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There’s plenty of free bank accounts. Almost every bank offers them, too, or they’re free with stuff that the “average” person would do (ie, have 2 direct depos

There’s plenty of free bank accounts. Almost every bank offers them, too, or they’re free with stuff that the “average” person would do (ie, have 2 direct deposits per month). Overdrafts are another story, many bank accounts allow overdrafts and even do predatory things to increase the amount of overdraft fees. Bank of America got sued for this behavior.

HWR_14 3y ago
The federal government just put a cap on overdraft fees. IIRC, it is $3.
- JumpCrisscross 3y ago
  > federal government just put a cap on overdraft fees. IIRC, it is $3 Should be opt in and charged as an APR.
- mardifoufs 3y ago
  God I wish canada would do that too. They are insanely high here.
- Kirby64 3y ago
  Even if they limit it to $3, which is much better, you can still do slimy things like process the large transaction first (say, a mortgage payment), then process all the little transactions afterwards, stacking overdraft fees for each one. This is what BofA got sued for. Can turn a $3 charge into $45 pretty quickly.
ensignavenger 3y ago
There are a multitude of banks (and Fintechs that offer accounts through bank partners) that have no overdraft fees. Many of these organizations don't care about ChexSystems/credit reports because they don't allow overdrafts to begin with and don't allow writing checks so you can't overdraw they account. I am struggling to see a scenario where anyone in America doesn't have a bank account today out side of 1) They just don't want one. 2) The relatively rare, but devastating case of getting caught up in some overbearing AML/Government regulation that makes banks not want to open an account for you. 3) Lack of knowledge about what is available. 4) Maybe some one who has no smartphone, as many of these organizations require some kind of device to interface with them, as they don't have many physical branches... but cheap Android smartphones are readily available to most Americans...

HWR_14 3y ago

The federal government just put a cap on overdraft fees. IIRC, it is $3.

JumpCrisscross 3y ago
> federal government just put a cap on overdraft fees. IIRC, it is $3 Should be opt in and charged as an APR.
mardifoufs 3y ago
God I wish canada would do that too. They are insanely high here.
Kirby64 3y ago
Even if they limit it to $3, which is much better, you can still do slimy things like process the large transaction first (say, a mortgage payment), then process all the little transactions afterwards, stacking overdraft fees for each one. This is what BofA got sued for. Can turn a $3 charge into $45 pretty quickly.

ensignavenger 3y ago

There are a multitude of banks (and Fintechs that offer accounts through bank partners) that have no overdraft fees. Many of these organizations don't care about ChexSystems/credit reports because they don't allow overdrafts to begin with and don't allow writing checks so you can't overdraw they account. I am struggling to see a scenario where anyone in America doesn't have a bank account today out side of 1) They just don't want one. 2) The relatively rare, but devastating case of getting caught up in some overbearing AML/Government regulation that makes banks not want to open an account for you. 3) Lack of knowledge about what is available. 4) Maybe some one who has no smartphone, as many of these organizations require some kind of device to interface with them, as they don't have many physical branches... but cheap Android smartphones are readily available to most Americans...