Highway Robbery

[hurrakane212]

I am not sure that this is the correct forum for this message and if it must be deleted I understand.
This is what I posted on my blog to fellow Lee University students concerning a new policy adopted by AmSouth.
I justify my post's position here by rationalizing that if a gun owner saves money, they can buy more ammo and practice more strategy... I know I am stretching but I just want to get the word out.

It has been brought to my attention that AmSouth will now charge non-account holders a 3$ fee for AmSouth checks over 100$ being cashed at an AmSouth branch. So all the institutional work study students will now find themselves ROBBED of 3$ every time they try to cash their check if they do not hold an account with AmSouth.

Who the hell does AmSouth think they are? They are going to charge somone who doesn't bank there 3$ to cash a check from one of their account holders? They are, in effect, not honoring their own checks (at least 3$'s worth). There is no other bank that I know of that would engage in such a farce (intended to compel students to get an account with AmSouth).

This is a horrible banking practice and very unprofessional. Imagine you are a student from ...I dunno... Ohio... we have a lot of those. You have an account back home at a local branch. You don't want 2 accounts. Then you are robbed of 3$ every check. That's 6-12 packs of ramen depending on where you shop! And if you get an account at AmSuck..er AmSouth, then they may do to you what they did to me, loose 100$ of my money for over a year, charge double NSF fees on one overdraft (even though you have overdraft protection) and charge hidden fees on your "free" student account.

Ahh but there is hope The Bank (First citizens bank) has an agreement to cash Lee University's AmSouth checks for free.

I'd like to call for a general boycott of AmSouth. I know of several other students (Asian Adam for one) who likewise have been unhappy with AmSouth. Except for Mrs. Foggin, she's cool.

~Nathan

 

[Technosavant]

A number of banks do this. It's a standard fee. It takes time of a cashier to cash the check, not to mention the (admittedly small) effort required to present said check for redemption.

If you don't have an account with a bank, don't expect them to listen to anything you say- you haven't purchased any of their services.

Just get an account at another bank, and send a letter to the bank president explaining why you have found another financial institution.

 

[Zundfolge]

Its not just because of the time it takes the cashier to cash it, its also because fraudulent checks are becoming an epidemic at banks, and they are trying to recoup the money they lose on all the bad checks.

I expect to see within the next decade, banks stop issuing checks and require all checking account transactions to be done via your debit card.

 

[asknight]

At least they will cash it for a non-account holder. Walmart, Brookshires, etc who offer check cashing services charge $3 at a minimum. They're private financial institutions just as a bank is. None of my local banks will cash a check presented from a non-account holder, for any fee.

Besides, how hard is it to open an account? 5 minutes of your time, and most all of them have a 100% free student checking account. Even your first batch of checks are free. Cheap price for convenience, especially if a free account will save you $3 or more per month.

 

[Art Eatman]

A good subject for http://www.armedpolitesociety.com

, Art