Just dawned on me why the supposed downtrodden has no bank accounts.

[kimba1]

In order to get certain service you almost need zero assets and a bank account has penalty for not maintaining a minimum which can be dificult to maintain and still appear broke. I tried to google if this the case but got no idea how to search it. I brought this. Up because i know alot of people who work but has zero asset to get benefits. It not a very well kept secret.

[Plane]

Is there a credit union availible?

Credit Unions in general have low fees and low minimum accounts.

[kimba1]

what I`m getting at is the no bank account could be a sign that some of these folks are doing this to get benefits. check cashing I believe has no viable record of transaction.

[Xavier_Onassis]

People do not have bank accounts as a rule because they were quite often lured by promises of "free checking" and then the banks changed the rules on them and fined them with huge overdraft fees. One example is that the bank claims that all checks need 15 days to clear, when they generally only need three.

Banks do all sorts of sneaky crap to hit small depositors with huge fees: $35 overdraft fee for a $10 check when the balance was $9.99. That sort of thing.

It could be that some people have no accounts to avoid detection of having income, but mostly, it is because of having been cheated by some bank.
 

[kimba1]

The rule change just happened to me. I notice a $20 fee on my statement and the bank said a rule change happen and require me to have a $15k minimum of combined accounts. I quickly changed that to most minimum package possible. I'd of left them but the manager not once suggested simply add more money to the account. That to me makes them just more trust worthy.

Seriously most bank would normally suggest putting more money to save the account.also the manager reimbursed the $20.

[Xavier_Onassis]

You have to be a serious dolt to have $15K invested with any bank.

Credit unions will give you free checking for far less.

As places to invest, "full-service" banks suck.

It is generally better to pick a non profit or mutual organization rather than a profit-making one when you have a choice.

[Plane]

Some banks are worse than others.

If you have time to shop around I bet you can find a better deal.

I am glad that you got your fee refunded, stuff like that is actually a lot more negotiable than banks like to let on.

Would you use on line banking?

[Xavier_Onassis]

Always dispute every fee on credit cards. I find that if I pay them off every month, they will remove fees if you have even a minimal justification for questioning them. The same is true of DSL service and even some phone service.

You have nothing to lose: the worst that can happen is that you will have to pay anyway.

[kimba1]

Love online banking. It give me a false image of a very responsible person. Before it was tough paying bills on time. But this autopay makes thing easy. It also make it hard for businesses to claim nonpayment from me since i can look it up to see if they got my money.
I've caught a few ultilities try that on me and backoff quick when i read off the screen.