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Wells Fargo Hit with $1B in Fines

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Re: Wells Fargo Hit with $1B in Fines

#61

Post by bluGill »

samstave wrote: post #22
aphextron wrote: post #4

Something has happened to big banks along the way, where they no longer actually provide banking services to their customers. When I walk into a Wells Fargo branch now and sit down with a "banker" to take care of my accounts, it consists of sitting next to them while they call 1-800-WELLSFARGO for me and talk to a call center. There simply is no service anymore. I walked into my local branch to open up an IRA last we…

I once took out $25,000 from my WF account and asked for it in a cashiers check. I paid the $5 fee for the check (even though they had stated that it would be free) - then I took my money.... I came back ~1month later to re-deposit the check into SAME WF acct. They stated that they had to put a hold on the check for 14 days until they could verify the funds. For a WF issued cashiers check. From the SAME act the funds…

It is easy to forge a cashiers check. Even if it is real, it is possible to erase the name on it and put something else on. Or you could have a fake id that makes it seem like you are really the person who it was written to. Those are just the types of fraud that come to mind immediately, those who work in banks probably know of more.

Re: Wells Fargo Hit with $1B in Fines

#62

Post by GuiA »

heurist wrote: post #38
aphextron wrote: post #4

Something has happened to big banks along the way, where they no longer actually provide banking services to their customers. When I walk into a Wells Fargo branch now and sit down with a "banker" to take care of my accounts, it consists of sitting next to them while they call 1-800-WELLSFARGO for me and talk to a call center. There simply is no service anymore. I walked into my local branch to open up an IRA last we…

It's definitely an industry ripe for rebirth. For instance, I should be able to partition my money into several lightweight accounts - one for groceries, one for home expenses, investment, etc - and automatically have fractions of my deposits sent to those accounts so my budgeting and money management are handled without any effort on my part. I should have lightweight cards available for each of those accounts with…

All the things you describe could result in an amazingly improved experience for customers, letting them better control their finance, and understand where their money goes.

Sadly, this is not how banks become rich. Banks become rich by letting their customers spend a lot of money they don't have, then charging them insane interest rates that will often result in them paying back multiple times what they originally owed.

Having moved to the US from a country where the idea of a credit card is close to inexistent (people take loans to buy a car or a house, or start a business - but certainly not to buy a TV), it took me a while to fully wrap my head around how insane the credit system was in the US, and how its only outcome can be very rich and powerful financial institutions leeching money from average citizens.

Re: Wells Fargo Hit with $1B in Fines

#63

Post by ChuckMcM »

aphextron wrote: post #4

Something has happened to big banks along the way, where they no longer actually provide banking services to their customers. When I walk into a Wells Fargo branch now and sit down with a "banker" to take care of my accounts, it consists of sitting next to them while they call 1-800-WELLSFARGO for me and talk to a call center. There simply is no service anymore. I walked into my local branch to open up an IRA last we…

Different banks have different levels of service. Often times a local, non-national branded, bank will have the services and service you might expect from your banker. Of course if they get to successful they get sucked into a bigger non-service oriented bank.

Wells Fargo seems to be particularly bad about things. I had a 'lifetime free checking account' with a local bank that ended up getting bought by Wells Fargo. About 3 years in to having my Checking there they tried to charge me a fee for it. I pointed out it was 'lifetime free' and they agreed to honor that when they bought the previous bank. They acquiesced and for the next year it was free. Then the fees started up again. Another call, another mea culpa, and quiet. Then the fees started up again. At that point I severed my banking relationship with them. (which I suppose is what they wanted)

Re: Wells Fargo Hit with $1B in Fines

#64

Post by rgbrenner »

djschnei wrote: post #5

Where does the fine go? Does it get divvied up amongst the people affected by WF's wrongdoing?

it's a CFPD fine.. so it goes into their Civil Penalty Fund, and it's required to be used for victim compensation, and where that's not practical, the remaining funds are used for consumer education and financial literacy programs.

By law, those are the only things the CFPD can spend this money on.

Civil Penalty Fund Rule: https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/payments-harmed-con...

Re: Wells Fargo Hit with $1B in Fines

#65

Post by sethammons »

aphextron wrote: post #4

Something has happened to big banks along the way, where they no longer actually provide banking services to their customers. When I walk into a Wells Fargo branch now and sit down with a "banker" to take care of my accounts, it consists of sitting next to them while they call 1-800-WELLSFARGO for me and talk to a call center. There simply is no service anymore. I walked into my local branch to open up an IRA last we…

I only know horror stories from Wells Fargo. My only experience was wanting to break a $100 bill. I went up to the teller and asked for change, and they could not break the bill for a non-customer. Mind blown. I just walked next door to the grocery and bought a $1 thing of gum.

My favorite terrible story was a founder I know. His company just got funded and he got is first paycheck in a while, and he deposited it his Wells account. Well, he had a second account that was requiring payment, so they drained his primary account to level out the other account without telling him. He found out when his wife called him saying she was unable to buy groceries. Oh, and this was Christmas.

Re: Wells Fargo Hit with $1B in Fines

#66

Post by djschnei »

Jweb_Guru wrote: post #53
djschnei wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was commenting on the lack of competition. Deregulating with the aim of making the barriers to entry into the marketplace smaller. Not deregulation to allow big banks to get away with more... Also, I would guess with more competition from smaller banks, megabanks might actually act more responsibly. [EDIT] but you are kind of proving my point, so thanks! I said "deregulation" so your mind is already made up on the…

On the contrary, deregulation (of banks and otherwise) is all the rage, and has been for some time (as another commentator noted, many 2008-era regulations are already being repealed). What I don't understand is how the deregulation is going to only improve things for small businesses, not allow large ones to be even more ruthlessly exploitative. Especially since the trend in many other industries (that aren't nearly…

The deregulation we've seen is deregulation being pushed by people with ties to big banks. Not all regulation (or deregulation) is created equally...

Re: Wells Fargo Hit with $1B in Fines

#67

Post by Skunkleton »

aphextron wrote: post #4

Something has happened to big banks along the way, where they no longer actually provide banking services to their customers. When I walk into a Wells Fargo branch now and sit down with a "banker" to take care of my accounts, it consists of sitting next to them while they call 1-800-WELLSFARGO for me and talk to a call center. There simply is no service anymore. I walked into my local branch to open up an IRA last we…

Semi-related: If you have any entities (power company, cell phone provider, etc..) setup to directly pull their payments from your account, these can cause the account to re-open, and then overdraft. Be careful.

Re: Wells Fargo Hit with $1B in Fines

#68

Post by [deleted] »

rb808 wrote: post #12
djschnei wrote: post #5

Where does the fine go? Does it get divvied up amongst the people affected by WF's wrongdoing?

> Does it get divvied up amongst the people affected by WF's wrongdoing? Are you crazy? The fines usually get distributed around different politicians to spend on their favorite things. Like this https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/editorials/2014/07/14... Which is why these fines will continue. Everyone hates the banks so the regulators can just keep fining them for everything indefinitely, when they run out of i…

[deleted]

Re: Wells Fargo Hit with $1B in Fines

#69

Post by paulie_a »

smacktoward wrote: post #56
ellisv wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A few months later walked by a branch and on a whim decided it was a good time to close my account. Walked in, ask to close it, they said I had to wait, I said oh OK that's alright I'll just withdraw all of it. Good riddance. Careful, if it's not actually closed they'll hit you with fees.

C'mon, this is Wells Fargo we're talking about! They'll hit you with the fees whether the account was closed or not.

Or just apparently open a new account for you.

Re: Wells Fargo Hit with $1B in Fines

#70

Post by cspags »

Someone1234 wrote: post #59
heurist wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's definitely an industry ripe for rebirth. For instance, I should be able to partition my money into several lightweight accounts - one for groceries, one for home expenses, investment, etc - and automatically have fractions of my deposits sent to those accounts so my budgeting and money management are handled without any effort on my part. I should have lightweight cards available for each of those accounts with…

> I should be able to partition my money into several lightweight accounts - one for groceries, one for home expenses, investment, etc Heck not even real "Accounts" (in the traditional banking sense) but just "funds" or "virtual accounts." I should be able to put $5/month into a "waste of money" fund, and then flag specific transactions against that balance when I use it, or as you said have a virtual credit card tha…

I highly recommend checking out https://www.youneedabudget.com for the ability to do this and more. (No affiliation, just a very satisfied customer)
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