A local company wrote me a $500 check on their First Fidelity Bank account. The bank was around the corner from the business so I decided to stop in an cash the check. I was informed that the bank charges $5 to cash a check unless the person cashing it is a bank customer.
I was dumfounded that a bank would charge me to cash a check that one of their customers wrote to me. I spoke with a manager and was told that the bank had done a study and it costs the bank about $5 in time and effort to cash a check for a non-bank customer. Of course, they would be happy to open an account for me. I declined and the manager asked why I needed cash, and asked me if I had to cash the check because I was overdrawn at my own bank. What a turd!
I did not cash the check but went and deposited it in my own account.
What a horrible business practice. It seems to me that this policy targets the poor and those who don't have bank accounts. If I did not have a bank account to deposit the check, I would have had very little choice but to pay the one percent fee just to get MY money. What if the check had been for $100? A $5 fee would be five percent of the check value. Although this was not a loan, the term "usury" comes to mind.
0 comments