Bank Overdraft Has Fill In Blanks: Fill & Download for Free

I strongly suspect at least a large majority of this stems from phishing emails telling people their accounts are locked for [fill in blank] reasons and that they cannot access it again except by following instructions in the email.A bank cannot lock up anyone’s account unless there’s extremely good reason to, such as overdrafts, insufficient funds to cover outstanding checks, or strong suspicion identity theft has compromised the account. If a soldier really believes their account has been locked down, they should call the bank directly, not respond to any email, or use any phone number in an email telling him the account has been locked. The bank’s legitimate phone numbers can be found on past bank statements, or by going directly to the bank’s Internet site independently of any email allegedly from the bank (Google can find a specific bank’s web site). Soldiers stationed overseas can get assistance from their chain of command with this.I get phishing emails claiming my accounts or credit cards in banks I’ve never had accounts or cards from have been locked down for security reasons at least several times per week. Invariably they insist I must fill out some HTML form attached to the email (like a web page), or visit some web site and fill out information there. NONE of them have ever been legitimate, including those supposedly from banks in which I do have current accounts.There’s apparently another common scam on the internet as evidenced by dozens of questions here regarding soldiers stationed somewhere outside the US not being able to access their bank accounts. This scam is an email from some soldier requesting financial help, or an alleged friend of theirs trying to get money for them as they’re in dire straits and all manner of horrible things will occur if they don’t get the money immediately. The stories are some of the most heart-rending fiction ever written. Yet another method to separate gullible people from their money.

I just want to highlight something about my answer that differs from the others listed above: Unlike the vast majority of answers listed, I worked blue-collar jobs not just DURING college, but after it also. There was a point in my life in which I felt that I was going to be building houses for the rest of my life. I think the mind-set of being in blue-collar jobs temporarily (and knowing that it will be over soon) vs. seeing it as the rest of your life is vastly different.I was a relatively top-tier student throughout my life, but when I left college, I felt unfulfilled with the thought of moving to a city (the only places where I could get jobs in my major, and since I hadn't discovered what I loved to do - software, data - I felt lost) so I moved to Asheville, North Carolina, in the Appalachian Mountains.I began to work in construction, first as a laborer, and eventually working my way up to wiring control systems for homes and light commercial buildings.Let's break down what my observations were about being a blue-collar guy, informed by my current white-collar job and status:The United States has a problem, particularly strong among the baby-boomer generation, of looking down on blue-collar workers. Perhaps because that generation had a relatively easy time getting into a college, and just getting a degree seemed to deliver a white collar job automatically. I was looked down on, since it was clear to people who observed me that I was, at 25, too old to be "just a college kid doing it for the summer." One of the things that sticks in my memory was how I was treated at a bank one day. I walked in, exhausted and dusty, to deal with an overdraft on my bank account which was caused by a check from one of my many employers I had (i'll get to that later) bouncing. The check had deposited and posted, I had spent money, and the bank had (in a practice that is now illegal) re-ordered the transactions after the fact to make sure the large purchase hit first, followed by many small purchases which were hitting an overdrafted account, each accruing a penalizing fee of over $30 (usually for a $2 purchase). The amount actually overdrafted was less than $35, but the bank's penalty fees were charging me $400. Trying to negotiate left me with blank stares and dismissiveness from the bank manager. I left there knowing that I had been looked down upon due to my dress and perceived low status. A second incident that really stung was when a customer at a construction site approached me (she was a wealthy lady) and asked me if I had any friends that would be interested in dating the nanny who worked for her. When I smiled and mentioned to her (jokingly) that I was single, she stated very quickly "She is European, and highly educated. I was wondering if you had any friends that were more her type." There were dozens of incidents in which I dealt with this kind of behavior, and it was in stunning contrast to the rural folks I dealt with in the isolated mountain communities. To them, I was always treated as an equal, and the experience to this day has made me fond of Appalachian culture.The people you work with: This is where there is a drastic difference between the blue and white collar worlds. Political correctness in the construction industry simply didn't exist where I lived. This was, for the most part, refreshing, but at times could be maddening. It makes for a very, very easy time figuring out who among your coworkers are decent people vs. who are racist bigots. The extremes in my relationships with my coworkers simply can't be mirrored in the white collar world. The depth of friendship I felt towards the guys I liked, the brotherhood we had, simply doesn't exist for me now. The level of hatred I had for some of the guys I had to work with also doesn't exist.Humility: Too many people in the white-collar world don't have it, and they should. To this day, some of the smartest, most innovative and driven people I have ever had the privilege of working with were blue-collar carpenters, electricians, framers, etc. The directness with which you are criticized in the construction industry, combined with the objective quality of your work, means you better learn how to internalize criticism. If you can't, you will quickly be fired and replaced. This makes for a work environment in which incompetence isn't tolerated, and the competent quickly rise in the ranks. However, the ability to internalize criticism requires humility. If you don't have it, you will very quickly learn it. The fact that so many people I work with now would never be able to hang with my former construction worker pals in a mental contest, yet they consider themselves better than blue-collar workers, really pisses me off sometimes.Gratitude: I thank God every day for the privileges I enjoy as a professional in the USA. Before, things like health insurance were unaffordable for me, since it wasn't provided by my employer. When I hear entitled co-workers complaining about their benefits, I am quick to remind them of what so many working Americans go through. The worst is when I hear people who were "born on third and think they hit a triple" talking about how they don't care if poor people get health coverage "If they can't afford it, they don't deserve it" attitude. These fools will never know what I know: that some of my coworkers were brilliant people who, due to various obstacles placed on them by birth, family, and piss-poor public schools, never even had a shot at college. They instead ended up as top-performing people in an industry that just feels no need to provide health coverage.Illegal immigration: This is where there is a disconnect between white collar and blue collar knowledge. I support reforming the immigration system in the US, and I love the contribution made by my Latino brothers and sisters in this country. However, it was readily apparent to me as a construction worker that my wages were lower due to a surplus of illegal labor present in my locale. These folks, who in this area were mainly from Honduras, would rent homes with 3 people to a bedroom. This meant that they could work for much cheaper than my native born coworkers who were trying to maintain a first world living standard (owning their own car, having a single family residence with their own kitchen). The attitude among the white collar people in this country is that undocumented workers "take the jobs nobody wants" is absurd. The reality is that they take the jobs for a wage that nobody else will do it for. Crab fishing in Alaska is backbreaking and extremely dangerous work, but it is filled with Americans because it pays well. Obviously, with immigration reform, this could be fixed, because documented workers could demand a minimum wage.

“Why am I paying for banking services that used to be free or low cost?”This strikes me as a very strange observation, unless somebody has either switched to an account at another financial institution, or chosen to switch their account type within a financial institution. Then again, if one had an account in which a minimum balance (or other qualification) caused the monthly maintenance fee to be waived, or otherwise provided for certain free services, then perhaps you have simply failed to meet the qualification for free services.However, let’s consider the more common services that one might expect to be included in a “basic” account:check processingdeposit processingmonthly statementprinted checkscounter checksATM accessdebit cardACH direct debit and direct depositACH external transferonline billpaySo let’s take these one by one:check processingIronically, there are now”checking” accounts that don’t accept checks (or for that matter, ACH direct debits). This avoids non-sufficient funds and overdrafts. But an ordinary checking account will accept checks. Infrequently, they will specify a limit, perhaps 10 checks a month.deposit processingIn the past, one would never have paid for a deposit. I’ve heard of bank accounts which charge for teller transactions. Don’t want to pay? Deposit through an ATM, or use mobile deposit.monthly statementThe monthly statement was always free. If you insist on having it mailed to you, it’s pretty common to find that you’re paying a couple of dollars a month for this.printed checksGetting free “basic” checks used to be a very common “perk”, so much so that many customers considered this a standard feature. The lack of free printed checks should hardly be considered a deal breaker, as there are offers almost every weekend in the Sunday paper where you can get enough checks to probably last you a couple of years for about $5, postage included. And my guess is that even among people who actually write checks, the average number of physical checks per account is probably about two.counter checksIt used to be you could get a blank “check” form, you filled in the account number, and you could present that at the teller. (As I recall, this was not intended to be given to a third party, it essentially just let you make a withdrawal from the account.) My experience nowadays is that if you ask for a counter check, they will give you a sheet of 3 checks, with your account number pre-printed, which can process through the clearing system, and they usually charge you two or three dollars for this.ATM accessUsing your own bank’s ATM still costs nothing. Using another bank’s ATM, you get stuck with fees on both ends. Having these fees waived and (especially if the “foreign” ATM charge is rebated) is considered a fairly exceptional feature.debit cardsCharges for having a debit card or using it are pretty much unheard of. If you lose the card, some institutions may impose a charge.ACH direct debit and direct depositI’ve never heard of consumer accounts being charged for this.ACH external transferCharging for ACH external transfer is not unheard of (I had an account at one credit union that charged for this, they have subsequently eliminated that charge). Tey are now offering “express” transfers, but these are still mostly free.online billpayThese mostly get processed electronically (it depends on whether the payee is in their database), but sometimes they have to actually mail the payment, and this is almost always done without extra charge. There are a few banks which charge for having this service, and (if I recall correctly), some which charge you if you have the service but fail to use it at least once every few months. Weird! But think about it…. if they have to mail your check, they have to pay actual money for this.So I think you are right, the banks have identified services which actually cost them money or which use employee time, and which they think most customers don’t really need, and the few customers who feel they need those services pay for them, unless they have a premium account tier which includes that service for free. This is essentially a case where offering a particular service for free doesn’t provide the bank with a competitive advantage, so it makes no business sense to continue to offer that service for free.