Wells Fargo has offered a number of different checking accounts over the years, and when they stop offering one they generally grandfather anybody who currently has it. Apparently that has changed. 
The account that used to be offered to senior citizens was done away with a while back, and now they're apparently force converting those folks to their 'Everyday Checking' account.
Info on the change here: https://sites.wf.com/essentialtoeveryday/
I am a secondary account holder on an account of this type. At-a-glance, what I notice that has been lost of most value is the discount on check orders, which many people in the age bracket for this account type will likely still be using. The account monthly fee has increased from $7 to $10, but the activities for waiving the fee have been (slightly) expanded and the minimum direct deposit is still the same ($500) so this isn't likely to trip-up many people.
The other account I have with WF is a Preferred Checking account; this is also being force-converted to an Everyday Checking account. This account type has been discontinued for new customers for several years. It's an in-between account... it has more perks than the standard accounts, but not as many as the 'fancy' accounts (and easier requirements for waving the fee than the fancy accounts as well). More information on the account type here: https://www08.wellsfargomedia.com/assets/pdf/personal/deposits/preferred-checking.pdf
Info on the change here: https://sites.wf.com/preferredtoeveryday/
A bit more is being lost with this one. While the DD and minimum balance requirements for waiving the monthly fee are easier with the Everyday account, going away are no-fee cashier's checks, no-fee money orders, check discounts, and limited ATM fee waivers. Also, I didn't see anything about interest mentioned (the Preferred offers a pitiful interest rate on the daily collected balance over $500) but the Everyday account doesn't pay interest, so this has been lost as well (as minimal as it may have been). Finally, one of the fee waiver options for the Preferred account was linking a WF Home Mortgage, which isn't an option on the new Everyday Checking account.
Oddly, in both cases they point out the added benefits that can be gained by linking a WF Campus ATM card or Campus Debit card, yet neither of these account types were likely widely utilized by college students. 🤔
Thanks for sharing; I dislike when banks do things like this.
@FicoMike0 wrote:I'm old and I have the wells everyday. I don't care about checks, didn't even get the debit card. I opened the account for relatioship, I wanted a credit card, and for a $325 bribe. I keep $500 there to avoid the fee. I know I could Smurf a $500 ach push every month instead. I'll probably just close it, don't use it. Then, in 12 months, I can open and collect sub again!
I also have the usb smarty. No fee because I'm old, also because I have credit card. Opened for the $500 sub. Id like to try their same day ach, but I don't have another bank that participates. Takes two to tango.
Yeah, the changes aren't showstoppers for me, but I have been using the free cashier's check perk a couple of times a year so I'll miss that (although for my purposes, a free teller check from NFCU is a workable solution). I just ordered paper checks last year so I will be fine for a while there.
This is a relatively minor nerf in the grand scheme of things, but still annoying nonetheless. I did get a good laugh at how they tried to put the corporate spin on the announcement(s) to make this seem like a positive for customers when it's anything but. "We’ve updated our checking accounts to better meet the needs of our customers," uh, no... adding charges for stuff I actually use doesn't better meet my needs!
