
By September 9, 2011
When Art received an unexpected e-mail about his account at Schwab Bank, he assumed it was some kind of phishing attempt. Aren’t all messages that say “Time Sensitive Information about Your [Bank Name] Bank Account?” But it wasn’t. Schwab wanted to let him know that he didn’t have the funds to cover an impending auto-debit, and he needed to transfer some cash over. [More]
What New Fees Have You Seen Popping Up On Your Bank Statements?
By September 7, 2011
As we’ve reported numerous times during the last year, many banks have been planning to fight new financial regulations and swipe fee reforms by tacking on a host of new fees for everything from getting a paper statement to talking to a human being at the bank to closing an account. Now our corporate cousins at Consumer Reports want to hear from you about which ones have been creeping their way into your bank statements. [More]
JP Morgan Explains Euro Debt Crisis With Legos. Really.
By September 7, 2011
In order to explain the Euro debt crisis, Michael Cembalest, the Chief Investment Officer of JP Morgan’s private bank, sent around a research note that used Legos to depict the different players. The Legos were fashioned by his 9-year old son. This really happened. Here’s the legend to explain which parties each figure represents, or you can play a fun game and guess on your own first. [More]
Chart: This Is How Dead Free Checking Is At Big Banks
By September 1, 2011
This chart from American Banker shows just how many nails are in the coffin of free checking at big banks in a post-Durbin amendment world. That is a whopping drop from 96% of large banks offering free checking in 2009 to only 34.6% in 2011. What’s also amazing is just how resilient free checking is at the credit unions and smaller banks, which continue to use it as a marketing tactic to attract customers. [More]
Discover Ends Disposable Credit Card Number Program
By August 31, 2011
Discover sent around an email last night informing customers that it would be ending the “Secure Online Account Numbers” service. This feature helped you mitigate the potential for online fraud by letting you generate unique credit card numbers you could use per online retailer or even per transaction. A few Consumerist readers were bummed to see it go. [More]
Wells Fargo And Chase Waive Fees For Irene-Affected Customers
By August 30, 2011
Wells Fargo and Chase announced that they are waiving some fees for customers in NY, NJ and CT to help them out after Irene. [More]
Wells Fargo And Visa Take A Month To Refund $400 Gift Card Error
By August 25, 2011
It’s a pretty simple error; easy enough to make. When Todd asked for a $100 Visa gift card at Wells Fargo, the teller misheard “for a hundred” as “four hundred.” $400 was promptly taken out of his bank account and placed on the card, and Todd was never asked to authorize the amount in writing. It was only when he checked the receipt after leaving the bank that he found the error. He set off to get his money put back into his account, but it wasn’t so simple even just minutes after the transaction. Adding a credit card company into the mix adds a new and exciting level of bureaucracy when dealing with a large bank. [More]
FDIC: Fewer Banks At Risk Of Failure
By August 24, 2011
According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, fewer banks were at risk for failure in the second quarter. This marks the first time the number of institution’s on the FDIC’s endangered banks list has fallen since 2006, and is a sign that the finance industry is stabilizing. [More]
How Should Banks Notify Paperless Statement Customers Of Changes?
By August 19, 2011
When a growing number of bank customers go paperless and statement-free, is notifying them of new fees or policy changes only on their statements enough? Becky doesn’t think so. She’s annoyed that Key Bank instituted a $9 per month fee on some accounts recently, but only announced it on the statements that, thanks to online banking, she has no reason to pay attention to. [More]
"I Don't Doubt It" Is BofA's Response To You Saying They Transferred You To Foot Fetish Phone Line
By August 16, 2011
When David tried to report some fraudulent activity on his debit card, Bank of America transferred his call to a 1-900 type phone line that specialized in feet-related activities. [More]
SunTrust Sunsets Free Checking
By August 12, 2011
The next bank to do away with free checking is SunTrust, and they’ve got their own unique twist on it. [More]
Wouldn't It Be Nice To Find Out Your Checking Fees With A One-Pager Like This?
By August 11, 2011
Wouldn’t it be really cool if your checking account disclosure form looked like this nice one-pager the Pew Research Group mocked up? Naw, just kidding. We know you love reading paragraphs of tiny text that have the important clauses buried in the middle of longer sentences. Playing a scavenger hunt to find out what fees you have to pay is part of the fun of having a checking account! [More]
Even Paying On Due Date Won't Save You From Late Fees
By August 10, 2011
Even though he thought he paid on his credit card’s due date, Russel still got dinged with a late fee. Turns out that he needed to make his payment before 5pm Eastern, otherwise it would get counted as being the next day. Rarg! [More]
Dad's Stuck With Me On His Sovereign Bank Account Unless I Die
By August 10, 2011
Chris’s dad gave him access to his personal and business accounts at Sovereign Bank a few years ago. Now that he’s remarried, the dad wants to take Chris off and replace him with his new wife. This seems like it would be simple enough, but Sovereign says, not so fast. They can’t remove Chris’s access to the accounts unless he dies. [More]
Bank Of America CEO's Pep-Talk Email To Workers
By August 9, 2011
Bank of America’s CEO Brian Moynihan posted an email to the company’s intranet telling the rank and file to keep their chins up amidst their sinking stock price and news that they would be sued by AIG for selling crap mortgages. [More]
Wells Fargo And Wachovia Merger Is Bad News For Divorced Couple
By August 5, 2011
When Wells Fargo and Wachovia got married, it was bad news for this divorced couple. Merging the two bank’s databases resulted in the husband getting bills and statements for his ex-wife. After trying to fix it and deal with some Wells Fargo customer service reps who clearly needed counseling, the man is ready to break it off with his bank too. [More]
