Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Fight For Your Right To Be Fee Free

Yesterday I got the statement for my business checking account in the mail. After dinner I sat down to reconcile it, and was shocked to notice that underneath the Deposit and Withdrawals categories there was a new section, called Fees. The only item in the category was an $8.00 Monthly Fee.

That's not supposed to happen. Almost six years ago I converted a checking account to one for "Seniors".

I went to the bank's website to try to figure out what went wrong, and couldn't even find my account (for people 50+) listed.  However, there was one for 65+.  To waive a monthly fee in that account you'd need to maintain a hefty balance, or have a hefty amount automatic deposited each month.  Even if the bank would let me qualify for that account I couldn't meet either the balance or deposit requirements.  I researched other banks in the area, and found out that I might have to resign myself to paying a fee.

I'm signed up for direct deposits with more than a dozen different companies.  It would be a pain to change the information with each of them, so I wasn't going to go down without a fight.  This morning I was at the bank shortly after it opened.  I talked to a banker, who pulled my information up on the computer and determined that there had, indeed, been a mistake made.  She reversed the fee and told me that since I'm grandfathered into the now-obsolete account type it shouldn't happen again.

I'm going to check every month, though, just to be sure.  And start investigating other options.

Five years ago today: Are You Suitable?

6 comments:

  1. It is very difficult to be considered a senior when one is not yet 65. I am 59 and my friend is 65, so the bank is waiving any fees for her but not myself yet. Thank you so much for sharing, and warm greetings from Montreal, Canada.

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    1. Linda, thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment! I certainly don't consider myself a senior, but if a store or company wants to do so and offer me a discount I'll certainly take it :-)

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  2. I was grandfathered, too, twenty three years ago. I periodically go through merger mania and have to find someone to reset the button.

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  3. one has to be careful and know the rules for all these fees. We keep a minimum balance in some of our chequing accounts that charge fees. I also switched to online statements when our bank started charging $2 for paper statements, glad I saw that notice in time!

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  4. That could be really challenging as I see it. I hope it won't happen again.

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