re: Why do consumers choose to bank with BAC?

The website shows free checking and 15 free ATM withdrawals per month, plus you can scan checks at home and deposit them online or go to UPS stores. Would be surprised if USAA doesn't have a direct deposit form you could execute and give to your employer to automate the process.

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Neither is the cost Americans are paying to subsidize and bail out of bad banks, directly and indirectly. It's costing us a ton of earnings power that could be used to boost spending as well.

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Anyone know if USAA will charge for a checking account with them? Also, how do you deposit a check into a USAA account if there aren't any branch locations around.

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I'm with USAA - they are not charging and have no plans to charge.

I also bank with a small, local community bank. I keep at most $10.00 with them. Why? Because if I have to deposit anything, I do it here and then transfer the money to my USAA account, which shows up instantly.

My point of the post, whether the customer has limited means or big dollars in a bank, is why someone would choose to pay with a debit card if it cost the consumer money. Use a credit card, use a check, use cash, whatever, and as a consumer why support TBTF institutions that have done nothing but destroy people financially over the past few years.

I am more pissed with ZIRP. These f'ers are easily costing me > $30k a year in interest earnings on near cash and I am f'n tired of it. There is a limit to how much in risky assets anyone wants to hold, including fixed income instruments trading above par, so there is really no alternative. The govt won't even let you buy > $10k annually in I-bonds anymore.

And Bernanke tries to say inflation is moderate. It is far from moderate when a consumer is lucky to find a 5-yr cd rate paying 2.25% with current CPI-U at 3.8% + taxes, and the banks need to institute debit card fees to continue to earn out of bad past mistakes of their own doing. Thank you, money czars, you are so f'n awesome.

I'm off my rant, I will simmah down now, but I have not thrown in the towel.

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why support TBTF institutions that have done nothing but destroy people financially over the past few years.

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Really? REALLY????

Yeah, man, you know what I mean, it's not literal but close to the mark. Shouldn't offer "free" money to people with no means of repayment and not expect them to take it. Tell it to the suits that keep suing BAC, et al. They ought to drag Greenspan in and waterboard him while they are at it.

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If you have a smart phone Or a scanner you can do this without the extra account.

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True, but that's assuming I deposit all checks.

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My point of the post, whether the customer has limited means or big dollars in a bank, is why someone would choose to pay with a debit card if it cost the consumer money. Use a credit card, use a check, use cash, whatever, and as a consumer why support TBTF institutions that have done nothing but destroy people financially over the past few years.

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Oh, I agree. The only way I would pay any fee for a checking account or credit card is if there literally was no choice.

However, other people are stupid and lazy, and people who aren't good with money are used to getting dinged and may not think much of a new $5 monthly fee, if they even notice it. Lots of people don't look at their monthly statements, much less balance their accounts.

Some people will no doubt continue to use debit cards because of convenience and the inability to get into credit card debt with them, and others may not even have credit cards to fall back on. Habits die hard, and people love debit cards.

Though unaffected by it, I find the whole idea of the BAC fee highly insulting, especially since banks aren't even going to come close to losing money on debit card transactions. Thanks to the loopholes left by corrupt lawmakers and the stupid ones who went along, the banks get to push people back into credit cards for the higher fees, and they'll benefit even more because undisciplined people will inevitably carry a balance and get into trouble all over again.

As for BAC in particular, my only encounter with them in my life is when they took over Countrywide and converted my high yield online savings account to one of their low yield shite offerings, complete with a $10 monthly fee regardless of how much money you kept in it. I withdrew all my money and canceled my account the day I got the letter from BAC, and I never paid anything due to their "generous" one month grace period. Assclowns, thought I.

Chase has treated me well since I was 15 but I will not pay them $60 a year for my account. I will find a smaller bank/credit union that will take my business. The only real inconvenience for me will be less branch locations. I am financially secure enough to use a credit card and pay it before the end of the month.