Rant: The Float etc and #$ [expletive] banks

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Freed Roger
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Rant: The Float etc and #$ [expletive] banks

Post by Freed Roger »

Disclaimer: First World Problem. But a screw job that happens to the most of us. It's going to take two weeks+ to gain full access to money we took out of our brokerage account for daughter's college tuition. I am such a dumbass for not looking past the default option - a paper check - and demanding a wire transfer.

11/18 initiate transaction (some stock had to be sold first)
11/20 brokerage account balance reduced.
11/27 check from brokerage account arrives at our house (paid $25 for express delivery)
11/27am-deposit check into our bank -told that it would take 5 days for ck that large to clear.
12/2 funds still not available in our bank. I learn that it's 5 banking days $%#%$
12/5 funds available

Then it will take at least a few more days (with another weekend) for the payment to reach creditors. I had already paid tuition from our normal funds-expecting this check to pay our bills -so looking at December 10th.

Really, I don't have the hassle that most American's do scrambling around with their finances. However, itt really put us in a bind, not having funds to pay bills that were due, late fees, and having some money to travel over Thanksgiving. What the hell -we had to borrow our kid's savings for a couple weeks, rather than borrow cash on credit card at 20+% percent.

Back on point - what a [expletive] scam. I found myself starting to chew out a customer support underling today. How dumb. The financial institutions have more power than ever to speed money movement along, yet for chumps like me they willfully collude to slow it down.

Arthur Dent
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Re: Rant: The Float etc and #$ [expletive] banks

Post by Arthur Dent »

I've complained before about how ridiculous it is that we often still have to mail around pieces of paper to transfer money, but, for me, this is only really an issue when paying individuals. Most bills are payable electronically these days, and I thought most banks allowed you to do some kind of electronic funds transfer between your own accounts that clears in 2-3 days. That's the case, at least, with E-Trade. There was some initial verification procedure to link the account, but after completing that step, I can transfer money electronically to and from my local bank account for free.

I never understood the wire transfer thing. Why should that cost $25 when I can pay my electric bill with a free electronic transfer?

Freed Roger
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Re: Rant: The Float etc and #$ [expletive] banks

Post by Freed Roger »

We haven't done such a transfer out before so it was a costly rookie mistake. I figure this mistake cost us $100 at least, in some late charges interest etc. The default (w/ Fidelity) was for paper check, and I was lazy or confused, and just did it that way.

Our bank holding it for 5 banking days is ridiculous. The other part -I have online bill pay for almost all our bills. So my account gets charged immediately, and the funds are in limbo until it effectively reduces whatever bill we are paying (interesting bearing or not) in a few days. With technology, the float should be reduced - but the banks have finagled away to make it longer.

This extra time holding funds, I surmise, is making someone a fortune.

tlombard
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Re: Rant: The Float etc and #$ [expletive] banks

Post by tlombard »

I wonder if our company is doing something similar and turning donations to United Way into a hidden profit center... which is why I won't donate. I'd rather give my money directly to charities of my choice anyway over giving it to United Way who then takes a cut to pay their people before passing it on to other charities where someone else gets a cut to pay the people before anyone benefits. Plus I'm sure that adds up to a nice tax write-off for the company too so they would win twice on my money. Although I didn't look into it enough to see if the employee contributing gets the proper forms to write off the charitable donations for themselves or not. I just imagine companies getting the tax benefit for themselves while their other big money buddies at United Way get paid for giving away other people's money to actual charities who may (or may not be) trying to do good (after their cut of course).

I really want to know how often the company turns over the money to United Way and if they turn over all of the interest earned during the time it is held as well. I've heard of companies where employees donate a portion of every check and the money is just pooled and paid to United Way a couple of times a year. You know someone is making money off of that cash just sitting in an account.

I hate that I've become a crotchety old man who rants about charity but I just don't believe that these huge organizations are really for the best unless you are referring to what is best for the people at the top running things. I tend to stick with smaller and smaller charities these days. I definitely stay away from anything disaster relief related because half of those are found out to be scams later anyway.

But that is a rant for another topic.

The extra time holding funds is complete BS designed to make the rich even richer. If you or I hold out paying our bills a little extra we might get an extra penny a year. With the amounts of money these financial institutions are holding they probably make ANOTHER entire fortune.

Freed Roger
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Re: Rant: The Float etc and #$ [expletive] banks

Post by Freed Roger »

Doing some Re-fi and cleanup.

This time I made sure the EFT/direct deposit was in place before hand. 6 [expletive] days and counting where we don't have use of funds while being charged interest. 6 [expletive] days!

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Swirls
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Re: Rant: The Float etc and #$ [expletive] banks

Post by Swirls »

I approve of this rant - this is a copy of an email I sent to Future Mrs. Swirls a couple weeks ago. I think it fits in rather nicely with your situation:

Some notes:
1) I just signed an application on a new apartment.
2) I opened a bank account down here with a local bank on 11/7/14, a couple weeks after I started my job down here and had collected my first paycheck.
3) I sold a non-working snowblower to an ex-coworker named Shane, who paid me with a personal check rather than cash.
Do you know what the definition of annoying is? It is this:

1. The apartment requires a $250 money order for the deposit and a separate $25 money order for the application fee at the time of application submittal. Money orders, not checks. Okay, fine, whatever. An inconvenience, but not impossible.
2. The bank I use puts a mandatory 7 BUSINESS DAY hold on all deposits made within the first 30 days of account creation, excluding cash deposits and direct deposits.
3. I had a little over $7500 available in my checking account down here, $7400 of which was mailed out via an electronic payment this morning to American Express. I have $250 (Shane’s check) in “held” funds that theoretically should be cleared today since it is the 7th business day from when I made the deposit on 11/17/14.
4. As such I do not have $275 available in my checking account right now to convert into money orders. I will at 12:01am tomorrow morning when Shane’s dumb check finally clears.

Had I chosen to not pay my AmEx bill three weeks early, I would not be having this problem. Had Shane been a normal person and actually paid cash for the dumb snow blower, I would not be having this problem. If the apartment would accept personal checks for deposits, I would not be having this problem.

That is the very definition of annoying.

Freed Roger
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Re: Rant: The Float etc and #$ [expletive] banks

Post by Freed Roger »

Yeah, you get stuck in a limbo where one thing leads to another and it's not just time value of money/interest you are getting screwed out of - but late fees etc. We were going to use some of our funds to pay sales tax on vehicle we bought - now it will be late. Not to mention, your personal time that it takes with the hassles.

institutionalized stealing.

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letsgocards89
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Re: Rant: The Float etc and #$ [expletive] banks

Post by letsgocards89 »

Some of it is Anti-Money Laundering regulations, particularly Swirls' problems. Some of it's purely money-grab though. It's THE reason I stopped banking with BofA. They'd pull that crap all the time.

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Swirls
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Re: Rant: The Float etc and #$ [expletive] banks

Post by Swirls »

Exactly. I had plenty of cash in my NY bank account. But this happened to have occurred in the afternoon on 11/25/14. I was planning on leaving early 11/26/14 to make the 14-hour drive back to NY for Thanksgiving. I wouldn't be able to get a wire transfer of money from the NY bank account in time before I left without paying like the $50 fee for Western Union's "instant" transaction. All conventional free electronic transfer options took too long.

Such a pain in the balls. I tried to be proactive and pay it as soon as the bill came in the mail. Came back and totally bit me in the ass.

Freed Roger
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Re: Rant: The Float etc and #$ [expletive] banks

Post by Freed Roger »

Back on the soap box. These [expletive] banks. Macy's and Bank of America card had a balance (married with kids, what can you expect?) that were paid off timely. then next month they hit us with "minimum interest charge" $2 and $1.50 respectively- it is showing as a fee.

Yeah, it is undoubtedly some residual interest bull [expletive] they covered in fine print.

They waived it after some effort, as I had to point it out to my wife since they are in her name. I need her to cancel it, but she likes the point horse [expletive].

Think about how many people do not catch this. People with less means, or free time (like a single working parent, as opposed to a guy with 20k+ of posts in a GRB. )
If you get a paper bill you toss it aside triumphantly thinking it's been paid off. Then late fee for not paying the $2 off. Then maybe the card gets used again (legitimately) and the debt cycle continues.

More institutionalized theft.

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