Wachovia Bank Wachovia offers a code to be put on your debit card that will not allow approvals if there is no money in your account Lawrenceville Georgia

A question

Just curious if the "code" was supposed to stop you from writing the check that overspent your available funds? I would say that keeping a register and not trying to count on the bank to be responsible for you would be your best bet regardless of the bank you choose to patronize.

Wachovia Bank - Lawrenceville, GA

I have since been contacted by collections in an attempt to collect the over draft fees so I do not get placed on Chex Systems. I spoke with the agent and explained to them the situation. He would not admit to the bank being wrong, however, he offer to take one of the three charges off of my account. That to me admits a wrong doing. I am still not satisfied as I am still out money. But I thought it was only fair to report the latest news. I am still planning on fighting it some more.

To Jad's Response

Hi Jag, thanks for your response. This goes a lot further than just keeping a register. The aforementioned "Code" is meant to not approve check card transactions if there is not enough money in there. Certainly, I would not knowingly try to use my check card if my balance did not reflect available funds. This was not in question to a check being written.

I made very few transactions on this account for various reasons. What I do expect is the internet banking to be correct when I log on to my account. As I stated in the original report, I had the money in there to make the transactions that I did. I made another deposit to cover the 22.00 check that was out. Whether or not I got that deposit in the bank in time is neither here nor there.

I am speaking about the practices of taking a transaction and placing it in front of earlier dated transactions causing already approved items to bounce. The already approved transactions should be approved by the dates that they are posted, not manipulated to generate more fees.

Once again, according to my Branch Manager and I quote, "the internet banking is only to be used as a tool and I should not expect it to be correct". Why? Yet somehow, the new bank that I chose to patronize internet banking is always correct. There is a plethora of people that have experienced the same problems with Wachovia as I have.

I have never seen a bank in my entire lifetime of banking that thrives on charging people the fees that they have and then makes ridiculous excuses for their actions. As stated above, upon speaking to a Branch Manager and for them to come up with these excuses is simply unacceptable to me.

Thank you for your comment and I hope this has helped you understand my and many other peoples situations.

Recommendation to avoid NSF fees

Many of the larger banks are enhancing overdraft fee income by using one or both of these techniques:

1) Debit Card and other electronic activity is "deducted" from the account balance the moment the bank knows about it, even if the item takes a few days to clear. The bank has authorized the transaction, so they are on the hook for the money. Anytime you draw on those funds, they're gonna ring the register.

2) The availability of deposited funds is reduced by "float" -- that is the bank won't credit you for the deposit until they get the money. If you're being paid electronically though, there is no float. In most cases for deposits of checks the bank collects from the other bank in 1-2 days, but that availability is not always passed to the customer.

The best way to avoid this trap:
1) Use cash or checks and avoid debit cards.
2) Check the website -- pay attention to the available balance - not the ledger or account balance. A $1000 deposit may show as $1000 ledger but only $100-200 available.
3) Find a small local bank or credit union and move your account. They tend to be less sophisicated and work off ledger (actual) balances.

I hope this helps.

To Nighthawk

Thank you for the suggestions Nighthawk. I have already done what you suggested. I as well only use the debit portion of my card because I am well aware of how the business transactions take place, being a small business myself. I take credit cards for my company and they always take two days to show up in my business account balance. Keep up the good work, but I do want people to understand your suggestions about doing business with a smaller bank. They do not tend to try to make money off of you through nsf fees and charges. Have a great Day!

I still do not know why people use a debit card when a credit card is safer......

... unless you cannot qualify for a credit card. But I suspect this would be the case no more than 2% of the time......

Consumer Reports Money Advisor [Sept 07 issue] has an extensive article on debit cards!

On pg 4, for example, CRMA pointed out that people who had used debit cards more than 20 times a year racked up an AVERAGE of $223 in NSF fees, while people who never used debit cards AT ALL racked up an AVERAGE of $40 in NSF fees per year.

Why do the banks push "signature charges" on your debit card? Because the bank makes more money in processing charges.... the fee to the store can easily be 7X higher when you sign for the charge rather than using your PIN.

CRMA noted that the "REWARDS" offered for one using a signature debit cart are often illusory.

When you have a problem with your debit card, you are trying to get YOUR money back, while a problem with your charge card means you and the CC bank are trying to get the CC BANK'S money back. Can you see the difference?

Banks do 'offer' to use your savings account as overdraft protection for your debit card, but it seems they may 'forget', so you STILL get NSF fees which are a form of short term overdraft loan.... and these fees can generate 1000% interest rates for the bank.

My take: NEVER USE a debit card. Simply cut up all debit cards and use a credit card. Then pay the credit card's full balance off, every month, and you should be money ahead.