Where can I get free checking?

MrsJenniferS

I've been a Wachovia customer for years, but ever since they were bought by Wells Fargo, things have been going down hill. I'm completely annoyed with their "fees" and random "policy changes" and I'm dying to pull my money out of there! If you have a free checking account (TRULY free...like no fees, no minimum balance, no limitations on bill pay or debit card usage, etc), who is it with? Please share your rec!

Kari78

I have Wells Fargo with free checking & have never been charged a fee for debit card usage, bill pay or minimum balance.

MrsJenniferS

Kari - I'm guessing that's because you were a Wachovia customer and your free checking account was "grandfathered" in when Wells Fargo took over. This used to be too, but I had to close my original Wachovia account a few months ago due to a fraudulent charge on my account. My new account was a "true" Wells Fargo account. Therein lie the problem. Wells Fargo products as a whole are terrible...riddled with fees and sneaky crap. FYI, don't ever close your account!

Kari78

MrsJenniferS:

Kari - I'm guessing that's because you were a Wachovia customer and your free checking account was "grandfathered" in when Wells Fargo took over. This used to be too, but I had to close my original Wachovia account a few months ago due to a fraudulent charge on my account. My new account was a "true" Wells Fargo account. Therein lie the problem. Wells Fargo products as a whole are terrible...riddled with fees and sneaky crap. FYI, don't ever close your account!

 Wow, good to know! I will keep our accounts as is!

lovinthefall08

Investors, our money has been there forever, free checking,  no min balance, no debit card fees when shopping/using their ATM.  There is a fee when I use other bank ATMs.

miss1180

we use credit unions for our banking. are there any you might be eligible for? if you live or work in morris county, you can join Picatinny Federal Credit union.

  we have an account there, but our main credit union is Alliant, which i think we can get because of FILs work (he's a pilot for united)

cll

I use ing direct for my checking. Virtually no fees. I can send you a referral.

debfife

at most banks you can still get free checking but it might be dependent on your balances. PNC still offers free. 

MrsDB

ING direct, if you're interested I'll send you a referral, you'll get money for opening an acct using one (i will too- mine is like 5 or 10 bucks, yours would be like 25 i think).  There's no fees for anything at all. They do have paper check books now for a whopping 5 bucks. free online bill pay, they'll even mail checks out for free to whoever. Right now i need to have a physical bank to deposit checks into, but they're about to start a way to deposit them online, no bank required. There is a way to deposit paper checks without another bank but i don't know what it is. You earn interest on any balance. There's a free overdraft line of credit. well no fee- they do charge interest but it's never amounted to more than a penny. I once bounced a check (uhg) and they only charged me 9 bucks. The person i bounced it to got charged more by their bank. PNC charges like 35 or something. 

 

Pixiestx

MrsJenniferS:

Kari - I'm guessing that's because you were a Wachovia customer and your free checking account was "grandfathered" in when Wells Fargo took over. This used to be too, but I had to close my original Wachovia account a few months ago due to a fraudulent charge on my account. My new account was a "true" Wells Fargo account. Therein lie the problem. Wells Fargo products as a whole are terrible...riddled with fees and sneaky crap. FYI, don't ever close your account!

Wow, that's good to know b/c they have been telling me that there are better checking accounts for me, after seeing my old as hell account number that id's me as an old wachovia customer.

MrsJenniferS

Pixiestx:

MrsJenniferS:

Kari - I'm guessing that's because you were a Wachovia customer and your free checking account was "grandfathered" in when Wells Fargo took over. This used to be too, but I had to close my original Wachovia account a few months ago due to a fraudulent charge on my account. My new account was a "true" Wells Fargo account. Therein lie the problem. Wells Fargo products as a whole are terrible...riddled with fees and sneaky crap. FYI, don't ever close your account!

Wow, that's good to know b/c they have been telling me that there are better checking accounts for me, after seeing my old as hell account number that id's me as an old wachovia customer.

Oh my god, PLEASE do not close your Wachovia account, you will regret it! They used to try to sell me the same crap story about Wells Fargo having "better" accounts, blah, blah. I could never understand why it was so important for them to try to get rid of all of the legacy Wachovia accounts. I mean, they owned them now, and they made us all convert to their Wells Fargo-issued debit cards. Well, now I know why! WF checking accounts suck big time, The only way you can get a checking account with no monthly fees is to either: a) commit to a minimum daily balance, or b) agree to open up a WF money market account along with your checking account AND make at least one monthly, recurring deposit into the savings account. It's all a bunch of BS.

irishangel0413

I am another vote for Investors - totally free checking and never a problem. It is honestly a pleasure banking there. (and I worked in banking for 10 years too - I chos to bank with investors rather than where I worked because Investors is so hassle free!)

SLbride2003

We use etrade and love them. The only negative is it is all virtual, but we've never had an issue.