c/banking-and-payments-community

Lost $75 on a "no fee" ATM that hit me with three different charges in Miami last week

TIL my bank's fraud detection algorithm hates that I buy gas at 6 AM

After getting my card declined three times in one week, a customer service rep in Omaha told me my transactions looked 'too routine' and suggested I vary my purchase times, so now I grab coffee first then pump gas and it hasn't been flagged since - anyone else's bank got weird rules like that?

Showerthought: 1 in 5 Americans still use checks every month

I was reading a Pew Research survey last week and it said 20% of Americans still write checks regularly. That blew my mind because I haven't touched a checkbook in years. My grandma sends me a birthday check every year, but I thought she was the last holdout. Has anyone else run into a business lately that still insists on checks instead of cards or apps?

Stopped doing manual bank reconciliations after I caught a $1,200 error last quarter

Used to spend every Sunday night matching transactions line by line in a spreadsheet, but after I switched to automated reconciliation software in March, I noticed that the old way was missing duplicate charges from our vendor (like a $47 fee that showed up twice), and now I'm wondering if anyone else feels silly for trusting their own manual checks for so long?

That instant transfer fee caught me off guard

I sent $200 to my landlord through Zelle yesterday and got hit with a $10 fee for instant transfer. I thought instant transfer was included with my account tier. Has anyone else gotten surprised by these fees popping up?

Tried a digital check deposit at 11 PM and it didn't show up for 3 days

I needed to move some money between accounts on a Friday night around 11:15 PM. Used my bank's app to deposit a check from my business account. The app said 'funds available within 1 business day.' Well Monday came and went, nothing. Called Tuesday and they said deposits after 10 PM count as next business day, meaning Monday. Then their '1 business day' actually means they hold it an extra day for new accounts. I've had this account for 6 years. Anyone else run into this weird timing cutoff with their bank?

Just learned that contactless payments have a $50 limit in some countries and I had no idea

Was reading a thread on some finance blog last night and found out that places like Canada and the UK cap contactless transactions at around $50 or the equivalent. So if you try to tap your card for a $60 grocery run, it forces you to insert the chip or use cash. I always thought contactless was just unlimited until the bank decides otherwise. Has anyone else run into this traveling or living abroad?

Chose a credit union over a big bank 2 years ago and it's been way better than I expected

Everyone told me I was crazy for leaving Chase because of the app and ATM access. But honestly my local credit union in Austin has been solid. I get 3.5% on my checking account compared to the 0.01% I was getting before. The mobile app is basic but it works fine for depositing checks and checking balances. The only annoyance is finding a shared branch when I travel but it's not that bad. Has anyone else made the switch and regretted it or found it worth the hassle?

Found out the hard way that bank transfer fees add up fast

I sent $150 to my sister in Texas through my regular bank and they charged me $25 for a wire transfer. Then I found out services like Wise only charge about $4 for the same thing. Next time I'll check the fees first. Anyone else get hit with surprise transfer costs?

Wasted 2 years swiping credit cards the wrong way at my POS terminal

Old timer from Chase merchant services showed me you're supposed to swipe fast and straight, not slow and angled, and my decline rate dropped from 15% to almost nothing the next day - anyone else get trained wrong on basic card processing?

Finally stopped using "convenience fees" as a catch-all label in my app receipts

For months I was just slapping a "convenience fee" on every small transaction my payment app processed. Then a customer in Austin flagged it saying it looked like a hidden charge and they almost disputed it. I checked my processor's rules and sure enough you have to specify what that fee is for like same-day processing or card type. Now I break it out line by line and my dispute rate dropped 12% in 2 weeks. Has anyone else dealt with vague fee labels causing chargebacks?

PSA: That "free" Venmo transfer cost me $25 last week

I sent $300 to my landlord via Venmo last Tuesday in NYC using the standard 1-3 day option, but it got held up and I got hit with a $25 overdraft fee from my bank. Double check your bank's policy on instant transfers before you rely on the free option, anyone else get burned by this?

Debate: Are mobile payment apps making us careless with our actual bank accounts?

I used to manually check my checking account balance every morning on my bank's website before I even had coffee. Now I just glance at the Venmo or Cash App notification and assume my real balance is fine. Last week I overdrew by $47 because I forgot to account for a pending utility bill from my credit union in Austin. Do you guys still log into your actual bank portal regularly, or do you think apps are enough to keep track?

That time my uncle told me to never use a debit card for online purchases

About 5 years ago my uncle Rick kept saying debit cards are a trap for online shopping. I figured he was just old school and paranoid. Then last March I bought a $120 jacket from a random ad on Instagram and someone drained my checking account within 48 hours. Took the bank 3 weeks to put the money back and I had to borrow from my brother for groceries. Has anyone else found credit cards actually give better fraud protection than debit?

Spent 3 years paying $15 in ATM fees every week before I realized my bank had free withdrawals at 7-Eleven

I was just walking past a 7-Eleven last Tuesday and saw a sign on the ATM saying 'no fee for [bank name] customers' and it finally clicked. Has anyone else missed something that obvious buried in their bank's fine print?

Buddy at the bank told me to switch credit unions and I brushed him off for a year

A guy I know who works at a local credit union kept telling me mine was screwing me over with fees. I ignored him because I figured all banks are the same. Then I finally looked at my statements and saw I paid $180 in random maintenance fees and ATM charges in 6 months. I switched to his place last month and haven't paid a single fee since. Anyone else have a friend who turned out to be right about banking stuff?

That $200 'identity theft protection' service I signed up for paid for exactly nothing

I paid for LifeLock for a full year after that big data breach at Home Depot back in 2014. Found out later my bank already does the same monitoring for free and the only thing they flagged was me applying for a credit card. Anyone else get duped into paying for something your bank already handles?

Just realized I can pay my rent with a credit card and earn points, but the fee eats half of them

Found out my apartment complex's online portal lets me pay with a card and charges a 2.5% processing fee. My card gives 1.5% cash back, so I'm net losing 1% each month. Tried to see if there's a workaround like using a gift card or a different payment method, but they block those. Anyone else deal with this and find a way to actually come out ahead?

Tried switching to a digital-only wallet for 2 weeks in Chicago and got locked out of my own money

I was sick of carrying cards around so I put everything on Google Pay and Apple Pay. Day 9 my phone died while I was trying to grab lunch at a small deli that only took cash. Couldn't get into my bank app on someone else's phone cause I didn't have my 2FA codes backed up anywhere. Learned real quick that digital wallets are fine until your battery or signal gives out. Anyone else run into this or am I just dumb?

Rant: My credit union branch in Seattle started charging $3 to use the coin counting machine

I've been banking at the same credit union for like 8 years and they just put a sign up last month saying it's $3 per bag of coins. No warning, no email. I had a jar of quarters and dimes from my shop's vending machine (about $120 worth) and it would have cost me $3 just to dump them in. The teller said they got a new policy because people were bringing in buckets of pennies. Has anyone else's bank started nickel-and-diming you on stuff that used to be free?

TIL my bank's mobile check deposit has a $500 daily limit

Went to deposit a $1,200 check from a side job last Tuesday, scanned it through the app like always, and got a message saying I hit my daily cap. Had to drive 20 minutes to the nearest branch before they closed at 5pm. Never even knew that limit existed because I usually only deposit small stuff. Has anyone else run into surprise limits on their bank's app?

Found out my bank charges me $3 a month for paper statements I never asked for

I was looking through my checking account fees last night and noticed a $3 recurring charge labeled "paper statement fee." I called my credit union and they said it's been there since 2022, but I've been using online banking the whole time so I never saw the physical mail. Has anyone else caught a small fee like this that just flew under the radar?

Used to hate mobile payments, now I'm all in

Got burned by a card skimmer at a gas station in Atlanta six months ago. NFC tap with my phone feels way safer now and I don't even carry a wallet anymore.

TIL banks still use COBOL for like 90% of their transactions and it blew my mind

I was reading this article the other day about how a lot of the big banks still run on COBOL code from the 1970s. I had no idea that was even a thing. Like, I figured by now everything would be on some fancy new system with apps and stuff. But apparently the whole backbone of payment processing for things like wire transfers and ACH still relies on this old language that barely anyone knows how to program anymore. It said something like 43% of banking systems still use it. That is wild to me. I work in a small credit union and we just upgraded our core system last year, took like 6 months of headaches. Makes me wonder how many bugs are hiding in that old code and what happens when the last COBOL guy retires. Has anyone else looked into how their bank handles the backend stuff?

Took me 3 years to switch from paper ledgers to digital

I used to track every check and deposit by hand in a notebook, thought it was fine. Then I tried QuickBooks for a month and saw my reconciliation time drop from 2 hours to 15 minutes. Has anyone else had that moment where you realize you've been wasting time on old habits?