I gave my husband a cheque to assist with end-of-the-month payments.
I transferred money to cover said cheque.
Too late. It and another bounced.
**$70.00 **charge from my bank. Along with the usual $7.55 service charges for the month.
I hate my bank.
I am a moron, and hate myself even more. Now something of his is probably going to go rubbery, and I and he will both look like morons.
Craaaaaaap.
I don’t know from Canadian banks, but here in the US, they’re usually pretty willing to work with you. The last time a similar thing happened to me, I went down to my branch and spoke with a representative. He reversed the NSF fee, no problem. You might see if your bank won’t do that for you, too.
Canadian banks are generally pure hell to deal with, but it can’t hurt to go in, try to talk to somebody at a managerial level, and see what can be worked out. If it’s your first NSF, and you’ve got your mortgage with them, etc, they might cut you some slack.
$70 NSF fee? You are dealing with the wrong bank.
You may have to do some additional research to find out how much each bank is currently charging for NSF fees, but you can find out how much your regular service fees would be at each institution by going to this site: http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/epic/internet/inoca-bc.nsf/en/ca00669e.html (Strategis Financial Service Charges Calculator).
/Ms Cyros
Two checks at $35 an NSF is about right. My credit union does $25 per NSF.
What does *NSF * mean?
Not Sufficient Funds. In other words, a bounced check.
Yes, I see. Obvious once you know. They’re called *cheque dishonour fees * here.
Mine must value my business because the one time I flaked out, the covered it and charged me a $5 handling fee. No, I don’t have any investments or mortgage. The maximum they charge is $20. And if you don’t mind no service to go with your no service fees, President’s Choice Financial doesn’t charge at all for NSF cheques.
If you bitch enough, you should be able to get the funds back. I’m not a particularly good bitcher, but back when I was a somewhat forgetful and irresponsible account holder, I’ve managed to reverse about a dozen NSF charges. The last time I tried (a year and a half ago), it was due to some stupid mix-up. I deposited money on the weekend, then made four transactions. Of course, the bank charges the withdrawals first, and from highest to lowest rather than vice versa (under the guise of “making bigger and more important checks go through first”, when it’s actually a fee generating scheme.) So, basically, if they did deposits over the weekend first, no checks would have bounced. If they went low-to-high, one check would have bounced. Instead, all four bounced. This banking manager was particularly adamant, so I only ended up getting two of the four fees reversed.
At any rate, bitch and moan…it’s always worked for me. (And, except for the last case, they’ve never put up much of a fight.)
Just to clarify, I am not recommending PCF. They have issues, IMO.
/Ms Cyros
I completely agree. One suggestion: be courteous and admit you are at fault. Being rude or blaming the bank will get you no where fast.
/Ms Cyros
Do you have a savings account with the same bank? I knew a girl in college who bounced a check for $25, while having about $25,000 in savings at the same bank. Upon learning her bank wouldn’t cover the overdraft, and charged her a fee, she promtly withdrew her entire account and went to the bank across the street. Wish I had been there to have seen it.
Alright, maybe I’m reading this wrong, but you think the bank should cover your errors when you choose not to have overdraft protection, because you have money in another account? I’m sick and tired of people getting all indignant because they themselves made an error and the bank didn’t go digging around in their accounts to try and fix something that happened because they were irresponsible.
And do you think a $25,000 withdrawal hurt their little feelings? 'Tis not even a drop in the bucket.
/Ms Cyros
I would be inclined to agree with you if it weren’t for the fact that banks create artificial delays in transferring funds between accounts solely for the purpose of making more cheques bounce.
There’s simply no reason why money transferred between your own accounts should be delayed. Banks do it on purpose to collect NSF charges.
Which is also why the banks will often remove those charges if you complain about it instead of rolling over and taking it.
First, of course you’re entitled to your opinion, but I think this is utter bullshit. Profits obtained from service fees, including NSF fees total 3% at the major Canadian banks. The big bucks come from interest charges.
I can use online banking and transfer money from one account to another instantly. No delay whatsoever. If I chose to walk down to the bank machine on a Friday after 6 and do all my banking, processing times apply. I’m aware of this. Anyone who has read their service agreement or the signs near the machines knows this. No one is trying to trick you.
Again, if this is the first occasion, it doesn’t hurt to plead your case, but recognize this is entirely, 100% totally your own fault.
If the bank were to try to balance affairs by taking it upon themselves to remove fees from an account other than the one which incurred the charges, everyone would be screaming bloody hell.
/Ms Cyros
And the worst part is, you spell “check” all funny-like.
If only you could hear me pronounce “about” 
/Ms Cyros
Cyros, when I started banking, having a savings account WAS overdraft protection – it wasn’t a special program you had to sign up for. The assumption was if you have plenty of money at that bank, you’re good for small bounced checks. I don’t think the banks actually transferred the overdraft amount from savings to checking, they just paid the overdraft on the assumption that the customer would soon make it good. I’m aware things don’t work the same way anymore.
I’m also drawing a distinction between an overdraft and an actual bounced check. If I write an overdrawn check, my current bank will pay the overdraft, then ding me with a hefty fee, which I accept. What I would not accept – what would make me change banks immediately – is if my bank actually bounced the check, refusing to pay the creditor (say) $25 and subjecting me to criminal prosecution for an accounting oversight. Sure, they’re within their rights to do so, but to cover an occasional small overdraft goes a long way towards customer satisfaction.