Fifth Third Bank Charged a FEE to CASH checks drawn on Fifth Third Bank!! East Lansing Michigan

There was a time when the banks were NOT allowed to do this. The reason anyone would go to the bank that the check is drawn against is to avoid any NSF fees if the check is no good. Alas, the FDIC and FBC have changed their rules over the decades and now banks are permitted to do this.

I would agree that the banks should not be allowed to do this. Perhaps folks should write to their reps in Congress about it as I have done.

Unfortunately for my clients, I will not accept checks under certain conditions. I will NOT accept out of state or any 3rd party checks. I will accept checks only from my clients with a proven history of "good checks" with me. For all others it's cash, cashier's check, money gram, etc.

There is a solution to the rip-off fees that Fifth Third is renowned for:
Tell everyone you know to stop banking there. Shop around, both online and around town, and ask if the bank or Credit Union charges to cash checks drawn upon their own bank.

Unlike what several people have written here (probably involved in the banking industry). ... many banks DO NOT charge fees to cash checks drawn on their own bank, regardless whether you are a member of the bank or not. If they do not charge a fee, they probably have more reasonable fees in other areas as well.

When cancelling your accounts, always tell the bank manager why you are cancelling and switching to another bank. They will always say they have no control over policy, simply tell them to bring up the issue at management meetings anyway.

I find Credit Unions to still be better than most banks. Shop around, and continually tell those banks with rip-off fess that you won't do business with them. Tell family and friends the same, and share the better bank you've selected with others. Send an email to the corporate HQ and tell them why you've switched, and how you are telling everyone you know to switch also.

How many times have we discussed this before? The good old days when banks/CU use to provide good service at a fair price? Now they tell us things "are so much better". Yeah right, we're getting soo much less and paying soo much more. Banks/CU's use to make the majority of their profit by lending money out to customers. Now the vast majority of their profit comes from fees. Their profit is MUCH higher now because they are screwing us with those fees. You can look at the P/L's of the major institutions to see how much profit comes from fees and how much comes from lending. A perfect example is this check cashing scam. The banks have already charged the person that issued the check to manage their money in the way of fees. Then the person who receives a check from a customer of that bank, gets charged AGAIN to cash a check drawn on that bank. THAT's double dipping. They're charging both parties. They're charging TWICE for the same service. Pretty smart. Pretty crooked. Then they come back with; you too can open an account at our bank(translation, then we can screw you for more fees) or deposit the check at your bank(translation, your bank can screw you for more fees) just like us. You have to go back in history to look at the meaning of a check. It was meant to replace cash. It was meant to have the full face value of the amount written on it, NOT the amount written on it , LESS the fee to cash it. That $8 is a new one on me. $5 is the highest I've heard of up to now but that doesn't surprise me. Do like I did. I use to refused to take BankOne checks at my shop because of their terrible business practices. I don't think they're around anymore which doesn't surprise me. But when a customer came in and tried to pay me with a Bankone checks, I'd say "I'm sorry I don't take them" and they'd give me something else. IF enough of us stop taking these ripoff banks checks, THEY'LL get the message or go out of business or get bought out. Let the bank explain to their customer why we won't accept their checks. $8 to cash a check. F' them.

Most banks will charge a fee to cash a check that is drawn off their bank if you are not a customer. Just like Meijers charges a fee to cash a check. If someone does not want to pay the service charge, they are more than welcome to take the check to their institution to cash it. A lot of people come to get cash for a check because their bank will not give them funds to a check if they do not have matching funds in their accounts or they are told there will be a 3-5 day hold on their funds. So if they want the cash, they will have to pay the service charge. We, however, do not charge our customers who have accounts with us to cash a check. There are some banks and credit unions that charge more that $8.00 to cash a check. So it's not just Fifth Third. A service charge to cash a check is pretty standard industry wide.

I don't mind paying a bank to cash a check for me, whether it's written on that particular bank or not. What angered me with fifth third was the time I went to cash a check drawn on their bank and they would not do so under any circumstances, not even for a fee. LOL, then they asked me if I wanted to open an account with them in order to cash the check. Sorry, Lady, that's not the way to impress me with your bank and get me to open an account.

Bad news Brett, But MOST major banks have fees to cash a check for non-account holders. I would even bet that if the bank you belong to is one of the major ones that they ALSO charge to cash a check for NON-ACCOUNT HOLDERS. Next time you are there ask them if they charge.And please come back and tell us if they carge or not. Also if you could tell us what the name of your bank is. Thanks