I just received a letter from Chase telling me that my checking account will have a new $10 monthly Service Fee if I don’t meet one of their requirements:
- $500 in direct deposits per month
- $1,500 minimum daily balance
- average balance of $5,000 across all Chase deposit accounts
I got switched to Chase after Wamu got taken over by them and the big thing with Wamu was FREE CHECKING. I don’t use this account much anymore, so I’ll probably be closing it.
thanks for the info. I’ll have to double check my account.
I just noticed my account had been reduced by $12 for a service fee. I haven’t used the account since being switched from WaMu. I called to find out why and the super-intelligent woman told me they have always charged this fee. I argued for a bit, but then realized it was pointless. I’ll be closing this account and putting the funds in an online trading account. I guess I didn’t read the letter, but boy do I miss WaMu.
As someone who doesn’t like being nickel and dimed to death, particularly when the banks are quite profitable (partly off of depositors’ cash), I’ll be switching to the U.S. Bank Start program tomorrow. If THEY ever decide to get rid of their free basic checking, I’ll likely be off to my local credit union.
Very interesting suggestion. I haven’t really thought about credit unions, but there are a couple around here still with free checking and even interest.