Can you afford a 38$ burger?

true, lets just blame everyone who trusts a bank then, ok? reason why I say that, is because they in general take a while to deposit your funds, but sure are quick to withdraw it. I deposited a check for 4,000 on the second. funds were supposed to take 6 days to approve? well, that is bank days, not including weekends. It is now the 11th, and the check finally went through. In that period of time, I have had to write checks, and though I am not charged as much as other banks, I still get bit with a fee. I do have the overdraft protection, so for me, it is merely borrowing off the credit card, but at 18$ a pop, per transaction. If I had 4 transactions before this deposit cleared, then it cost me 72.00 just to make the transactions, when the check had already been deposited, but I had to wait for their "policy". to me, that is criminal.

I wasn't trying to pick a fight with you, just showing there is another side to this. I do think that some of the fees (my bank charges $29, but I know some charge as much as $35 each check) are outrageous, and should be capped, but I do see why they charge them. My bank doesn't take that long to credit deposits. Ours are credited immediately, even with larger amounts. We've been with them for several years, but we've never had a problem. All banks have their own restrictions, which you said that you knew about in advance. Should you have to wait for your money? No, but since that is their policy there isn't much you can do about it except change banks. The bank that we had before this one would allow only $250 of a deposit that size available immediately and then the rest was available (as long as the check cleared) in 10 days. If it was drawn off of the same bank it would be available immediately, since they could debit the account right away. We were able to call a conference call with the other bank if we needed more than $250 right away(usually 3-4 days later) to see if the check cleared or not. They didn't like to do it that way, but they would. They could over-ride the computer's hold on the money once the other bank gave the okay that it had cleared. Each bank has their own set of rules. This was one of the reasons we changed banks because we live paycheck to paycheck and couldn't always wait for larger deposits to clear. If the check was drawn off of a local bank we'd just take it to the bank it was drawn off of to cash it immediately and then deposit the cash into our account. Not always convenient, but neither was waiting 10 days for our money. How do they know that the check you received wasn't going to bounce? It would be easy to spend the money and then if the check bounced the bank would be left holding the bag. Yeah, they charge fees, but there are people out there who don't care and won't pay them. I'm not saying you wouldn't pay them, but how does the bank know that? It takes you bank a couple of days to clear a check to someone else, so it takes a few days for your bank to clear one to you, as well.

Ok, I am not trying to pick a fight either (hee hee) just stating the facts.(as I know them.) I doubt I'd ever change banks, I go through Credit Union. 18$ compared to most banks isn't as bad. I'd never do business with a bank that charged 35$ per check that did not clear. that is just plain robbery. also, if you look at the places that cash your check right away for a fee, they usually call the bank to make sure the check will clear. also, if you have done business with them in the past, oftentimes they don't even check. however, when dealing with a personal bank, if you have done business with them for years, why would they still make you wait an extended period? I actually was fortunate, because my bank held the payments of certain checks until my larger check had cleared. Not everyone is as fortunate though. I am also fortunate because I asked for overdraft protection immediately when I opened my bank account since I understand in a way how banks operate with withholding funds until they clear. the best advice I can give? if you do not want fees, don't spend it until you know it has cleared. even checking your funds via the machine is not an indicator to if your funds have cleared the bank yet, as I have noticed. the day after my deposit, my statement read that my funds had been deposited, even though I was to wait a certain amount of time.

Yes, the banks are a bit "mad" I think. makes you wonder how they did it back in the days?

There was one bank, I won't mention it here, since it is a fairly large bank, so B of A, who would charge 6$ to have a checking account, 5$ to have a savings account, 5$ if you went to the teller to cash a check, and other fees. this isn't good for the struggling student who may get hit with their extraordinary high fees of 35$ per check, if something goes wrong! plus, it can be a snowball effect. the student has bad debt, however still has to live, unfortunately on a shoestring budget. I'd suggest strictly cash.