FABB.log » FABB Snapshot

“Tweet-ables”: What People are Saying about Banks

Andrew — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 12:52:11 +0000

(via The Tonight Show’s TwitterTracker)

Twitter users express a number of common feelings towards banks, and after following the word “bank” and other bank-related terms for a few weeks, I thought I’d show you a collection of “tweets” (short messages posted on Twitter) that reflect the sentiments I found.

(Note: This post doesn’t include tweets by banks or news networks, only those by “real people.” All of the banks’ names have been changed. Please see the disclaimer at the bottom of this post for more details.)

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“Tweet-ables”: What People are Saying about Banks

There are some great things about going to the bank…

Free pop from the bank. Woot Woot.

No walk today too much rain. Went to bank where nice lady sent treats through tube thing that came right to the car. Wish I had one at home.

…and some weird ones…

Giant Bank still offers the CONFEDERATE FLAG as an icon choice when you order checks. Huh.

http://twitpic.com/6o608 – At the bank…i feel like i’m in the 70’s…

…and banks are still social places…

Cute bank teller has a boyfriend. Yes, that means I got the nerve to ask her out; first time I’ve asked a girl out in years. :/

…twitpic.com/6knnj – At the bank with everyone else in town…

…but the list of inconveniences tied up with going to the bank seems to outweigh the list of pleasant things by a long shot.

There are problems with bank hours…

Very very upset with Giant Bank right now… and since they close at 5 I have to wait until Friday to go in person and fix this mess.

Fail Giant Bank, you say you are open at 7am but no one is available… um what its 8am

…and no one likes waiting in line anywhere, especially at the bank.

Waitin at Giant Bank For some cash!!! These [people] need to hurry up!!!

Why are Giant Bank’s lines always so d**** long!!! Lol d****t!!

lining up in the bank. ugh,boring..boring..

Even worse are sentiments towards phone banking…

is on the phone to the bank! aaaarrrrggghhh

waiting on a call from the bank – bets on it not happening?

Spent the last hour on the telephone with Giant Bank. What a massive disappointment. I wish I had taped it for you!

…and tellers themselves can be a bother, too.

In the bank + I feel as though I need to explain to the guy at the desk why Im transferring money out of my savings account. Anyone do this?

saved the bank an accounting error that benefited me but they couldn’t even say thank you

So the bank wouldn’t count my $6 dollars in change which was $5.50 in quarters and 50 cents in nickels. Why are we bailing them out again?

okay so i may as well have been searched at the bank… SERIOUSLY? do i LOOK dangerous?

Beyond these service issues, problems dealing with speed come up often. In this digital world, banks often aren’t satisfactorily fast.

Just had letter from bank re a transaction made on my card on 2nd June. Just had to call them & sending new card out

I would have assumed a BOI -> AIB bank transfer would take less than 5 days given I can do international in takes 1-2 days. who has my money [?]

Online services have really changed the playing field. Online banking complaints are few. I haven’t seen a tweet like “What a pain that it took my transfer from my checking to my savings accounts a whole 1 minute.” Still, that doesn’t mean that banks on or using the web are safe from criticism…

In my online bank statement, next to each purchase, there is a related advertisement. This is okay now?

@Giant_Bank If @mintdotcom can do a better job monitoring my accounts for potential fraud then maybe the can find me a better bank. #yourmove

Giant Bank’s supposed ‘live person’ chat is a really annoying bot.

I see that Giant Bank is now on Twitter (@Giant_Bank). Hopefully this starts speeding them up a bit.

re: I wonder if it will help to change their reputation as the worst bank? Absolutely horrible.

But the worst situations are ones in which the bank blatantly errors…

Check order shows as shipping from bank’s computer, but not from check printing company, they say “nope, never got this order.” #bankfail

Got a call from my bank saying they have my debit card, didnt know what they were talkin bout until i tried to pay with my debit card..gone.

can’t believe the bank sent me a letter asking me to pay back £86 I haven’t even used… can’t trust anyone these days!

I am having the worst day – my bank account is now being closed due to someone else’s fradulent check. How is that my fault?

…or lies.

Giant Bank deducts big $ from account on Tues., tells my son they haven’t verified check he deposited, complete lie, using my $ for the week..

just lost all hope… The bank pulled out of a preapproval, citing conditions that did not exist.

It’s gotten to the point that people are just fed up.

I no longer wish to think about “the bank that shall not be named”…

I’m gonna have a mental breakdown if I have one more bank [mess] with the little money I have.

Just got kicked out of my bank for getting [angry at] a teller. Drove straight to Small Bank and started a new account. I’m DONE.

Is this how it should be? Wouldn’t it be better to see more tweets like the first ones in this post, reflecting good experiences with the bank?

I’m not sure what the solution is. But it’s clear that most of the twitter-users’ frustrations are with the large banks. Maybe these banks will change, or maybe these account holders will move to new banks and credit unions. Either way, these account holders can only wait so long…

VW Credit people are wicked nice over the phone, and its 7am [their] time, wish all call centers were like this

Now its time to call Giant Bank, customer service. Let’s compare and contrast VW to Giant Bank, hold please.

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P.S. I’d love to hear some stories (even if they’re short) about great experiences at the bank. Tell us about it by tweeting us at @FindABetterBank or tagging your tweet with #BANK or leaving a comment below. I’d love to follow up this post with a post about good experiences at banks.

Disclaimer:

1. The banks discussed in these tweets do NOT represent ALL banks. That is, not all banks would be described these ways.

2. I wouldn’t imagine that these tweets represent opinions of all account holders at these banks or even the full opinion of these account holders, but rather contain quotations that people find “Twitter-worthy.” Still, I don’t think that disqualifies them as representations of real feelings towards banks.

3. I don’t claim the copyrights to these tweets. Usernames have been deleted for “general privacy” reasons. All messages are from public accounts.

4. The only way these messages have been edited is for foul language, some clarification, and included usernames. All edited text is [in brackets].

5. And just to be clear, the views expressed in these tweets are not ours.

FABB Snapshot: No Surprise — Lowest Daily Balances On The Decline

Rob — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 14:55:12 +0000

This is the third installment of our look at how the economy has affected peoples’ use of their checking account. In the first post, we reviewed how people are more likely to overdraw their checking account now than a year ago. Last week, we showed how people have begun using ATM card more frequently. This week our focus is account balances.

If your financial situation changes because of a job loss or pay cut, you should re-evaluate whether your current checking account still suits your needs. In particular, many checking accounts require monthly minimums to avoid fees. You should definitely change accounts if you’re paying monthly fees — there are tons of checking accounts available that do not require minimum balances to avoid a monthly service charge. This advice applies to most people: Over 55% of FABB users now claim their lowest daily balances are below $500 — that’s a 12% increase over the last 3 months (see the figure below).

Understand Whether Your Account Uses “Lowest Daily Balance” or “Average Daily Balance”

Most checking accounts use either ‘lowest daily balance’ or ‘lowest average balance’ to determine whether or not to assess a monthly fee. Here’s how it works: If you have a balance of $500 for 29/30 days in a given month and a balance of $1 for 1 day, your:

Lowest Daily Balance would be $1.
Average Daily Balance would be $483.36.

Background information and notes: FABB users answer questions to estimate fees of checking accounts in their search results. Since FABB was launched, over 62,000 people have answered these questions to compare checking accounts.

FABB Snapshot: People Use ATMs More To Manage Through Hard Times

Rob — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 16:41:22 +0000

Last week, in our first post about how the economy has affected peoples’ use of their checking accounts, we looked at the growing number of people overdrawing today compared to a year ago. This week, we’ll analyze one of the culprits of overdrawing — ATM withdrawals.

A lot of people are using cash more and credit cards less — the number of people using ATMs “a few times a week or more” has grown by 32% (see the figure below). That’s a big percentage change for a service that’s been a part of our landscape for decades.

For banks, frequent ATM users are fee-generating machines. How so? Frequent users are more likely to use another bank’s ATM ($2 – $3 ATM surcharge per withdrawal) and unwittingly take out enough cash to bring their balances to below zero (ATM surcharges plus insufficient funds fee or overdraft protection transfer fee).

Tips to avoid paying ATM (and overdraft) fees:

Use a bank that rebates ATM fees or is affiliated with a surcharge-free network. Many banks now offer rebates for the fees you incur when you withdraw money from a non-affiliated ATM. Alternatively, some banks and credit unions offer access to networks like Allpoint and MoneyPass, which enable you to use surcharge-free ATM locations all over the US.
Use ATM locators. If switching banks to one that won’t charge fees for ATM use isn’t a great option for you, a little advance planning can save you a lot of money. It adds up to a lot of money if your bank charges a surcharge whenever you use a non-affiliated ATM.
Transfer money before the withdrawal if you’re worried about falling below zero. If you have an Overdraft Line of Credit, the bank may charge you only interest until you pay it back. But many banks charge Overdraft Transfer Fees if they’re moving the money from one of your other accounts. You can easily avoid this fee by logging into your online banking site and transferring the money yourself.

FABB Snapshot: Overdrawing Accounts Rises As Economy Worsens

Rob — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 17:52:32 +0000

FindABetterBank (FABB) has been live since February 1, 2008. We thought it would be interesting to see how consumers’ banking behavior, feature preferences and checking account choices have changed over the last year. This analysis will be presented as a series on how the economy has affected consumers’ banking behavior.

More people are overdrawing their checking accounts today than they were a year ago (see Figure 1). In fact, the number of people who now overdraw their account has grown by nearly 50% over the last year. Equally troubling is the growth of the number of people who overdraw their checking account a lot (4 or more times).

Tip on how to avoid overdraft fees: Use cash instead of debit cards. If you’re in a situation where your balance nears $0, overdraft fees are a killer. Even if you have Overdraft Protection, many banks still charge an “Overdraft Transfer Fee” to move money from another account or credit line into your checking account. Consider switching to a bank that doesn’t have this fee. But short of switching banks, stop using your debit card and only spend the cash in your pocket. That way, you won’t accidentally slip below $0 when you’re buying a cup of coffee.