Wachovia Corporation Ripoff Rearranging Transaction to get the most overdraft charges possible Charlotte North Carolina

From MSNBC.com 6/1/07:

"Two major studies are being conducted to examine bank bounced check practices -- one by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and one by the General Accountability Office, Congress' investigative arm. Federal legislation introduced by Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., would bar many current bank overdraft practices. And a congressional hearing is planned for later this summer to highlight abuses of the practice."

http://redtape.msnbc.com/2007/06/bank_overdraft_.html#posts

There is an article off of msn.com titled "When Banks Turn Evil" that clearly spells out Wachovia's policy:

"Wachovia first credits deposits, then deducts all transactions that have posted, and then finally assesses bounced-check fees.
But...the bank does assess bounced-check fees when transactions exceed an account's available balance, even if the real balance in the account is actually high enough to prevent an overdraft."

I don't want to sound mean, but the best advice is to spend only what you have. The days of floating checks are over with Check 21. When something is on hold, consider it money already spent. If you have $100 and you spend $20, you only have $80, not "$100 until the $20 hits the real balance".

The problem usually lies in that people see the online banking or atm balance and think that is how much money is in the account. That's not the case 90% of the time. I used to bounce checks until I realized that keeping your own records and only spending what you have is the only real guarantee. It is time consuming, but its better than paying $35 for an overdraft fee.

Donna,

Sorry to hear that your having issues with how Wachovia and most other banks handle your deposits and debits. Yes Wachovia will post your debits first then maximize the debits for the greatest profits to the bank. Most all banks do it.

Some of the usual suspects around here may come along and tell you it's all your fault, don't play the single Mom card, balance your check book etc. If they do just ignore their insults.

The best advice I can try to provide is to try and bank with a small local bank or a local credit union. They will make an effort to try and work with you when you have problems and not just go for your jugular vein like Wachovia and BofA etc. A credit union as a rule will also post your credits first so as to not cause you NSF fee's. Another trick I read a poster write on the ROR was she kept a permanent $200.00 debit error in her check register, so she always had $200.00 more in the bank than what her register showed. Not a great trick but it worked for her.

Wishing you better luck with your banking,

Dennis