CC AF vs. Checking Acct fees

[TiggerDat]

I am so cheap that I won't pay a bank a monthly fee for a checking account, but I will pay Amex for the Delta Sky Miles card? 

It is the only card I have with a fee, but if a bank told me that I had to pay a monthly fee I would split.  Wells did that and I left.  I have a Chase card, but not a Chase checking. 

I might pay a fee for another card with great benefits.  Might.  Does this mean that I am simply cheap and that I have an Amex fetish?

I literally have enough money in both my checking accounts that even if there was a fee I wouldn't need to pay it.  However, I know if they told me they were going to start charging a fee I would simply go elsewhere.  Am I messed up for thinking this way?  Does anyone else have the same mentality?  (Or am I just mental?)

[Kwyjibo]

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@bernhardtra wrote:

I am so cheap that I won't pay a bank a monthly fee for a checking account, but I will pay Amex for the Delta Sky Miles card? 

It is the only card I have with a fee, but if a bank told me that I had to pay a monthly fee I would split.  Wells did that and I left.  I have a Chase card, but not a Chase checking. 

I might pay a fee for another card with great benefits.  Might.  Does this mean that I am simply cheap and that I have an Amex fetish?

I literally have enough money in both my checking accounts that even if there was a fee I wouldn't need to pay it.  However, I know if they told me they were going to start charging a fee I would simply go elsewhere.  Am I messed up for thinking this way?  Does anyone else have the same mentality?  (Or am I just mental?)

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Nooooo, you aren't messed up for thinking this way, and you aren't the only one of this mentality. I had a checking acct with Wells Fargo and they pulled the same stunt with me (monthly charge just to have the account). I politely told them to stick it, and opened a checking acct with a local bank who doesn't do crap like that.

However, if a card is going to give me great benefits, I, like you, would be willing to pay the fee. Give and take.

[indiolatino61]

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@bernhardtra wrote:

I am so cheap that I won't pay a bank a monthly fee for a checking account, but I will pay Amex for the Delta Sky Miles card? 

It is the only card I have with a fee, but if a bank told me that I had to pay a monthly fee I would split.  Wells did that and I left.  I have a Chase card, but not a Chase checking. 

I might pay a fee for another card with great benefits.  Might.  Does this mean that I am simply cheap and that I have an Amex fetish?

I literally have enough money in both my checking accounts that even if there was a fee I wouldn't need to pay it.  However, I know if they told me they were going to start charging a fee I would simply go elsewhere.  Am I messed up for thinking this way?  Does anyone else have the same mentality?  (Or am I just mental?)

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Fees for using my money is crazy, so no you are not mental. 

[navigatethis12]

I do think it's a bit odd that you don't want te account even though you wouldn't be charged the fee.

[DaniBananiie]

I'm so cheap I booted Chase for my CU. lol

[longtimelurker]

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@bernhardtra wrote:

I am so cheap that I won't pay a bank a monthly fee for a checking account, but I will pay Amex for the Delta Sky Miles card? 

It is the only card I have with a fee, but if a bank told me that I had to pay a monthly fee I would split.  Wells did that and I left.  I have a Chase card, but not a Chase checking. 

I might pay a fee for another card with great benefits.  Might.  Does this mean that I am simply cheap and that I have an Amex fetish?

I literally have enough money in both my checking accounts that even if there was a fee I wouldn't need to pay it.  However, I know if they told me they were going to start charging a fee I would simply go elsewhere.  Am I messed up for thinking this way?  Does anyone else have the same mentality?  (Or am I just mental?)

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I think it is just what you are used to.  So many people in the past had free checking (well, free from monthly fees), this is now rarer at big banks (although most will be free with minimum balances etc).   So, being hit with a fee makes people look elsewhere.

The big banks claim that checking accounts are quite expensive, a few hundred dollars a year on average, more than they make on the average balance in today's interest environment.  But impossible to verify!

And since there are still good alternatives, it makes sense not to pay a fee.   But the same analysis applies to CCs as well, there are fairly good free cards, and cards with AF.   If the added benefits are good enough, then people pay the AF.   With checking accounts, excluding high end private banking etc, the extra fees over a free account generally provide nothing or very little.

[Open123]

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@bernhardtra wrote:

I literally have enough money in both my checking accounts that even if there was a fee I wouldn't need to pay it.  However, I know if they told me they were going to start charging a fee I would simply go elsewhere.  Am I messed up for thinking this way?  Does anyone else have the same mentality?  (Or am I just mental?)

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These days, I see no reason pay *any* fees for deposit accounts.  

For me, I never walk into a bank, use a teller, or any of the "personal" services.  I do all my banking via ATM, remotely, or just online.  

[somnipotent]

Move your money to a CU or find a bank that doesn't charge MRCs if you meet the minimum balance.

[09Lexie]

It's not cheap, why pay to use my own money that they are making money off of? I have 3 CU accounts and last month opened an account as CPC. They are never getting a dime from me. I remember when checking accounts were really free at banks.

[CEOriginal]

I currently bank with PNC, and used to look at other banks so weird for charging maintenance fees................ Then PNC recently announced that they will start doing the same.

You can bypass the fees by having a monthly Direct Deposit totaling at least $800, which I easily pass, but still.. It definitely put a sour taste in my mouth. I ALMOST want to leave, but they've been pretty good to me... I guess....