4 ms·

> Cash isn't free for people either the vast majority of banks either charge you withdrawal fees or bake them into your flat account fees. I haven't found that

> Cash isn't free for people either the vast majority of banks either charge you withdrawal fees or bake them into your flat account fees. I haven't found that to be true at all. Are you speaking about a non-US context? In the US you can almost universally go to your bank ATM and withdraw cash without a fee. There's also no fees for having a checking account.

jdeibele 10y ago
Poster you replied to is talking about deposits, not withdrawals. Banks treat cash very carefully. If you bring in a stack of cash that they have to count once to see how much it is and then again to verify it's going to take time and they might charge you for that.
- morgante 10y ago
  > Poster you replied to is talking about deposits, not withdrawals. They literally said "withdrawal fees." I don't know of any bank which charges you to deposit cash. I occasionally drop off large stacks of cash and have them count it—there's never been an issue.
  - saryant 10y ago
    Many (most?) business checking accounts charge for large cash deposits.
  - dogma1138 10y ago
    Banks that don't charge those fees directly bake them into other fees. Maintaining ATM's and counting and transporting cash costs money, cash isn't free I don't know about US banks specifically.
    - morgante 10y ago
      > Banks that don't charge those fees directly bake them into other fees. What other fees? I've literally never paid a fee to my bank for anything. And it's a major bank (Chase).
      - dragontamer 10y ago
        What's the interest rate on your savings account? Because the bank is buying Treasuries at ~1% or so and making money off of your deposits, and is likely only giving you 0% or maybe 0.05% interest. If you've got $10,000 in the bank, that's basically a profit of $100 / year that the bank is getting from your account.
        morgante 10y ago
        My interest rate is maybe 0.3%, so they're definitely making money on that. But that's not a "fee." Obviously banks cover their operating expenses somehow. That doesn't mean they charge me to have an account or to deposit cash (in fact, charging for deposits would be counterproductive).
        dogma1138 10y ago
        They do it directly or indirectly, I don't know how US banks works but usually over the world bank accounts vary accounts with no/low fees give low interest and vice versa.
  - CydeWeys 10y ago
    It is true that business bank accounts typically aren't free, but that isn't what the poster was talking about. If you get paid via direct deposit then you almost certainly have many options for getting a free checking account regardless of what city you live in.
kalleboo 10y ago
His point is, cash isn't free. It costs money to secure it, have guards refill ATMs, check it for fraud, etc. Somehow, as a customer of the bank, you're paying for it. Either though service fees, poor exchange rates, etc. > There's also no fees for having a checking account In the US, people with poor credit are often unable to get even a checking account. This is because banks figure those customers are not going to be profitable since they're not going to use the services they can earn fees on.
- ams6110 10y ago
  No-fee checking accounts typically pay no interest and have a minumum balance requirement. That is what makes them profitable to the bank.
nommm-nommm 10y ago
Many (not all) banks have requirements to keep your account free. Number of debit card transactions/bill pay, minium balances, direct deposit requirements, etc. "Going to your banks ATM" isn't very convenient 99% of the time unless you never leave town. You end up going to the closest ATM. Especially if you are on foot.
- swimfar 10y ago
  There are many ATMs which don't charge any fees at all, even for other banks. I'm on the other side of the country as my credit union, and I have lots of options for fee-less withdrawals. Although you may end up paying a fee if you need money quickly and you just go to the nearest one, which may or may not charge a fee.
  - nommm-nommm 10y ago
    I've never seen one that doesn't charge anyone at all in the US. Credit unions have alliances that they can join to use each others ATMs fee free, same with banks. That doesn't change the fact it's often inconvenient to go to an ATM you don't have to pay for and you need to pay sometimes.
seanp2k2 10y ago
There are indeed fees for a checking account at all physical banks I know of. Typically they waive the fee if you maintain over a certain balance so they can invest it while you're not using it and make a profit on it, which they then use to [more than] pay your fees and profit from. Many also have further restrictions e.g. Charging you a fee for checking accounts unless you have direct deposit set up from your employer into their checking account. Here's a comparison of checking account fees for various banks: https://www.nerdwallet.com/checking-accounts?account_features&bank_type=IB&bank_type=NBK&checking_daily_balance=999&customer_type=everyone&direct_deposit=499&page=2&sort_key=monthly_cost&zip_code=94103 https://www.nerdwallet.com/checking-accounts?account_feature...

jdeibele 10y ago

Poster you replied to is talking about deposits, not withdrawals. Banks treat cash very carefully. If you bring in a stack of cash that they have to count once to see how much it is and then again to verify it's going to take time and they might charge you for that.

morgante 10y ago
> Poster you replied to is talking about deposits, not withdrawals. They literally said "withdrawal fees." I don't know of any bank which charges you to deposit cash. I occasionally drop off large stacks of cash and have them count it—there's never been an issue.
- saryant 10y ago
  Many (most?) business checking accounts charge for large cash deposits.
- dogma1138 10y ago
  Banks that don't charge those fees directly bake them into other fees. Maintaining ATM's and counting and transporting cash costs money, cash isn't free I don't know about US banks specifically.
  - morgante 10y ago
    > Banks that don't charge those fees directly bake them into other fees. What other fees? I've literally never paid a fee to my bank for anything. And it's a major bank (Chase).
    - dragontamer 10y ago
      What's the interest rate on your savings account? Because the bank is buying Treasuries at ~1% or so and making money off of your deposits, and is likely only giving you 0% or maybe 0.05% interest. If you've got $10,000 in the bank, that's basically a profit of $100 / year that the bank is getting from your account.
      - morgante 10y ago
        My interest rate is maybe 0.3%, so they're definitely making money on that. But that's not a "fee." Obviously banks cover their operating expenses somehow. That doesn't mean they charge me to have an account or to deposit cash (in fact, charging for deposits would be counterproductive).
        dogma1138 10y ago
        They do it directly or indirectly, I don't know how US banks works but usually over the world bank accounts vary accounts with no/low fees give low interest and vice versa.
- CydeWeys 10y ago
  It is true that business bank accounts typically aren't free, but that isn't what the poster was talking about. If you get paid via direct deposit then you almost certainly have many options for getting a free checking account regardless of what city you live in.

kalleboo 10y ago

His point is, cash isn't free. It costs money to secure it, have guards refill ATMs, check it for fraud, etc. Somehow, as a customer of the bank, you're paying for it. Either though service fees, poor exchange rates, etc. > There's also no fees for having a checking account In the US, people with poor credit are often unable to get even a checking account. This is because banks figure those customers are not going to be profitable since they're not going to use the services they can earn fees on.

ams6110 10y ago
No-fee checking accounts typically pay no interest and have a minumum balance requirement. That is what makes them profitable to the bank.

nommm-nommm 10y ago

Many (not all) banks have requirements to keep your account free. Number of debit card transactions/bill pay, minium balances, direct deposit requirements, etc. "Going to your banks ATM" isn't very convenient 99% of the time unless you never leave town. You end up going to the closest ATM. Especially if you are on foot.

swimfar 10y ago
There are many ATMs which don't charge any fees at all, even for other banks. I'm on the other side of the country as my credit union, and I have lots of options for fee-less withdrawals. Although you may end up paying a fee if you need money quickly and you just go to the nearest one, which may or may not charge a fee.
- nommm-nommm 10y ago
  I've never seen one that doesn't charge anyone at all in the US. Credit unions have alliances that they can join to use each others ATMs fee free, same with banks. That doesn't change the fact it's often inconvenient to go to an ATM you don't have to pay for and you need to pay sometimes.

seanp2k2 10y ago

There are indeed fees for a checking account at all physical banks I know of. Typically they waive the fee if you maintain over a certain balance so they can invest it while you're not using it and make a profit on it, which they then use to [more than] pay your fees and profit from. Many also have further restrictions e.g. Charging you a fee for checking accounts unless you have direct deposit set up from your employer into their checking account. Here's a comparison of checking account fees for various banks: https://www.nerdwallet.com/checking-accounts?account_features&bank_type=IB&bank_type=NBK&checking_daily_balance=999&customer_type=everyone&direct_deposit=499&page=2&sort_key=monthly_cost&zip_code=94103 https://www.nerdwallet.com/checking-accounts?account_feature...