I’d consider just getting an ATM card from your kid(s) just to make life easier for you, @thumper1. Older s still has some ancient college account open that is linked to my accounts that he uses for his venmo payment transfers and for ATM use (USAA has very limited ATMs though last I looked into it, refunded the account holder for any fees from the bank where the USAA card was used at an ATM, but still seems a bit of a hassle and had a limit per month). The old college account has no minimum balance (in fact some payments/withdrawals crossed and it went to Zero for a day- I got an alert and transferred in $1 for him). On the rare occasion DS and I need to transfer $, we use this account rather than Venmo or Zelle. The. funny thing— because our accounts are linked, we get the benefit from his having a big mortgage with them (involves lower minimum balances, no fees for l stuff, etc)
These B of A accounts belong to my kids. They would need to add me to the account to get ME an ATM card…neither lives in this state so ATM transactions with a second card and me not being in the account would raise eyebrows. We already inquired about this…and I would be required to be ON the account.
I don’t really WANT to be ON my kids’ accounts.
I just want to be able to continue to deposit into them…which for me is NOT an issue. It’s an issue for others responding here.
I’m just finding their reduced hours and lack of personnel a PITA.
Well, reduced hours & personnel are generally a response to lack of demand from their own customers. I can’t remember the last time I physically went into a bank branch to carry on any transaction – everything is online in one way or another. These days it’s a lot more important to me whether my bank has an app that works on my smart phone than what hours they have. In fact, for a while I had a windows phone and BofA didn’t have an app for that… and during that time I just did most of my banking at Ally (online only). Then I switched to an android phone, and back to BofA. I don’t ever actually go to banks to deposit checks I receive … I just take pictures of them with my smartphone for online deposits. I suppose if I were to mail a check to one of my kids, they would do the same.
So now we have all sorts of options for fast transfers – Venmo, PayPal, Zelle. When I was in college there was no such thing as an ATM, the banks closed at 3, and as far as I know the only option my parents would have had to send me money in a hurry would have been Western Union. But I never had a problem, because my parents sent me checks by regular mail, it would take a week to arrive and then I’d have to wait for whenever I had a chance to go to the bank. The banks did have night deposit boxes, but of course one couldn’t get cash from them.
Honestly, maybe I’ve become an old coot, but it’s hard for me to get excited over this. It’s a first world problem.
If you don’t want to sign onto Venmo, and the banks the kids have chosen aren’t convenient to you, then use the post office and a stamp to mail the check to your kids and let them deposit them whenever they receive them. (Or have your own bank mail the check so you can save on the postage. )
I have to say, I must be the only one in the world who is perfectly happy with BoA (all our accounts are there, and a mortgage too). I think its due to the reasons @calmom notes above - very seldom do we go to a branch; we use online transactions almost exclusively. (and, I have super duper diamond platinum customer status so they treat me like a queen)
Like @JustaMom I’ve been satisfied with my BOA service. Maybe it has to do with where you branch is as well.We’ve never had a problem and we do the vast majority of our banking on line but when we need to bank in person for some reason my branch has reasonable hours and will slot you into a time if there are people waiting for a customer service rep. When my nonprofit inadvertently went below the minimum for fee-free banking the branch manager waived 3 months of fees.
Again…I am depositing money into my kids’ accounts. I can NOT use an application on my phone for that. And NO…I do not want to be named on the accounts for my 30 something kids…so I can get an ATM card for THEIR account or use the phone application for THEIR account.
@calmom I get it…reduced numbers innthe bank itself. This is a chicken and egg argument. B of A is really giving customers little other choice.
My friendly regional bank is still open until 7 one night a week, still has a drive through window, still allows FREE teller transactions, etc. And there are PLENTY of people in that bank or in the drive through. I’m sure plenty of others use online transactions as well.
To make it clear…one of these deposits is a college graduation gift to our son. I just think it’s petty to charge folks to make a deposit. I’m not taking money OUT of their bank!
ETA…there used to be a local B of A branch with great customer service and the like. Of course, B of A closed that branch!
I’ve been with BofA forever. No complaints. But I think I’ve spoken to a human at a BofA branch maybe once in the last 15 years, so I haven’t a clue what their hours are.
We ditched BofA when we moved from CA to TX and wanted to simply update our address on the account but were told that was not possible. Rather, BofA told us that we had to close the CA account and open a new account at the TX branch. This made no sense as I thought Bank of America meant that we could bank anywhere in America without having to change accounts–apparently not. As we had many online payments set up this would have required updating all of those accounts. Since no one at the branch could make sense of things, we chose to close the account and started banking with a local bank. And while we still had to update our online payment information, we no longer had to deal with BofA.
I love my local bank. Brought $200 worth of coins this week- no having to roll, no fees charged. Always friendly.
I would use Venmo for these transactions, OP. No having to write a check or driver to a bank or deal with B of A!
I enjoy our local banks—one has our personal accts and one has our business accts. They gave notaries when we need them at no extra charge, they waive fees and charges and are just NICE!