Walmart's effort to get customers to build up their savings accounts

Post by nxc18 » Tue, May 09, 2017, 4:14 AM UTC

bpodgursky wrote: post #36

asafira wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you mean by "It is $5/mo for accounts with less than $1000, but you're not going to get better than that at a bank."? Aren't there lots of banks that charge nothing even if you only have <$1000?

There aren't many anymore. Banks mostly eliminated or heavily restricted free checking accounts when overdraft fees got capped. You may be able to find a couple credit unions that do this, but you still have minimum account balances and other hurdles that make it difficult to open an account if you have bad credit and little money (not to mention time or financial savvy).

Post by jjeaff » Tue, May 09, 2017, 4:35 AM UTC

pacaro wrote: post #90

JustSomeNobody wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really. It's very expensive to be poor (in the U.S. at least).

It grates for me when I withdraw cash. The most convenient ATM for me charges $3 when I withdraw money. My approach to this is to never pull less than $300, so the fee is 1% or less. But for people who are pulling $20 because that's what they have right now, this is a 15% tax. It's a perfect example of regressive taxation. For me it's a minor inconvenience, for most Americans it's a significant burden.

Post by kevin_thibedeau » Tue, May 09, 2017, 4:38 AM UTC

pacaro wrote: post #90

JustSomeNobody wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really. It's very expensive to be poor (in the U.S. at least).

It grates for me when I withdraw cash. The most convenient ATM for me charges $3 when I withdraw money. My approach to this is to never pull less than $300, so the fee is 1% or less. But for people who are pulling $20 because that's what they have right now, this is a 15% tax. It's a perfect example of regressive taxation. For me it's a minor inconvenience, for most Americans it's a significant burden.

Post by memonkey » Tue, May 09, 2017, 4:40 AM UTC

kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #102

nxc18 wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Skip the bank. Credit Unions are where its at: nation-wide shared branches, fee-free checking, sane overdraft policies, no minimum balances, reasonable interest payments, and in my experience, not a single instance of them blatantly trying to screw customers. I just checked and my CU has a $30 overdraft fee, which can be disabled if you're willing to let things bounce.

Try opening a CU account without credit.

Post by lazyasciiart » Tue, May 09, 2017, 5:07 AM UTC

kevan wrote: post #93

morgante wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here are my various no-fee checking accounts: * http://content.schwab.com/web/retail/public/get-started/chec... - amazing checking account, reimburses all ATM fees * https://www.capitalone.com/bank/360checking-guide/ * https://www.aspiration.com/summit/ I do have a few other ones but they're based on relationship banking. All of the above have no fee and no minimum.

Step 2 in this analysis: Would you be able to get any of those accounts with a low credit score? I'm pretty sure when I opened my Schwab checking account they ran a credit check.