re: Is this banking behavior normal? Re: Holding check

Banks are great at taking your money and then also great at not giving you access to get your money. Wells Fargo is perhaps the best at this. For instance, when you want to transfer money out of your Wells Fargo account to another bank account and initiate it online at Wells Fargo, they will charge you for it. They will also make you verify the outside bank account first which can take a few days. However, if you want to transfer money into Wells Fargo though, there is no charge and the account links immediately.

Also, I have a Wells Fargo HSA account that will only let me withdraw funds online via transfer to a Wells Fargo checking account only. If I want the HSA funds to go to a non-Wells Fargo account, I have to request a distribution, submit an invoice and wait on a check.

Needless to say, I hate Wells Fargo and actually most banks. The best experiences I've had are with smaller banks where you can actually talk to someone who can do something when you run into an issue or a big bank like Fidelity where their mobile applications and online services are first rate which makes it easy to do business.