Comments on: Bank of America Raises ATM Fees: How Do You Avoid?

By: Yana

Yana — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 18:59:47 +0000

I would love to open an account with USAA, but don’t qualify since I don’t have military connections. I avoid ATM fees by rarely using cash. I use a debit card for most purchases, and can get cashback free that way. I think it is a very good thing to have at least 3 brick and mortar banks for various purposes and also because too much money or too many types of accounts at one bank seems like an invitation for the bank to screw you. I think this is a good idea even if you don’t have much money, as long as you get free checking accounts at each bank. I do not pay any bank fees. ING is my only bank that I can’t walk into, and I like it very much. Using the internet, ING and especially PayPal creates risk to the user, so one of my banks is especially for this kind of risky business. I get a bit nervous if there is too much money in my PayPal linked bank, as trying to get customer service from PayPal is like pulling teeth without the tools to do it.

By: thomas

thomas — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 20:00:49 +0000

I have BOA so not too bad, however banking fees are just getting ridiculous.

By: Adventures In Money Making

Adventures In Money Making — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 17:05:22 +0000

I bank with Bank of America, so this isn’t a concern, but the only place I use cash is the vending machine at work.

Every single place else (except ARCO gas stations) accept credit cards, and I get reward points too.

The only exception is if i’m making a large purchase and I’ll ask if they give discounts for cash. If they do, then I pay cash.

By: t

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 23:33:25 +0000

grocery store cash back from a debit card works great.

By: Interrobanger

Interrobanger — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 19:19:56 +0000

P.S. I hope the URL mention is not gratuitous. I am not intending to spam.

By: Interrobanger

Interrobanger — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 19:18:44 +0000

Amazing. Except… not. The banks think they can get away with anything. I don’t bank with BofA, and I guarantee you I will skip their ATMs from now on. I’ll never use another — cash back from the register when grocery shopping it is for me.

I’m actually working with a merchant group calling attention to some of these fees — not ATM fees specifically, but we’re all in the same boat here. We’re online at UnfairCreditCardFees.com, dealing with what you might call ATM fees for merchants — transaction fees, all the same.

And like the ATM fees, these bank fees only ever go up, even though the technology and communication costs only ever go downward. Just outrageous.

By: Mrs. Micah

Mrs. Micah — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 01:43:56 +0000

If I have to withdraw money (and haven’t gotten cashback) then I like to buy chapstick. Preferably @ a CVS, so I can get their generic, which is about the same as the brand name stuff. Then I get cashback.

Generic chapstick–99 cents. Saves $2.01 on the fees. Plus I don’t feel like I’m buying something useless or extraneous, I have a plan. And this doesn’t happen much, so I just store the chapstick in my briefcase until I run out.

By: dong

dong — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 01:31:14 +0000

I went to the dark side, I have a BOA purely ATM use. I mean in the end if the account is free as the MyChecking account is – I’m ok banking with Bank of America. BOA’s customer’s service has been good enough for me whenever I’ve visited a branch.

Otherwise I’m with the others, I avoid cash when I can. Still I’m going to him an ATM at least 3 times a month, and I rather not pay for that.

By: Tim

Tim — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 21:18:57 +0000

if i need cash, i go into a grocery store or walmart or the like buy a drink or something that i need and get cash from my debit card. often you can get up to $100 back on a debit card doing this.

By: Brian

Brian — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 20:56:06 +0000

My strategy is similar to the previous commenters – I rarely use an ATM. In the rare instance I need cash, I just drive to my local branch and make a withdrawal. Of course, this rise in fees doesn’t affect me as I bank with Bank of America anyway.

By: Raymond

Raymond — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 19:07:49 +0000

You can avoid ATM fees by never using ATMS to begin with. I make all of my purchases by using rewards credit cards exclusively. Why get nothing for using cash, when you can get 3% or 5% cash/rewards for buying ordinary items.

By: ib

ib — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 17:12:46 +0000

i use your tips #2 & 5. in the past (long past) i have used #4.

i avoid atm fees by almost never using the atm. and when i do use it, it’s at my home brick and morter bank’s atm’s which are plentiful where i live (i used to have wells fargo and then switched to a diff bank out of extreme dissatisfaction with wells [diff. bank got swallowed by WaMu] and when i moved, i closed it and opened Peoples acct since plentiful here, which has been bought out….tdbanknorth).

i also almost exclusively use credit cards for purchases, paying in full each month (even when it hurts so it won’t hurt more later). i seldom use the cash i keep on hand. it’s mostly used for emergencies (like cab ride if it came up) or tiny purchases or farmers market purchases since it’s cash only. i replenish when needed and keep other cash hidden at home in case of an emergency.

although i probably won’t do it, anytime soon anyway, i thought the suggestion of keeping many balances over a range of banks was a good idea for being able to atm some $ in more places.
i like to keep things as simple as possible though so that wouldn’t fit into my scheme really.

i have one electronic bank acct for savings (ing). 3 accts at the brick and mortar (checking, joint & savings — this one preceeded the ing acct).