Chase’s website for online banking has been unavailable since Monday night. After opening, receiving, an activating a new Chase credit card, a process I completed this past weekend, and purchasing my first items with the card, I was looking forward to checking my activity online today. Unfortunately, the downtime has prevented me from doing so. ... Continue reading this article…

The typical FDIC protection is quite limited. Until the financial crisis, most types of bank accounts were covered up to a balance of $100,000. If a bank were to go bankrupt, the FDIC would ensure you would receive your cash up to that limit. The maximum was increased to $250,000 until December 31, 2013, at ... Continue reading this article…

I’m generally a fan of TD Bank and my local branch’s generous operating hours, and I’m also a fan of the bank’s coin counting machine called the Penny Arcade. After my interesting experience last weekend, I’m an even greater (and slightly wealthier) fan. Last weekend, my girlfriend and I counted the coins in our coin ... Continue reading this article…

The state will take your money if you’re not vigilant. I received a warning the other day that I’m in danger of having the funds in one of my savings accounts handed over to the state of New Jersey. I’ll explain why in a moment. First, I should explain that rather than keeping a simplified ... Continue reading this article…

I used to answer customer service calls for Bank of America, one of the nation’s biggest banks. Granted, I was near the bottom of the totem pole, but they generally treated everybody with respect there (I was in Washington State, your mileage may vary), and they wanted us to be able to give customers informed ... Continue reading this article…

This past weekend was my first chance to try to deposit a check without going to the bank, and it was fantastic. I was always ambivalent about the fact that Chase Bank swallowed up the friendly Washington Mutual, but now I’m a little glad, since they’re among the first of the enormous banks to bring ... Continue reading this article…

July 1 and August 15 are the dates consumers need to worry about. New Fed rules for bank accounts go into effect on July 1 for anyone who opens a new bank account, while current account holders should know about changes to their accounts starting August 15. On these dates, the Federal Reserve is limiting ... Continue reading this article…

As we’ve addressed on Consumerism Commentary before, the Federal Reserve will be requiring banking customers to opt-in to overdraft protection. The highly publicized date of the change is July 1, but this is only the date by which new customers must be free from certain overdraft fees without opting into the service. Most of us ... Continue reading this article…

Earlier today, Sallie Mae Bank increased the interest rate offered on its savings account 50 basis points to 1.4 percent APY. This is one of the highest interest rates available. I’ve shared my thoughts about opening a Sallie Mae Bank savings account in this review. Sallie Mae ties directly into the Upromise savings plan, a program ... Continue reading this article…