Dear BB&T,
You just blew it. I've been your customer for over 20 years, and you just let a monthly fee toss all that out the window. For the past year and a half you've been trying to put a fee on my checking account. I've made phone calls and emails to get these $1 charges reversed since even your Relationship Manager agreed they shouldn't be there. It was a PITA to do this every month, but I did it.
Fast forward to a couple of months ago when I received written notice that my checking account was changing to the ironically named BB&T Bright Banking. As part of Bright Banking BB&T was offering me a new benefit of a $10 charge every cycle ($120/yr for a checking account!!!!!). Luckily there were exceptions for:
- Direct deposit1 OR (<—-THIS IS ME!)
- $1,500 avg. checking balance during the cycle OR (who in the world would leave that much in a no-interest checking account!)
- $6,000 combined in deposit or loan balances OR (sorry but your rates suck so my $ is at the credit union and in internet banks)
- Carrying a BB&T personal mortgage loan balance (Nope)
So, I have $50 per paycheck sent to this bank account. I've been doing it for years, and I have an automatic transfer to ING that pulls it right back out each month too 🙂 Now I'm sure by now you noticed there was some small print attached to the direct deposit. It reads "One monthly ACH direct deposit of $100 or greater per statement cycle." Again no problem, right? I have more than $100 per cycle since I'm paid bi-weekly. Wrong. I got hit with the $10 fee. I of course immediately called my Relationship Manager. I pointed out my direct deposits, and she agreed to look into it. I called her 2 days later since she didn't call me. She said it had to be a single ACH deposit of $100. So, two $50 deposits won't work? That's right. I told her this was insane, and asked to schedule a meeting with the manager.
SIDEBAR: Let's take this to it's absurd extreme. I could ostensibly make a $99 deposit every day for 30 days ($2,970) during a month, and I would still be subject to a fee due to this ridiculous rule. Contrast that with a single $100 deposit I could make and transfer out the next day and get no fee. Absurd.
My Relationship Manager failed again and never set the meeting so I called and set one up for myself. I pointed out all of the logical flaws in their thinking. He didn't care. He reversed the fee, but said I would be subject to it in the future. Yeah, I don't think so. I closed that account, and oh I'm sorry to say you can kiss my Mom's $50,000 IRA goodbye too.
John Allison would have never allowed something so irrational. He'd be turning over in his grave, but he ain't dead yet.
Bright Banking? Not so much…