Capital One Checking Acct Maintenance Fee

[Anonymous]

Sorry if this has already been discussed.

I had Chevy Chase Checking, and when it transferred over to Capital One, I read all the stuff they sent. Nothing about fees, unless your balance was under $2500 (I think?). I've never been charged a fee until this month. $15!

I'll obviously be calling them about this. I checked through my file folder, but didn't see a letter warning about a pending fee.

Does Capital One charge you fees for checking also? How can I get fee-free checking?

[Anonymous]

You can switch to fee-free checking - I think a teller switched it for me back in the early Cap One days. But I do recall seeing something about how there will be fees if you don't keep a minimum balance starting sometime this year (right now, the free checking I have has no minimum balance requirement).

Oh, and Capital One kind of sucks. I'd switch banks, but it doesn't suck quite enough for me to bother with the suckage of that yet.

[Anonymous]

switch banks. Everyone I know who had a Chevy Chase bank account when Capital One bought them out got hit with all these fees and switched to another bank as fast as they could.

[Anonymous]

USAA has free checking if you are eligible.

You might want to check out Wachovia.

[Anonymous]

That's what I always thought - as long as you maintained the minimum balance, there is no fee. I've made the effort to keep the $2500 in there. But, still got charged.

Now, I check the website and it says No Monthly Service Charge if balance of $1500. And, if there is a fee, it's $8.95.

I haven't been happy with Capital One either, since the switch from Chevy Chase. I might have to find another alternative.

[Anonymous]

I'm wondering if with all the new banking regulations, fee-free checking will be a thing of the past?

Either way, I want to keep it fee-free for as long as I can.

Thanks for the suggestions, PP. I didn't think of USAA, and we're eligible because of DH. They're normally great for customer service.

[Anonymous]

$2500 minimum balance is too much for my blood. I either want my money going into investment/savings or to pay bills.

Add in the increased fees ...

When I got the "welcome to Capital One" pamphlet, I went by the next day and closed my account.

I was able to join NWFCU through my wife.

[Anonymous]

Yup, this happened to me. I also thought it was $1500 min/$8.95 fee as someone mentioned but no, the "special" accounts that they switched Chevy Chase account holders to is $2500/$15. I somehow missed this fee in the literature they sent during the changeover. Anyway, I bascically demanded they reverse it (I only had it for 1 month) and they did. I'm not real happy with them either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yup, this happened to me. I also thought it was $1500 min/$8.95 fee as someone mentioned but no, the "special" accounts that they switched Chevy Chase account holders to is $2500/$15. I somehow missed this fee in the literature they sent during the changeover. Anyway, I bascically demanded they reverse it (I only had it for 1 month) and they did. I'm not real happy with them either.

Did you stay with them? Who did you switch too. If they tookk the one time charge off for you, did they never charge it again?

[Anonymous]

Any other bank recs? Very unhappy with Capital One.

[Anonymous]

Mine is free with direct deposit. I have $200 a month deposited into my account from DH's. If I wasn't self employed I would probably have paychecks direct deposited.

[Anonymous]

I use Bank of America for my checking and don't pay any fees. They have their share of problems, but I haven't experienced any issues with customer service. I do strictly online banking and have never paid any fees in the 7 years I've had my checking account with them.

[Anonymous]

TD Bank. So far so good.

[Anonymous]

I have my paycheck direct deposited to Cap. One so don't pay the fee.
However, they have started charging for the checks!!!! I hate it.

One day when I went by the branch, the customer service rep. started asking me about where I live. We have been friendly in the past, so I told her about my house,etc. Then she proceeded to lecture me that I should stop by a RV that was parked out in the lot to get information about re-financing! I said "no thank-you", but the whole thing seemed so shady and fly by night! Not what I want in a bank!

We are eligible for USAA, but how would we get cash when we need it? Do they have agreements with local ATMs?

[Anonymous]

Join a credit union!!!! You won't pay many of these ridiculous fees, and they actually care about the customer - not just the stockholders!!!