I can't wait to be done with Fort Sill National Bank for once and for all.
I opened a checking account with them during my first few days in the Reception Battalion at Ft. Sill, OK.
My paychecks and travel pay have been deposited there throughout my military career.
A couple of years later, I opened a savings account at the same bank. It was easy to use their website to transfer money between the accounts. They also offered great interest rates.
Later in my career, I began using a joint checking account at another bank to settle household finances. Over time, I made fewer and fewer deposits in the FSNB savings account. I also spent most of the money that was in it.
Earlier this year, FSNB began charging a $15 monthly fee if a savings account was not used. Since gas and grocery prices were high, I did not get to make a deposit in my savings account for several months. I was shocked when I received an overdraft notice. FSNB had taken $15 for a few months from the savings account. When the account ran dry, they kept withdrawing the $15 each month.
I wrote them a nasty letter, rebuking them for the predatory fee and asking for the account to be closed. They closed the account, forgave the fee that had bled the last of the funds from my savings account, and kept all the money they had taken in previous months. Nice.
This fall, FSNB began charging a $1 fee for denied debit card transactions. This means that if a debit card transaction is denied, I get charged a $1 ATM fee anyway.
Recently, I swiped my card at a gas pump. A cryptic error message appeared. I swiped the card again. An attendant told me that the card had been denied.
There was no ATM at this gas station, and they do not take checks. Luckily, I keep an emergency $50 bill in my truck, and I used it to buy gas.
Later that month, two fees for $1 appeared on my bank statement. When I inquired about these fees, I was informed of the new scam:
When you swipe a card at a gas pump, $75 is temporarily debited from the account.
If there is not $75 in the account, the transaction is denied. The $1 fee is applied.
It doesn't matter if you need only $35 of gas and have $50 in your account.
FSNB denied me the use of my funds and then charged me for trying to access them in the first place! Twice!
Luckily, my military service obligation is nearly over. Once the Service stops depositing my paychecks at FSNB, I will close my last account with them.
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