Consumerist
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this is not a way to save
Wachovia's "Way2Save" Account Triggers Over $5,000 In Penalty Fees
Wachovia has a new financial product called Way2Save that automatically moves $1 from your checking account into a high interest personal savings account every time you make an electronic bill payment. Susan tried to maximize her contributions by making a lot of little bill payments, but Wachovia cut off access to her funds without notice and triggered an avalanche of penalty fees. Now she owes over $5,000 to her credit card companies, far more than she would likely have ever earned through Wachovia's complicated savings program, and of course Wachovia is denying any responsibility. More » -
i am a robot human
Wachovia Teller Refuses To Deposit Check Written In Two Ink Colors
"The best advice I can offer to those who wish to commit check fraud against Wachovia Bank," writes Jim, "is to purchase a typewriter." Although he's been a customer of the bank for years and had a hefty balance that more than covered the deposit amount of his handwritten check, because the dollar amount was in black ink and the signature was in blue ink the teller said it might be fraudulent and refused to take it. More » -
explainers
The Real Reason Behind The $23 Quadrillion Errors
The secret of the $23 quadrillion VISA debit errors looks like a specific and not uncommon programming error. Take the insanely large number, if you convert 2314885530818450000 to hexadecimal, you end up with 20 20 20 20 20 20 12 50. In programming, hex20 is a space. Where a binary zero should have been, there were spaces instead. What made this instance special is that it wasn't caught in time. A Slashdot commenter identifying himself as working in the industry explains more about what very likely happened: More » -
visa
The $23 Quadrillion Meal
I hope he cleaned his plate. Jon Seale was another of several VISA customers who were charged $23 quadrillion for mundane purchases. This time it was his July 13th meal a Dallas restaurant, reports KXAS. VISA said a temporary programming error affecting prepaid accounts was responsible for the error . Jon spent the rest of the day calling between Wachovia and VISA to try to clear the $23,148,855,308,184,500 charge.
23 Quadrillion Dollar Bill [KXAS]
PREVIOUSLY: The $23 Quadrillion Pack Of Cigarettes
Unruly Teen Charges $23 Quadrillion At Drugstore -
forgetfulness
County Sells Wachovia Bank For $16,900 For Failure To Pay Taxes
When Wachovia closed its bank branch in Shoemakersville, PA, last month, a spokesperson made it sound like it was part of a normal review of locations. Local newspaper the Reading Eagle, however, found out that the bank lost the branch last September in a tax sale, when a local company bought the building for only $16,900. More » -
annualcreditreport
Wachovia Sends Out Its Own "Free Credit Report!" Offer To Customers
Tom just received a great offer from his bank. He can receive a free credit report just by peeling off this sticker and affixing it to another part of the same page. That's right, a free motherloving credit report! Who doesn't want one of those? Free, you say? Sign me up!
Oh, it also comes with an enrollment in some sort of identity theft protection program for $13 a month. More »
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twitter
Helpful Service from Wachovia via Twitter
Reader Mike wrote to us about a problem he was experiencing with Wachovia (now part of Wells Fargo, but apparently keeping its own identity.) A day later, he he wrote back, informing us that the problem had resolved itself via Wachovia's Twitter account. (Customers, take note: that's http://twitter.com/Wachovia.) More » -
mortgage meltdown
Meet The Savings & Loan That Destroyed Wachovia
60 Minutes recently took a look at World Savings Bank, the acquisition that ultimately wounded Wachovia so badly that it had to be acquired by Wells Fargo. What was wrong with an institution for which Wachovia was willing to pay $25 billion? Well, one whistleblower claims that World Savings was engaged in fraud and predatory lending — tricking its customers into signing up for dangerous "option-arm" or (as they cheerfully called them) "pick-a-payment" loans. More » -
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phone numbers
Secret Phone Numbers And Email Addresses To Reach Executives At 101+ Companies
Inside, email addresses, phone numbers, and addresses for over 100 different companies to inject your customer service complaints into their corporate executive offices, and get it well on the way to success.
More »
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Wachovia announced their $23.7 billion third quarter loss with an all-too-easy-to-mock pre-taped conference call. “Let’s just close our eyes and imagine what the combination of Wells Fargo and Wachovia will create,” said CEO Bob Steel. We suppose that does make it easier not to rudely stare at the number "23,700,000,000." [WSJ Deal Journal]
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money meltdown
Wells Fargo Wins, Will Buy Wachovia
Wells Fargo is the winner in the battle for Wachovia, says the New York Times. Apparently, Citibank became nervous about splitting the bank when they saw the size of the "bad assets" it would have to take on, and quietly walked away. The bank will continue to seek $60 billion in damages, however. More » -
wachovia
Citibank, Wells Fargo May Carve Up Wachovia, Feast On Its Bones
Bloomberg is reporting that Wells Fargo and Citibank may split Wachovia. Neither bank would get assistance from the government and taxpayers under the deal being discussed now. More » -
wachovia
Not So Fast: Judge Blocks Wachovia Sale To Wells Fargo, Citibank Rejoices
Tsk tsk, Wells Fargo. You should've known that stealing Citibank's unspoiled bride at the alter was going to draw a bitter legal challenge. Late last night, Citibank's team of repo-lawyers claimed a partial victory, announcing that a New York judge has agreed to block Wachovia's sale. Citibank is also demanding $60 billion from Wells Fargo for interfering with the deal. More » -
wachovia
Giddyup! Wells Fargo Rides In And Steals Wachovia From Citibank!
Attention Wachovia customers: Wells Fargo just rode on on that stagecoach thing of theirs and stole your bank from Citibank, says the NYT. Rather than pick apart the pieces of Wachovia, Wells Fargo is going to buy the whole darn thing. More » -
Surprise! Wells Fargo is buying Wachovia, even though Citibank said at the beginning of the week that it was going to. (Check out the full post here.) Unlike Citibank, Wells Fargo will absorb all parts of Wachovia, including its securities and retail brokerage biz, in a "$15.1 billion all-stock merger." [DealBook] (Thanks to Stephen!)
MORE »
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check fraud
Happy Ending: Always Look A Gift Check In The Mouth
There's a happy ending to our story, "Always Look A Gift Check In The Mouth" about the guy who opened up a new bank account just to deposit a check he thought might be fraudulent and indeed, turned out to be. Fred writes: More » -
washington mutual
WaMu And Wachovia Weren't On Texas-Ratio Deathwatch List
Back in July, after IndyMac went under, we posted a list of ten banks that could be "the next to go under." Interestingly enough, as reader Irene noticed, neither Washington Mutual or Wachovia, two major, sub-prime mortgage saddled, banks that got taken over recently, made the list. The list was based on analyzing the banks' "Texas-Ratio," basically the ratio of loans they've made to capital they had on hand. None of the banks on the Texas-Ratio watch list, like "The State Bank of Lebo" of Lebo, KS, or "First Priority Bank" of Bradenton, FL, can be found on another list either: the list of banks you've heard talked about in the news. Well here's a newsflash that the media elite passed over while buffing their loafers with their fancy college degrees: The State Bank of Lebo now has an ATM. It's inside Casey's General Store. Put that in your pipe and smoke it!
PREVIOUSLY: 10 Banks That Could Be Next To Go Under (Photo: knightraven)
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september madness
March Madness-Style Bracket Makes Bank Mergers Fun
TechCrunch has posted this "March Madness" style bracket of the recent financial meltdown. It was reportedly created by a general partner at Sansome Partners named Mark Slavonia, says TC. More »
wachovia
New York, 8:21 AM
Mon Nov 9
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