Sandia Area Federal Credit Union Wells Fargo and all banks Same old thing. Banks steal OD fees from the people who have no jobs and not enough money to cover all the fees in their accounts. Orlando, Florida

It's been a long time since I posted this.  I give this to folks as part of their credit counseling to help them avoid OD/NSF fees.  It works  for them, so it should work for you.

Using an account register and reconciling that register with a monthly  account statement from the bank will prevent any account holder from  causing any NSF/OD fees.

The majority (if not all) of the reports I've read about NSF/OD fees have common behaviors of the account holders:

-using ATM cards for everyday purchases.
-using more than ONE ATM card attached to the account (husband and wife)
-using ATM cards for online purchases.
-using ATM cards for 'auto-bill pay' (autodebits)
**relying upon telephone or online account balances to determine what money is available for that shopping trip to Walmart.
**NOT using an account register.
**NOT verifying deposits have cleared.

1. Use an account register and reconcile the account register with a monthly written statement generated by the bank.  If the bank is not  mailing statements, contact customer service to have monthly statements  MAILED to you.

1a. Be aware of ATM fees, such as the 'non-bank ATM fee' that most banks charge when you use an ATM that is not owned by your bank to make a withdrawal and post that fee in your account register immediately.

1b. Also be aware of any monthly 'account service fee' charged by your bank and post that to your register on the appropriate date.

2.  Do NOT GIVE bank account information (or ATM card info) to any merchant, service provider, utility, or online service to pay for services and goods.  Use a REAL credit card for this purpose (either secured cc or unsecured cc.)  Do not setup any automatic deposit to an account that is attached to said cc-NO auto payments to CC company-mail a check each month.  If the entity demanding payment makes a mistake, you're going to have a host of problems and risk OD/NSF fees.

3.  Do NOT use an ATM card for everyday expenses-USE CASH.  Establish a monthly budget and withdrawal a weekly 'allowance' for every day expenses such as 'milk and bread' from the corner store, Burger King, etc.  This will reduce the amount of transactions on the bank account which in turn makes RECONCILING the account and detecting ERRORS easier to accomplish.  Again, if the entity demanding payment makes a mistake, you're going to risk NSF/OD fees.

4. Do not shop with the ATM card-use a real credit card.  A real credit card offers protections that you don't have with an ATM card.  If the merchant/service makes a mistake, you can dispute it with the CC company WITHOUT getting any OD/NSF. Not true if you use an ATM card-if the merchant makes a mistake; your money is gone until you can convince yourbank to give it back, as well as OD/NSF fees.

5. ONLY ONE ATM CARD to one account.  Do NOT have 2 or more ATM cards for one bank account. Having 'his and hers' ATM cards attached to the same account is the same as in the old days when some folks would have 2
checkbooks for writing checks.  It was an invitation to disaster then, and it is today.

6.  Verify that deposits to the account have actually cleared.  Deposits can take anywhere between 1 and 5 BUSINESS days to clear depending on the type and/or source of the deposit.  Deposits over $5000 can take even LONGER before they are posted to the account.

The Federal Reserve publishes a Consumer Compliance Handbook which gives detailed information about what banks can and cannot do with deposits, holds, and funds availability.  You can download this handbook at http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/supmanual/cch/200911/cch200911.pdf

Follow ALL of these suggestions and you will NEVER pay an OD/NSF fee again unless it is a LEGITIMATE bank error or caused by a merchant.  If it is caused by a bank error the bank will rectify the situation and credit any fees generated as well as contact payees and cover any fees the payees assess to you.  If the fee is caused by a merchant error, you will need to hold the merchant accountable for the fees, although in many cases the bank may reverse the fees as a courtesy if the merchant confirms that the merchant made an error.

This is a tried and true method to avoid these fees. It works EVERY TIME it's tried.

Time to move on to your next financial institution and expect different results...won't happen unless YOU change your "methods" of tracking your account.

We will all get a good laugh out of your next "poor me" Ripoff Report.

Nobody would tell you what you wanted to hear on the first post, so now you're spamming Ripoff Reports with another one.
I hope you're having fun, but none of this will prevent those fees you keep incurring.
If you face a money crunch and shortfall every month, between when your income source arrives and your bill due dates pass, then I'm sorry, I feel for you, but you need to find another way to handle that time gap without letting overdrafts put you in a hole from which you'll never climb out of.
Try to get your due dates for bills revised to fall within periods you know you'll have the funds.
And as everyone else has told you till the cows come home, keep a written register of your account.
Don't wanna. Then you'll keep getting sucked dry.

Those of us who commented on your first complaint do not work for the bank. If you were a regular on ROR you'd realize that.  Personally, I work for a small university and have nothing to do with the banking industry other than the credit union where I have my accounts.

When you post on ROR you have to be ready to accept the feedback you get. YOU were the one who made the mistake of not managing a check register. So YOU and YOU ALONE are responsible for the bank fees.

We all make mistakes, but adults learn from them.  If you were constantly overdrawn at Wells Fargo, and then had the same problem at the credit union, perhaps you should examine your own behavior.