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

theatlantic.com

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

#161

Post by _asummers »

Symbiote wrote: post #157
theklub wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think it is the norm. Only time I've paid fees is at the ATM.

ATM fees are unusual in the UK, as the parent post said, though we use the term "cash machine". Using a cash machine is free, for the majority of cases — those in banks, supermarkets, shopping centres, railway stations and so on are run by one of the banks and are free for customers of all banks to use. It doesn't matter if the machine or customer is with/is a major bank or a small one, they're all on the same networ…

A few banks (USAA, Schwaab, others) offer ATM fee reimbursal, but most US ATMs will charge you unless you're part of that bank's network. It's really not the best, especially when you're at cash only places, which seem to be popping up a lot near me.

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

#162

Post by falsedan »

SyneRyder wrote: post #129
stephen_g wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The whole idea of being 'unbanked' or 'underbanked' is so foreign to me (as an Australian). The whole state of banking just seems so antiquated in the US... I'm 26, and I've never written a cheque. Public schools over here have (or at least had, not sure how it works today) programs where every student would get a bank account in the first grade with no fees (until they finished study). You'd actually bring in your b…

> Public schools over here have... programs where every student would get a bank account in the first grade with no fees I think those are actually promotional programs run by the banks (but I agree they're a good thing). I'm 10 years older, but we were all given Commonwealth Bank Dollarmites accounts. There's more info on the Dollarmites program here, apparently schools get affiliate fees & commissions for every dep…

> Commonwealth Bank Dollarmites

I still have the plastic piggy-bank somewhere (and a Fat Cat one, to really date myself).

By the time I went to uni, I had enough saved for a brand new Pentium Celeron system. It sure helped that interest rates were 10-15%…

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

#163

Post by falsedan »

alkonaut wrote: post #155
briandear wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Come to France. People use checks all the time. You still have to visit your "personal banker" to accomplish many tasks. If US banking is in the 80s, then French banking is in the 60s. And "checking account" doesn't mean "with this account I write a lot of checks." In the US there are general two types of accounts, checking and savings. I haven't written a check on my US account in over 15 years.. Though in France I…

> "checking" account is just a terminology It's what you might call a "salary account" in other places then. It's where your pay(check - haha) ends up, and what you use for regular day to day transactions such as paying bills. I also get confused when abroad and there are buttons to withdraw from "checking" "savings" etc. I have a handful of accounts that I name myself so it's always hard to know.

> you might call a "salary account" in other places

UK => Current Account

AU => Transaction Account (although my bank brands it as an 'Everyday' account)

The worst thing about US Checking accounts is that they don't come with checks, and you have to arrange with a third-party printer to get a book of checks sent to you.

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

#164

Post by chrisseaton »

Fifer82 wrote: post #160
chrisseaton wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm giving them my money essentially to invest But what about those people who aren't giving the bank any meaningful capital to invest? What is the bank getting in return in that case? Or are you arguing that banks should be forced to provide it as a kind of social service even if they don't earn anything? I can understand that kind of point of view.

When banking becomes optional, I agree, however I need a bank and I ain't paying to take money out of it. When banking is optional, by all means they may charge, but I will take my cash in £20 pound notes in Royal Mail Special Delivery at the end of the month cheers!

I can't understand this point of view. Food isn't optional, and you still have to pay for that. Why should banking be free?

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

#166

Post by alkonaut »

falsedan wrote: post #163
alkonaut wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "checking" account is just a terminology It's what you might call a "salary account" in other places then. It's where your pay(check - haha) ends up, and what you use for regular day to day transactions such as paying bills. I also get confused when abroad and there are buttons to withdraw from "checking" "savings" etc. I have a handful of accounts that I name myself so it's always hard to know.

> you might call a "salary account" in other places UK => Current Account AU => Transaction Account (although my bank brands it as an 'Everyday' account) The worst thing about US Checking accounts is that they don't come with checks, and you have to arrange with a third-party printer to get a book of checks sent to you.

I'm so glad I have never used a check. I'm 40 and haven't even paid a bill without using the internet (so basically for 22 years now).

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

#167

Post by orf »

chrisseaton wrote: post #164
Fifer82 wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When banking becomes optional, I agree, however I need a bank and I ain't paying to take money out of it. When banking is optional, by all means they may charge, but I will take my cash in £20 pound notes in Royal Mail Special Delivery at the end of the month cheers!

I can't understand this point of view. Food isn't optional, and you still have to pay for that. Why should banking be free?

You don't order food from a restaurant and have the restaurant take/withhold a portion of your meal off you to cover the cost for bringing it from the kitchen to your table.

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

#168

Post by eddieroger »

panzer_wyrm wrote: post #106

Slighlty offtopic - but why are not debit cards popular in US. A card in which you put money and withdraw/pay untill they ran out. No overdraft/credit/direct debit bullshit to be concerned with. They are perfect solutions for the poor and underbanked... whatever that means. Small fees, small charges, impossible to rack gazzilion dollars in penalty fees.

Debit cards are popular in the US, but so are overdraft fees (from the bank's perspective, anyway). When I last opened a checking and savings account, I was offered overdraft protection on my debit purchases, and though the default was to have it, I opted out. Why risk the fee? Granted, I'm not necessarily in the same position as every American, or even those in the article, but I would rather be embarrassingly denied my $4 cup of coffee than have it turn in to a $104 cup of coffee.

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

#169

Post by SyneRyder »

falsedan wrote: post #162
SyneRyder wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Public schools over here have... programs where every student would get a bank account in the first grade with no fees I think those are actually promotional programs run by the banks (but I agree they're a good thing). I'm 10 years older, but we were all given Commonwealth Bank Dollarmites accounts. There's more info on the Dollarmites program here, apparently schools get affiliate fees & commissions for every dep…

> Commonwealth Bank Dollarmites I still have the plastic piggy-bank somewhere (and a Fat Cat one, to really date myself). By the time I went to uni, I had enough saved for a brand new Pentium Celeron system. It sure helped that interest rates were 10-15%…

> I still have the plastic piggy-bank somewhere (and a Fat Cat one, to really date myself).

We're probably a similar age, I met Fat Cat on an Ansett flight once ;)

But clearly customer acquisition at a young age is huge for banks - I'm part of a focus group for Westpac, and recently they tested several different designs for piggy banks.

(Another initiative is already public, where they've giving $200 to every child born in Australia this year. Catch is, the parents have to open a Westpac account to claim it, and the money can't be withdrawn until the child turns 18.)

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

#170

Post by TDL »

Symbiote wrote: post #157
theklub wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think it is the norm. Only time I've paid fees is at the ATM.

ATM fees are unusual in the UK, as the parent post said, though we use the term "cash machine". Using a cash machine is free, for the majority of cases — those in banks, supermarkets, shopping centres, railway stations and so on are run by one of the banks and are free for customers of all banks to use. It doesn't matter if the machine or customer is with/is a major bank or a small one, they're all on the same networ…

People usually pay fees for using ATMs outside their banks network (some banks join broader networks in order to offer more ATM locations to their customers.)
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