# Is the US banking system "backward"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 3, 2025, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-us-banking-system-backward/1016579 "2025-04-03T16:41:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 69
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2025, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-us-banking-system-backward/1016579/69 "2025-04-05T19:20:46Z")
So, @msmith537 reminded me of a totally different question that I wanted to ask about the US system versus others: minimum checking account balances. Many years ago, on this board, [I made it known](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-regret-my-decisions-a-few-months-ago-about-wells-fargo/231782) my displeasure with a bank that rhymes with “Schmells Blargo,” and since then, have been exclusively banking with a ‘Veterans-Catering’ bank (20+ years) now. A month or so ago, I was flabbergasted to get some junk mail from Schmells Blargo, inviting me to open up a checking account with an initial deposit of $25\* _ **Note buried in the fine print: minimum required checking account balance is $1,000 or else a $5.99 monthly ‘service fee’ would apply.** _ After spending exactly 4.638 nanoseconds contemplating their ‘offer’, I endured .724 seconds in analysis paralysis on whether I should shred this invitation, or use it to start my wood stove–the shredder won. My question for non-US Dopers: do your banks charge ‘service fees’ at all? Is it the crappy banks, or all/none? Follow-up for the US Dopers: are other “big” banks like ‘Piti-Bank’, and Bank of Crap-erica still pulling this kind of crap? Tripler Names changed to protect the innocent–or something. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-us-banking-system-backward/1016579)._