As an auctioneer I sometimes speak before I think. This may be out of habit of having to crank out hundreds of words a minute, or it may just be I have a short fuse on the old thinker with hot-button issues.
But recently, I had a situation that took the cake as far as banking frustration goes, and it wasn't long before my opinion was, ahem, profusely expressed. Here's what happened:
I walked up to the Citizen's Bank counter at the West Boylston St, Worcester MA location and attempted to cash a check which was written out to me from a business partner. Of course I provided my valid MA driver's license.
"Do you have an account here?" The woman behind the counter asked.
"No."
"There will be a $5.00 fee to cash this check then."
"No" I replied, "you're mistaken, see, this check is written out from an account holder of YOUR bank, therefore, I don't need an account here."
"Yes, sir, you do, or there is a $5.00 fee to cash this check."
I was flabbergasted, although I may have used other vocabulary to express my dissatisfaction.
I asked her again if she had the policy right, and did she mean that I had to pay a $5.00 fee in order to cash a check written to me from an account holder at her bank, just because I was not an account holder there.
"Yes," she reported meekly. I stated that I wanted to see the policy in print, and a teller next to her, slammed down a booklet that spelled out the offensive rule. Touche for her. After all, just because I'm upset about a bank policy, doesn't mean it's fair that they have to listen to me bellow about it.
I gave in and said, "fine, cash the check, I'll pass the fee along to my partner." OK, sir we'll have to fingerprint you too." "You're kidding me right?" When she assured me she wasn't I walked out furious.
Is this the kind of treatment we're allowing our banks to give us now? They get to make up any fee they want, and then treat us like criminals by fingerprinting us? A MA state driver's license is no longer suffices at their bank for identification?
So here's my policy. My business partner, (none of this his fault of course) can no longer write me a check from an account drawn from a Citizen's bank.
At my auctions, I will no longer accept checks written from a Citizens' Bank.
If there are any attorneys who should stumble across this article, I would like to know: how can Citizen's Bank, legally do this?
By charging me a $5.00 fee as a non-account holder, they add additional fee to a signed contract, (the check) that I did NOT agree to, and had no opportunity to preview before-hand. It was not explained to me that when I received the check, that there would be $5.00 deducted because I do not hold an account with Citizen's Bank. In my book, that's stealing.
If you're a Citizen's account holder, you may want to move your money, AND your mouth.
Please consider digging, stumbling, tweeting and forwarding this article using the SHARE THIS button below.
Thank You
PS, I do my business, at the Barre Savings bank here in Barre MA, so I'm not familiar with a lot of the big bank policies, is this becoming common practice among the corporate banks? And if so, let me know what you think of it in the comment's section.
Comments
siloly wabbit, up here in Canada this has been common for a decade.
ONe of the reasons MoneyMart made a big splash.
And at most banks here, there is no charge, it's FREE -- they simply will NOT cash it no matter what you are prepared to pay.
Some days, a $5 fee could seem small (compared to percentage fee at cheque cashing joints).
Oh, got that wrong, if you walk into a bank, and are NOT a client there, it IS a "cheque cashing joint"
(excuse the canadian spelling of cheque, please :-)
I've also been fed up with the 'big bank' fees. Bank of Boston would not even offer a no fee savings account for an infant. I also use my local bank who are always friendly and helpful and go way beyond what is necessary to keep me as a satisfied customer.
You guys really need to know what your talking about before you open your mouth, as for the incident person. You obviously have your own bank so why not take it there, is your bank so great they won't cash your check. And word to the wise who gives you the right to yell at people trying to do there job! Do they look like a CEO to you. How would you feel if that was your daughter or someone you care about working there would you like someone talking to them that way. if you do not like it there is always that check cashing place we all love which probably charge you way more then that 5 dollars you don't want to pay. What do you think they pay there employees with, the account you don't have there. All of you guys who have problems with bank fees just know that the biggest power a consumer has is the right to say no and go somewhere else. Me since I don't want put my money into my mattress will continue to pay for the convience.
I have used credit unions rather than banks for about 20 years and they are usually less greedy, but they are getting to this point too.
Shared.
Wally I hate to tell you this but Bank of America has been doing this since at least 2000. When I used to work for a company that ran group homes we had a heck of a time when we issued petty cash checks from BoA, they wanted to charge the group home managers a fee to cash company checks for company business. I think we eventually got a note from the company and it was finally waived.
Karen
I had this same experience while trying to cash my paycheck from Delta. Can you imagine that? If I were the president of Delta I would pull all of my accounts out of the bank. This specific bank was Compass in Jacksonville, Florida. I promptly tore down all the posted signs in the bank telling you that you were an important person in their bank. I politely gave them to the teller and walked out of the bank without cashing my check. I will never do banking service with Compass again. Another in the long line of Greedy Thieving Banks.
@Tony, LMBO... good for you.
@Karen, BOA is now being sued, for numerous arbitrary policy's.
@Wally, So sorry this happened to you. A lot of the big banks now are pulling these in house practice's and the customers and non customers are made to follow them. Writing articles on it, is about the only thing you can do right now.
Talk to Nicole Lauren Augenti, she is on your facebook friends list. She is an attorney in New York, and I know the firm is taking on some class action suits on some of the bigger banks. I messaged her about our own situation with BOA. They hold our mortgage. Short story, they are charging a fee that they now tacked on to my monthly payment, from a re-fi, 2 years ago, when countrywide held the mortgage. Legal? Not at all, but they are still doing it. I called, told them to tack on end of loan, and hopefully I will be dead before they get another flippin penny out of me!
Hope you get some attention on this. I'll share where ever I am.
Kat~
adding to my post, we had backed out on the re-fi. Paid the fee's at the time, for the inspection and quotes, and decided not to.
Now the BOA has decided they want money on this. Not at all legal, since my contract was with countrywide, and I never signed another contract with BOA when they took it over. In my opinion, that makes it null and void, and therefore BOA is stealing from me.
Kat
Wells Fargo has been doing this for a long time. I got a check from a friend for something about six years ago, we went to the W-F branch, he was standing there and they wanted to charge me $5, the check was for $12 I think. I handed it to him and they still wanted to charge $5 when he was cashing a check from himself because it was made out to me. He wrote a check to cash and cashed it then closed his account. I won't take checks from W-F, BOA or any large multi-state bank. If you desire my services you can get cash, I will sign the check but you have to give me cash. This does not apply to our great local banks and credit unions.
If you have a bank account at a credit union why not deposit it at your bank? Not that I agree with their policy but couldn't you simply avoid the hassle by cashing the check at your own bank?
Hey, BoA is proud of the fact that they have paid back the 40 Billion bail out money. Where do you suppose they got the money from.
In all honesty, it's not the fact of the $5 charge - which I agree is wrong. It was the demand for the fingerprints. Some how, that sounds like a violation of your civil liberties.
S
Your finger prints are wanted, because years latter you will get a letter from the IRS stating that you have not reported as income the check you have cashed. Then it is up to you to prove it was not income depending on the situation for you receiving and cashing the check. In a lot of cases it is not income, but in many cases it is income. So you better keep good records and proof of what the check was for. If you cannot prove what it was for, the IRS will tax it as 100% income, even if it isn't.
The fingerprints will prove in a court of law that it was you that cashed the check.
Sure seems illegal to me. Some underpaid bank hack has written a policy without understanding banking law. That's not too much to understand given how immoral the big banks have become. I get just as irate when banks refuse to make change for a $100 bill, again, against the law. But with the current lack of government oversight on banks, it is your word against theirs. All the more reason to switch your money to a credit union as far as I am concerned.
@Tony Rasmus: I am suprised you were able to do that without the security guards treating you like a crminal! That is so awesome--thanks for sharing your story!
I agree with you Auction Wally--this fee is outrageous and you were right to protest it. We should all protest fees like this that punish customers for patronizing their business.
that is TOTALLY ridiculous. i've always shunned citizen's bank (moreso since they dropped out of the SUM program)because i walked in to open a checking account and they don't offer a free one. what?! you're going to charge me to give you money that you're going to invest and make money on? i think not.
as occasionally inconvenient as it can be, i use a small-town bank because they know how to treat me right and don't charge ridiculous fees.
this is good to know- i will pass the word on and hopefully there will be a large-scale boycott at some point! :D
First State Banks charge you to cash a check this way, but no fingerprinting yet. 5/3rd Bank will not cash them through a drive through and I am not sure if they fingerprint or not. I just took it to my bank and cashed it instead. I have a small town bank where they do know how to treat you like a person. *Knock on wood
@Vince Jelnic, This is new here, there was never a fee before if the check was written on an account from the bank of which you are trying to cash the check
@Lucky 13 Trading: I agree, it appears that local banks are becoming the way to go.
@Tony and Karen: Perhaps if we voice our dissatisfaction loud enough, we'll be heard and heeded.
@Kat: It appears that it may take some class action suits to get these policies changed.
@EL Yes I could have, but I was out of town and away from my own bank by 30 miles.
@Annette, yes I have a real problem with the fingerprinting, especially since it appears that the BANKS are the ones involved in criminal activity.
Thanks for all the comments they are greatly appreciated.
I had the same problem with my employer's expense check, drawn on Citizen's Bank. For the past 18 years, I have gone to the employee's bank to cash my expense checks. Then in Jan. 2010, the bank wants a fingerprint and $5. Actually, I object to the fingerprint more than the fee and so now I am just collecting the checks and not cashing them, until the impasse is resolved. You may be interested in this link: fsconline. com/downloads/Syllabus/ FINGERPR.pdf
I suppose it is legal (but not required by law), but the bank is collecting something that is inadmissable in court, and as you point out you don't have to put up with it. If enough people reject their checks, they will loose customers and eventually change their policy.
boycott Citizen's Bank
Had the same issue that they charged me a $5.00 check cashing fee but no finger printing (I would have walked out if they asked for that) as I will never do business with Citizens again and recommend that no one else does either. The list of banks NOT to do business with seems to be growing like all the credit card scams the banks have been pulling on their customers. Chase is another as they stole money from my checking account and it took years to straighten out. I didn't give up and won against them. What will happen is people will start to read the fine print and only deal with the honest banks and hold the dishonest ones accountable and drive them out of business. So far my last bank to deal with is USAA. Unfortunately they only deal with military or family of military so they are not for everyone but they don't steal from their customers as the other banks do. Once I pay off credit cards form other banks, I am done with them.
Just experienced the same thing at DCU -- I found it unbelievable that a bank could get away with charging a fee to cash a check from their bank just because I didn't have an account -- I walked out
@cyndee
I agree. I still maintain that this may not be legal. For example: when there is a fee charged, by law they have to make the account holder aware of this BEFORE a contract is consumated.
When that check is written to you FROM the account holder, it's a contract that's been consummated between you and the account holder, WITHOUT notice of a hidden fee from a 3rd party, (Citizen's Bank)
You don't find out about this fee until you get to the bank AFTER you've already agreed to a contract, (the check)
It would be interesting to see an attorney weigh in on this. One thing is for sure, big banks will keep sticking it to the consumers as long as the consumers allow them to do so.
If you don't like it, let them know, LOUD AND CLEAR!
Take a look at occ 7.4002(a), this case was decided sometime in 2006. stating that a bank can charge a customer a fee. A non-customer is considered a customer.
But you argument holds a lot of merritt. It could possible make the K void. In England they had a class action and the banks had to refund the money.
The same exact thing happened to me today. I go through Citizens with a $200.00 check and they tell me I have to come inside and get fingerprinted and pay the 5 dollar fee.
To make a long story short I made a nice little stink inside and told them this is a great way to gain new customers, I have 3 accounts at New Alliance Bank and was thinking of changing to another bank. Now Citizens Bank is at the bottom of the list. I kindly walked out with my $195.00 rather than $200.00.
I posted my e mail if their turns out to be a class action lawsuit please e mail me, I would like my $5.00 back.
Bank of America does the same thing. I guess Citizens Bank has to pay for all those stupid commercials. You know the one's where they make Alexander Hamilton sound like an idiot. I guess ripping people off must be "Good Citizenship."
This exat thing just happened to me at a US Bank In Davenport, IA. The check was a US Bank check and before they would cash it they said there would be a $5.00 fee and wanted my finger print. My pictured driver licensed was not enough. I wouldn't do the transaction and voiced my opinion by saying "I WOULD NEVER SET FOOT IN A US BANK AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!
now, just same for each bank... the same for BOA....
I'm really glad I googled citizens bank. I got an expense reimbursment check for my internship and it's from a citizens bank but I only have a local credit union in NY (in Boston now). I was originally going to sign it over to my boyfriend to cash at Bank of America but figured it would be easier for me to go straight to Citizens Bank. I could really use that $5 and it looks like both banks will charge that $5, no matter what. I've been shopping around for a new bank and was pretty close to switching to Citizens Bank but not anymore. I'm resisting BoA because I just don't trust them for some reason. CitiBank already owns my soul in student loans so I'm hesitant to open an account with them. I guess I'll stick with my NY credit union cause it means I get to keep ALL my money, even if it's slighly inconvienent.
Well, you guys got a bargain Citizens is now up to $7 as of yesterday, in Quincy, MA and no fingerprinting. I plan on moving my money to another financial institution ASAP or even better yet putting it under my mattress. I let the bank manager know that I thought this is an unethical practice. After telling my sister of this she two is moving her money out. So lets keep spreading the word.
I just came across this policy yesterday, a year after your post. I have never heard of such a thing....until they told me it would cost $7 per check that was drawn on Citizen but because I was not a customer there....
Also on top of that I have to pay a service fee to check my balance from another ATM, they charge $2.00. That is not a transaction, no money changed hands, that is just to make their pockets full. Just because wall-street gave them a bath and they got screwed, we have to pay for it. We are already paying for the big bail out from Washington with our taxes. Why do they want mnore? It was their fault for doing bad business.
Citizens bank refused to cash a check written to me by another person who has an account, unless i open an account there...lol needless to say i went elsewhere
Add another item to the list of things that makes New Hampshire unique: This is the only state where folks who don’t have an account with Citizens Bank can cash a check there without having his or her fingerprints recorded.
Although the company did not give a reason for the Granite State’s unique status, it may be related to proposed legislation that would have banned the practice. That proposal was killed last week after Bank of America announced it would halt fingerprinting at its New Hampshire branches in the wake of controversy about the practice.
Citizens, which has branches in 12 northeastern states, began requiring digital fingerprints earlier this year from noncustomers who want to cash checks, a move the company said is needed to deter fraud. A number of other banks around the country have similar policies.
However, a Citizens Bank spokeswoman reiterated Tuesday that the fingerprint policy is not in effect here.
“We don’t require fingerprints in New Hampshire branches,” Kathleen Reardon said.
Reardon said she believes New Hampshire is unique in this status but declined to discuss the reason for the state’s exception.
Screw this crap, i don't wanna handle those money hungry blood sucking parasites. I go to Value-Plus to cash my checks. No Fees what so ever. The only catch to cash your check there is you need to at least purchase $20 worth of groceries. At least not 1 cent is being taken away from me.
I just discovered Huntington is charging $6 to do this now and fingerprinting AND they want not just 2 forms of ID, but that ID MUST be a driver's license and credit card (a debit card I was told is not acceptable). USBank charges $5. Firstmerit won't cash checks at all drawn on their own bank unless you have an account, and they won't cash ANY HANDWRITTEN personal or payroll checks. Something needs to be done about this abuse. It certainly should be illegal to skim this money off the top when its a check written on their own bank and they know the account is legitimate and you have ID. Is there any watchdog agency taking action?
I mean SHOULDN'T BE LEGAL TO SKIM MONEY OFF THE TOP from customer's accounts held at their own banks. Disgusting!
There is nothing wrong about it. If you aren't a customer, (you have no accounts there) why should that bank spend their money to cash your check? The government charges banks for each check that is processed. Its wrong of you to feel so entitled about it.
I have a checking account with Citizen's Bank and I wrote a check made out to my husband to cash since we were not going to be together today and I needed the debit card. He is not on my checking acct and when he went to cash my check from my acct, he was told he would need to pay $7 fee and be finger printed. He told them to stick it where the sun doesn't shine and walked out. His going to pay $7 to take, my money out of my own acct. I dont think. So ridiculous.
Same thing happened to me today. $7 and a fingerprint... GO TO HELL Citizens Bank.
Isn't that duoble billing? The banks loan out our money and make profit off the interest on it then they short people i write a check to? Talk about fraud. I have a credit union account and they say that is what the differences in the interest they pay me and the the interest the charge is for? I had a bank take money out of a checjk even whenm i objected and refused to return the check. Technically the bank owes your checks by the way. i am now going to sue the cliant because he shorted my payment if you owe me $100 then your bank said your check is only with $94 you didn't pay in full.
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