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Banking 101: How to Write a CheckHigher Wire Transfer Fees at Wells Fargo and Citizens Bank - Wire Alternatives
Earlier this week I mentioned higher ATM fees and paper statement fees at a few large banks. There's another fee that's going up at some large banks that may have more effect on savers. It's the fee for wire transfers. For those who have done a lot of opening and closing of CDs at non-local institutions, wire transfers can be useful. They provide a fast way to send funds to an institution. One downside is the fees. Most all institutions charge fees for outgoing wire transfers, but many (especially the large banks) charge a fee for incoming.
The fees for both incoming and outgoing wire transfers are going up at Wells Fargo and Citizens Bank. Credit for this information goes to Mary Morgan at Financial Shop Solutions.
Starting in October Wells Fargo is increasing the domestic incoming wire transfers from $10 to $15. For domestic outgoing (non-repetitive), the fee is increasing from $20 to $30.
As I mentioned in the previous post, Citizens Bank has slowly been increasing fees since 2010. This includes wire transfer fees. Incoming domestic wire transfer fees are going up from $13 to $18. Outgoing wire transfer fees (non-repetitive) are going up from $21 to $30.
Alternatives to Wire Transfers
ACH transfers can be a less expensive way to move money. They do take more time than wire transfers, but with interest rates so low, that's less of an issue these days. For example, if you lose a day of interest on $100K, that equals $2.74 for an account with a 1% APY. Back in the good old days, that would have been $13.70 for an account with a 5% APY.
Many banks don't offer ACH transfers, but you can often use the ACH service of another bank to transfer money to or from a checking or savings account. Initiating ACH transfers are almost always free at internet banks, but beware that some banks have relatively small transfer limits.
Another option to send money is FedEx. A reader mentioned in a previous post a good way to send money if you live near the sending institution:
If you are near the sending institution, you can go in, get a cashiers check, and FedEx the check to a specific person or department. Costs less than wire transfer. You get credit the day it arrives.
However, another reader warned about one downside to this:
Only the first $5,000 is available on cashier checks. Depending on the routing number funds can be on hold for up to 3 weeks and longer if the bank thinks it is suspicious.
You can read what Regulation CC has on maximum hold times in this Federal Reserve guide.
If you are trying to send money to a credit union, the shared branch network can help with this. Many credit unions are part of the CU Service Centers. You can use a nearby credit union that's part of the shared branch network to deposit a check into your credit union savings or checking account.
If you have any tips on fast and inexpensive ways to fund CDs or receive funds from a CD, please leave a comment.
The bank manager told me they charge a flat fee of $20 for a wire transfer PLUS $1.00 per thousand dollars.
So if you have a $100,000 CD, they will charge $120 to wire transfer to you.
Better to take at least 1/3rd of the cash you might otherwise buy CDs with, and buy gold, silver and platinum. Keep it hidden somewhere. PM coins and bars don't earn interest, but no one pays any interest anymore. With these excessive fees, you are paying the banks to hold your wealth! As the world economy gets worse and worse, and the corrupt Fed, ECB, Bank of England, and Bank of Japan continue on their ill-fated program of printing more and more money to assist their bankrupt friends at the international casino banks, gold prices will go up faster than the highest interest rates ever paid on bank deposits.
Eventually, gold will be in a bubble, but that point isn't even close yet, given all the negative comments and newspaper/magazine articles that diss gold and warn us it is in a bubble. Furthermore, since gold prices are based upon the level of the monetary base, and since the monetary base keeps exploding by virtue of the corrupt money printing game, a tripling in price since 2007 simply shows that it is keeping up with the growth of the monetary base, and has not caught on at all as an investment, again blowing that bubble claim.
When mass media start being very positive on gold, and your shoeshine boy or taxi driver is advising you to buy it, you'll know it is close to the time to sell, as it was in 1980. By then, inflation will be running in the triple digits, savers will be wiped out, and corrupt central banks will finally be forced to stop printing, or face the guillotine. That is far from happening, given the recent pledge by the thief and casino-banker shill, Ben Bernanke, to keep rates at near zero through the end of 2013.
Meanwhile, for the time being, the banksters continue to churn out derivatives that, per Warren Buffet, are "weapons of financial mass destruction", and it is only a matter of time before the whole corrupt paper money system comes tumbling down. The best thing about diversifying your precious metals holdings is that, if there is ever an economic recovery, silver and platinum should maintain their value, even as gold falls. They are industrial, as well as precious metals, and as business levels increase demand increases.
That's the straw that breaks the camel's back. I've jumped over to a visa debit card instead of the usual big bank option when doing a money transfer to Philippines. Costs cheaper, less hassle and I get a nifty visa debit card that's accepted almost anywhere I go.
Thanks
my
This is not acceptable anymore. I'll be doing something about this.
Here is an article on comparing bank transfer fees and Paypal: http://manfrommodesto.hubpages.com/hub/Bank-Transfers-or-PayPal-Money-Transfers-Which-is-Cheaper
Tried to negotiate a better fee from Citizens and they will not budge even though we keep $50k average in our account. Phooey on them. Now they lose all fees.