Chase charging for ‘free’ checking now; need new bank

[Diane]

I’ve been with WaMu for years, started for the free checking; loved WaMu; been through all the aches & pains of transition with Chase; now the big slam; just got letter from Chase announcing that ‘free’ checking will now cost me $10 a month; exceptions to the $10 fee are the typical; if you have a job that offers direct deposit; I do not; been self employed for years; another exception to $10 fee, if you are well enough employed to have substantial savings in account; most of us struggling through recession are living month to month; sure wish I had savings; so short story, I plan to leave Chase asap, finally got needed kick in the butt; and searching for bank that offers REAL free checking; I only write about 2 checks per month, and make many deposits per month, from individual jobs that pay me daily; any recommendations?

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[shihtzu]

BECU.

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[johnnyblegs]

I agree with shihtzu. Credit Unions rock. Don’t understand why everyone doesn’t do it. I bank with WSECU and keep a savings account online with HSBC (highest APY I’ve found) who also has free bill pay & free bank transfers in addition to their free checking.

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[The Velvet Bulldog]

I’ve been with Seattle Metropolitan Credit Union for nearly 40 years. (Good God, that hurts to read…) Anyway, they are fantastic–check them out at smcu.com. Better rates all around.

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[anonyme]

I’ve heard great things about BECU. I have ING Direct, which is 100% online, and really like it a lot. The only drawback is not being able to immediately cash paper checks, but I rarely find that necessary.

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[HelperMonkey]

PLEASE be careful when leaving Chase. I had to leave them last year. When I went in to close my account in person, I was told I had to fax my request to the manager. I did. They never closed the account. This was the branch on California and Oregon. Get written confirmation that the account is indeed closed.

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[johnnyblegs]

“Fax my request to the manager”…?!

Weird! Who faxes these days?

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[herongrrrl]

We switched to BECU shortly after WAMU became Chase. We’ve been very happy with them. And unlike Chase, who stopped paying interest on small accounts, BECU pays decent interest. You can deposit to BECU through lots of non-BECU ATMs, too.

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[HelperMonkey]

@johnnyblegs – I know! especially considering I was standing right there. IN PERSON.

@Diane, I went with Wells Fargo and have been pretty happy with them.

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[DP]

Totally support the tenor of this thread.

Although I’m not questioning Chase’s right to make “bank” off checking accounts, I think they owe their Washington Mutual stalwarts a little extra consideration for sticking with them through all the transition hassles. When I got my fee-increase letter yesterday, I decided I’d finally had enough. Chase has managed to squeeze their last drop of goodwill from me.

Following my tattletale instincts, I’m going to contact the manager at a couple of different branches, and possibly their headquarters as well, and go: Do you know what customers are saying about you on the West Seattle Blog? You’re certainly going to lose some customers over this policy.

Will it change their minds? No.

Will it make me feel better? Yes. A little.

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[WSB]

Uh-oh, we routinely recycle almost everything that comes in the postal mail after a very quick look. Probably missed this letter. Thanks for mentioning it.

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[austin]

In other news: USPS now requires you to send large volumes of junk mail if you want to mail a gift home to your mom for the holidays.

(that’s a joke for those who don’t have the internet humor plugin installed – firefox only)

Seriously though, chase taking a big crap on everybody who doesn’t have $1500 in their checking account right before xmas. That’s gotta be worth some type of robber baron award.

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[metrognome]

I would add another recommendation for a credit union; whichever one you pick, make sure ahead of time that there is a convenient WS ATM location for making those frequent deposits as some of them belong to the networks and some don’t (the nearest office for most of them is downtown.) I don’t belong to BECU, but they have an ATM in Morgan Junction in the little strip mall south of the Thriftway (there may be others in WS.)

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[SarahScoot]

Every 7-11 ATM can accept BECU (and probably other CU) deposits and gives fee-free withdrawals to CU members.

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[Diane]

LOVE you guys; thanks for all the great tips, warnings, ideas, and humor

Go credit unions!!!

Last night when I got this stupid letter I was mad/sad; now laughing and feeling validated; thank you, thank you, thank you

TR, I told my neighbor about it today; she said same thing, she had tossed it aside and not read; it’s in a big envelope with bold letters on outside ‘Changes coming to your Chase checking account’

so is there some cosmic contest this week to see who can be greedier, Comcast or Chase?

@austin, hilarious, and agree

“go home and fax the manager”; equally hilarious, and insane

@DP, excellent idea

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[Sue]

BECU also has online deposits now, where you can upload scans of checks.

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[argiles]

BECU is an amazing bank / credit union, I would suggest them!

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[Diane]

thanks Sue, that sounds fantastic; will have to check it out; I always make scan copies of my checks anyway, before deposit, for my own records

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[Diane]

I’ve been a BECU member for years, but have never used their checking, and since they removed the Admiral branch and atm, it didn’t seem like very good option, at least until they open another new branch (I heard it will be going in near the Alaska Junction); anyway, really good to hear from all of you who are happy with their checking

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[Diane]

I think maybe in addition to DP’s idea of sharing our rants about Chase with their managers & headquarters; we should also share our raves about BECU with their managers & headquarters

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[charlabob]

Credit Unions rule! And I suspect Chase is getting a little desperate for new victims — ‘er, customers: As a non-chase customer, I got a letter offering me the 2010 version of a toaster if I’d open a new account “no strings”:

$150 free! I, um, passed. :-)

To the person who said “they owe something to the WAMU customers — maybe, in terms of PR — but welcome to unregulated capitalism: they don’t owe anything to anyone except their shareholders and their executives. And the WAMU customers are a very small part of their unregulated empire.

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[JoB]

credit unions are getting into the money making business too:(

but the good news is that when you join..

you become one of the shareholders.

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[dtown]

This is from Chase’s website…

“Checking Fees: None when you have 5 or more debit card purchases (withdrawals from the ATM or cash advance transactions do not qualify) or a direct deposit post to your account during each statement period. The direct deposit qualifier changes to at least one direct deposit of $500 or more and takes effect with the statement periods beginning February 8, 2011. Two or more direct deposits that add up to $500 or more but do not individually equal or exceed $500, do not qualify; otherwise $6 per month”

is the is the ‘change’ you’re talking about?

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[SarahScoot]

Thanks for posting the online deposit info, Sue – I’d forgotten to pull out that selling point! I’ve deposited about five checks online and it’s worked perfectly. Now if only they’d develop a way to allow us to withdraw money remotely; you know, just print the cash on my home printer. Nothing could go wrong with that… ;-)

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[dtown]

Wonder if they could allow you to print a cashiers check.

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