topic Re: American Express Checking Account in Personal Finance

American Express Checking Account

Empires — Mon, 02 Dec 2024 02:03:40 GMT

Is there a way to make a deposit into this type of accounts in person, or via any participating ATMs?

Re: American Express Checking Account

Gunnerboy — Mon, 02 Dec 2024 02:20:53 GMT

Per the website, mobile deposits and digital transfers. A CSR should be able to do it over the phone.

Re: American Express Checking Account

FicoMike0 — Mon, 02 Dec 2024 15:32:29 GMT

Let me ask a simple question. Why? I make regular cash bank transactions, I have an account with a bank who has a branch close by for that purpose. I don't try to do cash with my amex checking, since they have no branches.

Re: American Express Checking Account

IsambardPrince — Thu, 05 Dec 2024 09:51:17 GMT

If you make regular cash deposits, online banks are not ideal. I'm not aware of any that allow it at all.

If you just need to get some cash out of an ATM sometimes, that works fine. If you want to earn some interest, then they're they place to go.

People who still need to deposit lots of cash need to get a branch bank unfortunately, and they pretty much all suck. No interest, fees, no free books of checks, and even then, they're closing thousands of branches. You can't even find a Wells Fargo in my neck of Illinois, and I'm hardly out in the sticks.

Wells Fargo has topped the WARN Act reports for months now closing bank branches like crazy. There's very little money in branch banking anymore, with the exception of the wealthy af areas, and those are quickly drying up due to the barely reported economic failure that's been eating away at our country for many years (but more so recently). You get people who want to deposit their paychecks there, not people to loan money to at exorbitant interest rates. Many government regulations have capped the fees you get to charge these people when it used to be an unlimited supply of stolen money every time they did another overdraft with that debit card for a coffee or a hamburger and the bank was charging them another $45 each time they did it.

Re: American Express Checking Account

MarkintheHV — Thu, 05 Dec 2024 11:00:20 GMT

I had the same issue. I opened a $5 account with my local credit union that gives free cashiers checks as long as the cashier check is made out to me. I just drop by with my cash, get a cashiers check, then deposit on my online bank account.

Re: American Express Checking Account

Varsity_Lu — Thu, 05 Dec 2024 11:27:19 GMT

@IsambardPrince wrote:
If you make regular cash deposits, online banks are not ideal. I'm not aware of any that allow it at all.

Capital One 360 checking lets you deposit cash at any CVS or Walgreens nationwide. I've done that several times and it works great. You just enter the deposit on the app, it gives you a bar code to scan at the counter, and they take your money.

Re: American Express Checking Account

Snook_on_the_Line — Thu, 05 Dec 2024 14:28:52 GMT

@Varsity_Lu wrote:
@IsambardPrince wrote:
If you make regular cash deposits, online banks are not ideal. I'm not aware of any that allow it at all.
Capital One 360 checking lets you deposit cash at any CVS or Walgreens nationwide. I've done that several times and it works great. You just enter the deposit on the app, it gives you a bar code to scan at the counter, and they take your money.

Does cap1 or Walgreens/CVS charge a fee?

Re: American Express Checking Account

Varsity_Lu — Thu, 05 Dec 2024 19:00:50 GMT

@Snook_on_the_Line

No fees.

Re: American Express Checking Account

FicoMike0 — Thu, 05 Dec 2024 22:48:47 GMT

To each his own. I don't want to bank at Walgreens. I don't see the point in the cashier's check shuffle. I make my cash transactions at Huntington (they're everywhere!) and ach among amex, other banks and brokerage s.

Re: American Express Checking Account

Varsity_Lu — Thu, 05 Dec 2024 23:14:05 GMT

Also, most banks have the service where you can take a picture of a check and deposit it from home. Even my little local bank that literally only has 6 branches in a 20 mile radius has that service.

Re: American Express Checking Account

visionsdivine — Sat, 07 Dec 2024 18:30:58 GMT

The Amex checking account isn't exactly as robust as other online banking products as of the time I'm writing this. I think they only recently even started allowing Zelle transactions.

There are only two use cases I could see someone needing to bother with this product: 1) You're offered a nice signup bonus or 2) you want to cancel your annual fee cards with them but want to park your rewards points until you figure out what to do with them.

Re: American Express Checking Account

Varsity_Lu — Sat, 07 Dec 2024 19:49:17 GMT

@visionsdivine wrote:
The Amex checking account isn't exactly as robust as other online banking products as of the time I'm writing this. I think they only recently even started allowing Zelle transactions.

There are only two use cases I could see someone needing to bother with this product: 1) You're offered a nice signup bonus or 2) you want to cancel your annual fee cards with them but want to park your rewards points until you figure out what to do with them.

Or a third option: you really like your AmEx cards and want a one stop shop. They have nice HYSA, and they use the Allpoint and MoneyPass ATM networks which are literally everywhere. I could see someone exclusively using AmEx for all their finances. Not the worst option in the world.

Re: American Express Checking Account

tcbofade — Wed, 11 Dec 2024 02:54:31 GMT

They just offered me $250 to open a checking account.

I'll try it out for 90 days or so.

Re: American Express Checking Account

FicoMike0 — Wed, 11 Dec 2024 03:20:59 GMT

I suppose I should close my amex checking, so I can get the $250 bonus again, lol.

Re: American Express Checking Account

Varsity_Lu — Wed, 11 Dec 2024 11:04:02 GMT

I opened an AmEx checking account for three reasons: the $250 SUB, the 1% rate on a checking account, and to try their expedited transfer option. I am not that impressed. The lack of online bill pay really is a negative for me. I don't send many checks, but this service is such a basic service that every bank offers, it surprises me that AmEx doesn't. Their expedited transfer is really nice, though. I had money direct deposited from my employer on a Friday and I could send some of it to my main hub bank that same day. Nice feature. Probably won't keep this account very long, though. I prefer Capital One 360 checking mostly because there are more features and their app is so much better than AmEx.