Banks need to stop messing with my money!

[Alex_Dubinsky]

Every time I make an inter-bank transaction, the money disappears for days on end. WHY?! I know why. The banks take it, play with it, then return it to me. And I get nothing for my lost time.

The other week I transfered a thousand bucks from my paypal account to my bank account. Right after that I bought something on ebay and forgot to change paypal method of payment to a CC (another scam right there), so paypal tried to withdraw money from that same account. And in the end I get hit with a $35 overdraft fee, because while the transfer-to takes three days, transfer-from is instant.

!@#!@ assholes! I KNOW you have the miraculous technology to subtract two integers in a timespan of less than 72 hours. Now stop temporarily stealing my fucking money!


Oh.. and online statements. Why is it that PayPal is the only organization that can update those instantly? I use my debit card, and boom. Why can't I see my credit card transactions for days on end? This shit might've flew 15 years ago, but now... wtf!

[R. P. McMurphy]

Banks have spent millions upon millions lobbying Congress to pass laws that favor them and screw their customers. An obvious example is the "floats" that are allowed on transactions. In the good old days when payments were mostly made by checks and credit card receipts that were mailed it made some sense. Now the banks just use and abuse their ability to play the float to make money off of your money.

There used to be usury laws that strictly limited the difference between the prime rate and the amount that a bank could charge on a loan, a mortgage or a credit card balance. The banks successfully lobbied to get that changed. With the prime near zero those bastards are still charging 22% or more. We used to call that "loan sharking".

Still, these guys managed to bankrupt their institutions. Great system, huh?

[madrabbitwoman]

Harrrumph! Because I live in some third world country (Australia) and the not the US of A it can take up to 21 days for money to be transfered from paypal to my bank account (usually it doesn't but in the past it has) meanwhile If I pay by paypal money coming from my bank account is instantly gone (however if I wanted to transfer money from my bank accout to paypal to increase my balance it could take up to 21 days too - gahhh).

[Lynn Bodoni]

I want Spartydog to run for Congress. Or something to do with making banking laws. I dealt only in cash for nearly 20 years. I had a credit card and savings account, and my husband has a checking and savings account with a direct deposit for his paycheck. I finally broke down and got myself a checking account and debit card last year, because I've found that there are so many IWOOTs online.

I think that the banks and other financial institutions should have to play by the same rules as consumers do. If money is instantly debited, then it should be instantly credited. If a bank is allowed to keep money for 5 business days before it's available to the consumer, then the consumer should be allowed to float a check for 5 business days without penalty.

[SomeUserName]

Originally Posted by Lynn Bodoni

I think that the banks and other financial institutions should have to play by the same rules as consumers do. If money is instantly debited, then it should be instantly credited. If a bank is allowed to keep money for 5 business days before it's available to the consumer, then the consumer should be allowed to float a check for 5 business days without penalty.

WORD!

[Apex Rogers]

Originally Posted by Alex_Dubinsky

The other week I transfered a thousand bucks from my paypal account to my bank account. Right after that I bought something on ebay and forgot to change paypal method of payment to a CC (another scam right there), so paypal tried to withdraw money from that same account. And in the end I get hit with a $35 overdraft fee, because while the transfer-to takes three days, transfer-from is instant.

While you have a point about the lopsided policy for accessing your money, how is this anything but your own fault? And where is the scam? It seems you're blaming someone else for your own stupidity here.

[Musicat]

Originally Posted by Alex_Dubinsky

Oh.. and online statements. Why is it that PayPal is the only organization that can update those instantly? I use my debit card, and boom. Why can't I see my credit card transactions for days on end? This shit might've flew 15 years ago, but now... wtf!

Paypal isn't faultless (but it might not be under their control). It takes, and they warn you, about 3-5 days to transfer funds from a bank to Paypal if you, the customer, request the transfer.

HOWEVER, if the merchant requests the transfer due to insufficient Paypal funds, it is INSTANT. So the technology exists for immediate transfers and any delay is deliberate.

[Arglefraster]

Originally Posted by Lynn Bodoni

I think that the banks and other financial institutions should have to play by the same rules as consumers do. If money is instantly debited, then it should be instantly credited. If a bank is allowed to keep money for 5 business days before it's available to the consumer, then the consumer should be allowed to float a check for 5 business days without penalty.

My bank used to do this. If I deposited a check on Friday, it would usually clear on Tuesday or Wednesday. If I then used my card to buy stuff, it would show up in my account right away, so the available balance would be negative (so I couldn't withdraw money from an ATM or whatever), but so long as I made the purchase after I deposited the check, I wouldn't get any overdraft fees. They recently changed this, much to my surprise when I got an overdraft fee on a puchase I made on Saturday when I'd deposited a check on Friday. I called to ask what was going on, and they told me about the change. Later that week I got a letter in the mail from them explaining the "upcoming" change. You know, so I wouldn't be taken by surprise by it.

[jali]

I was told by telephone that WAMU can hold a debit charge for up to 60 days and process it at the bank's convenience.

They seem to process debits on the day before my direct deposit payday - every single month.

I'm now a happy BOA customer.

[Gatopescado]

"Messing with you money" is the backbone of the entire banking industry, and to a greater extent that I'm sure is becoming clearer every day, the entire global economy!

[Mama Zappa]

Originally Posted by Alex_Dubinsky

The other week I transfered a thousand bucks from my paypal account to my bank account. Right after that I bought something on ebay and forgot to change paypal method of payment to a CC (another scam right there), so paypal tried to withdraw money from that same account. And in the end I get hit with a $35 overdraft fee, because while the transfer-to takes three days, transfer-from is instant.

Well, this answers one question I had about Paypal. I have my paypal linked to my personal checking account (as opposed to the joint household one) which limits my risk if the account is ever hacked. Never much money in there. I routinely pay one household bill via Paypal - and sometimes by credit card.

Paypal NEVER FAILS to really try to get me to do it via bank transfer instead. 'cuz, you see, the credit card is always there as a backup if the bank says "nope, not enough money".

Well sure, that's fine for the payee, but I've always worried that I'd get slammed with an overdraft fee from the bank. Your experience tells me that this is *exactly* what would happen.

Bastids. (Paypal, not the bank. If I say "pay from credit card", DON'T FUCKING ARGUE WITH ME!!!).

[control-z]

Yes at least half the fault is PayPals. For this reason I recommend you never give them your bank account information.

[SomeUserName]

Originally Posted by jali

I'm now a happy BOA customer.

You may want to re-think that route. If you have a couple hours to kill then Google BOA complaints and read away.