In the midst of writing a dissertation and fighting a frivolous lawsuit filed against me by a pet shooter, I must take a moment from my busy life to spread the word about a shady situation involving a truly shady bank: BBVA Compass.
I moved to Florida five years ago and chose to do my banking with Compass because they had a branch right across the street from the apartment I lived in at the time. Let’s just say it was a lazy, stupid reason for choosing a bank, and that I will never again open a new account without doing my research.
For the first few years, my main issue with Compass was their overdraft policy. Compass Bank made and still makes a fortune off the poor. I had a few years where I was pretty much living paycheck to paycheck; rather than inform its customers when they’re out of money, the policy at Compass is to let the transaction go through (“to avoid causing the customer embarrassment”).
Thank you Compass! Thank you, thank you, thank you. I spend a lot of time worrying about the opinions of gas station clerks. Thank GOD I’ve never had to have one of tell me my card was declined. Same with the high school kid who answers the Pizza Hut phone, and strangers from Missouri who I buy books from online–if any of those folks ever knew I had no money in my bank account, my life would be over.
In exchange for the bank’s willingness to save us from such paralyzing humiliation, they charge a small fee of $40 bucks. I’m serious. And not just once per pay period either.
Suppose you get paid on Friday. So after work you (1) get a haircut. Then you (2) fill your car with gas and (3) order Chinese takeout. While you’re waiting for your food, you (4) pick up a movie next door at Blockbuster and (5) a bottle of wine to enjoy with your significant other. Five relatively inexpensive purchases, except that you used your Compass Bank debit card. And forgot that the money won’t be made available to you until next week (due to a bullshit floating game that Compass also plays).
(1) Cha-ching!
(2) Cha-ching!
(3) Cha-ching!
(4) Cha-ching!
(5) Cha-ching!
$40.00 x 5 = $200.00
So next Tuesday, when Compass Bank finally acknowledges the existence of a paycheck your employer sent them five days prior, the bank gets to keep a nice little chunk of your hard-earned money for themselves. And the more you are struggling to make ends meet, the harder it is to ever break out of this predatory pattern.
Chris Novoa explains what it’s like to be a Compass customer:
Gas transactions are another noteworthy thing regarding the $1 approval on pumping with credit as payment type. In my experience, specifically with Compass Bank, the practice is to let expenditures clear BEFORE deposits, so say I pump $20 with only $5 in my account as credit – well aware this is not a good thing to do, I have in mind to make the deposit the same day, so it’s only a matter of convenience.
Compass (specifically), will allow – days later showing as rearranged transactions – the gas transaction post against the amount available AT THE TIME of the transaction regardless of a deposit having been made 10 minutes later and will then post retroactive overdraft fees days later after everything seemingly has settled which can then easily become a $300+ problem if one doesn’t notice the activity within a day as their daily overdraft fee adds up very quickly, it seems very intentional that this end of the business has an negative feedback loop quality to it as deposits are slow, but expenditures are fast.
Compass Bank, now BBVA Compass is exceedingly money hungry when you’re in a pinch to a should-be-illegal extent.
(Read other complaints from angry customers victimized by this NSF charge here and here).
About a year ago Compass was acquired by BBVA. For some reason BBVA is in a huge rush to plaster their brand all over the old Compass junk. It should be noted that Compass Bank sucked long before BBVA took them over; maybe that’s why BBVA’s being so pushy about divorcing itself from it’s crappy predecessor.
Recently BBVA sent me a new card in the mail, indicating that I was REQUIRED to activate the new card, thereby voiding all my financial account info. It just seemed like a hassle to me; I didn’t want to change it, as all my Direct Deposit stuff and eBay/PayPal accounts, etc. are saved under my prior account #. Sure enough though, the jerks over at BBVA Compass gradually whittled away the functionality of my old account. First, they revoked my right to buy things online; then they took away my ability to sign for stuff (so I could only use my card as a Debit card). And finally, sometime around last Thursday now–heading into a holiday weekend no less–they cut off ability to use my Debit and ATM. So all weekend my assets were frozen, which meant I was basically on house arrest for the 4th of July. I’m afraid my rent check is going to bounce as well–those pricks! I feel violated!
And supposedly all of this harassment is for my safety.
I’ll tell you what. If my safety is in jeopardy by being able to obtain my money whenever I want and request it and then spending it as I see fit, then BBVA Compass is officially my ex-bank!
Sure, I probably still have the new card they mailed me laying around my house somewhere; and simply activating it will be exponentially less annoying than finding a new bank, transferring all my funds, updating my records, and wasting a morning answering stupid questions. But that’s not me–out of principal alone, I not only have to sever all financial ties to this shady bank, but also see it as my civic duty to warn others: Never do your banking with BBVA Compass!
I am closing my account with BBVA Compass Bank because, for the second time, they have charged multiple $38 NSF Charges. They’ve refunded the charges, but I had to stay on the phone with them for over an hour sorting everything out. When they overcharged me in December, it was for $266 and it was days before Christmas. I found out they’ve been acquired by a bank in Spain. Figures. I truly loathe this bank!!!
I believe they aim to keep their customers in a constant state of confusion with “well, the information on your computer screen (through PC Banking) is different than what I have access to.” As a customer, you have no idea how pending transactions or posted or the order in which they are. They’re processed in which order makes BBVA Compass the most money. Your money.
Thanks for your blog posting.
It seems to me that everyone complaining on this board is blaming the bank because they could not keep track of their own money. People, if you don’t have the funds in your account, don’t use your debit card and try to race the funds to the bank. It is not the bank’s responsibility to make sure you have enough funds in your account. IT IS YOURS!
Do you keep a check register? I doubt it. Don’t rely on the online banking if you are close to the bottom of your funds. Rely on your check register. Oh, I am sure no one posting on this board even has one. Get a grip and take some responsibility!
I considered just deleting Glenn Ferrell’s post, due to its ignorance. But then I thought, what better place than here for a comment that represents the true ignorance of the banking industry.
Perhaps it is now the “industry standard” to rape people with these overdraft charges, but it wasn’t always this way. Local banks never played these floating games with their customers, but these multinational banks know they don’t have to bother to be customer-friendly.
OK Mr. Glenn Farrell, My landscaper banks with Compass Bank. Suck on this one! I paid my landscaper who is presently doing work for me, a check in the amount of $1000.00 on 8/24.09. This was money to pay his guys working an hourly wage for building a masonery wall in the 100+ degree temperatures in Tucson AZ, and to purchase any additional supplies he might need to complete the project. Today is September 02, 09, and he was asking about the holding of the funds and basically was there a problem, did I have the funds in the bank to cover the check. He said that they originally told him there was a 5 day hold on the check. Yes, of course almost any institution will hold a check of a large dollar amount until it clears, usually within no more than a 5 day period. Compass then notified him to say that it was a 7 day hold and then, as this man is waiting to access this $1000, they tell him he can not have the money until 9/11/09, basically an 18 day hold. Try to explain this to me Mr. FArrell.
I just went on line and my check cleared my bank the morning after I wrote it. It has been in the hands of Compass Bank since 8/25/09. When I have banked with other banking instiuutions the 5 day hold was pending the availablity of those funds. If the check I received and deposited was for a large sum and it h appened to clear in 2 or 3 days I had use of it once it cleared. What is god’s name gives Compass Bank the right to hold the funds of someone when the money has been in their hands in less than 24 hours and the 5 day waiting period has expired. This is theft in my books and in the amount of $1000. It’s not petty and it’s no longer legally a misdemeanor. Don’t start accusing people of not taking care of their own financial responsibilities if you know nothing abou tthem or their financial responsibilities. I’m raging now and I don’t cause overdraughts and I don’t bank with Compass. It pains me that not only does my landscaper not have the money I would have rather gotten for him in cash through my bank, but I also do not have access to that money when it could have been useful to me rather than sitting in Compass’s pockets.
Compass is the one who is shirking their financial responsibilities and stingy is not the word. Electronic theft is. They’re using everyone’s money to make it to the end of the month and float their responsibilities to save face. Hurting a lot more people than you’ve heard from here. TRust me if a few people have access and time to write about this situation, there’s a lot more out there who do not have computers and do not even know that this websites exists. My landscaper for one. He’s a really sweet honest guy and I’m more than P.O. that his bank is doing this to him. They’re using my money to do this to him and it’s sickening and vile to me!
Actually, I’m responsible with my money and I was hit with one of those 38 dollar fees. Here’s my horror story:
I almost never use this checking account and have almost no money in it, a couple of hundred dollars. Well, I was a victim of debit-card fraud. Somehow, someone got a hold of my debit-card number. But, here’s the interesting twist: In the past two years, I’ve only used the debit card with one company: iTunes. I made no other purchases and the only other use of the Compass card was to withdraw money while physically at a Compass Bank branch office.
So….. how did the thieves get my debit-card number in the first place, on a card almost never used? Either it was taken from someone at Apple’s iTunes… or it was from Compass Bank itself. Now, get this, I googled Compass a little and found out that a Compass employee had been arrested. He was a computer programmer who stole over 1,000,000 debit- or credit-card numbers in 2008. So, most likely, mine was one of those numbers.
Further, Compass Bank made no system-wide disclosures to their customers that there was a system-wide internal breach in their computers. And significantly, probably saved tons of money, by not having to re-issue cards/numbers for all of their customers. So, their customers continue to be victimized by their negligence.
Also, in checking a few websites, most of the computer breaches in 2008 were NOT at banks, but other institutions, either 3rd party data handlers or at big companies that just sell their product and maintain customer’s financial records. So, according to one list, there were only two banks out of the top 10 breaches of security in 2008, a small New York bank and Compass.
Now, even worse for me, I never really chose Compass in the first place. I had belonged to a very small bank for 10 years that had been gobbled up by BBVA (one of the world’s largest bank). BBVA also gobbled up Compass and combined all their banks unders this same branch.
So I got stuck with a bad bank, with poor customer service, predatory business practices, and security breaches in their system. By the way, Compass’s headquarters are in Alabama which is one of 11 states that does NOT require a bank to inform consumers of major credit breaches.
After many hours talking to the customer “service” at Compass, there was no disclosure at all and I was made to feel at fault. Made to feel at fault! How terrible, considering that I was most likely in the situation due to Compass negligence!
I am now of course “disputing” the charge. The charge has been taken off during this disput, but guess what They have not removed the $38 dollar charge.
Glenn Ferrell is probably the type of guy who saw nothing wrong with subprime lending situation, until the sharks ate all the little fish and the medium-sized fish had nothing left.
You are a piranha, Mr. Ferrell. No, you are like those snakes who eat and eat until the weight of all your dead prey busts through your inner lining and kills you. Keep blaming the poor & the innocent for all the problems people like you created, Mr. Ferrell. Maybe that will help you sleep at night.
Wow, I wouldn’t have taken it that far, I don’t think.
Seriously though Glenn, even now that I have plenty of money in my account, I still can’t see how it behooves the bank or its clients to penalize people just because they’re struggling to make ends meet in the first place. Maybe in your infinite wisdom you can explain that rationale to us plebes & peons. I could write a two-second Macro to notify ATM machines not to give people money they didn’t have! Stop being such a lazy simpleton! People don’t run out of money just to be dicks to the banks.
Well, I totally am in agreement with you on this. My biggest issue has to do with the banks getting so big.
When I first started with my bank it was over 10 years ago. I personally knew the president of the bank. It was nice to know someone at the bank especially when I was going though my divorce. With one phone call I was able to change accounts, and he was willing to work with me on giving me a no interest loan to help cover the cost of my divorce. Today the bank has gotten so big that it’s not up to the branch to help you. They have a system of people that don’t know you and don’t care what is going on in your life. I really think we all should look at leaving the large banks and change our accounts back to the small personal banks.
Keep in mind that BBVA is not a US Bank it is an International Bank. Our money no longer stays here in the US it gets put in a pot with a number of other banks around the world.
I would say that Glenn has no idea what it is like to live pay check to pay check.
They would not let me depost a “third” party Check made out to my wife who had signed the back….because she wasn’t with me to show ID … hmm maybe.. but the last time she made a deposit in my account they hassled her…they told her she had to open up another account …. so 2 diferent stories going on there… so this mean that when my 10 yr old gets a check from grandma for his birthday.. he better damn well have an account there… Such utter BullSH*T
Dont even get me started about holding up deposits and speeding up withdrawals.. or holding up charges for a week for say like 2 or 3 dollars then the day before direct deopsit payday.. those charges all of a sudden appear………then I’m sudenly like 50 or 60 cents overdrawn.. then a couple of outrageuos fees… this is absolutely the last straw.. Closing my account as soon as I tranfer all my direct deopsits to another bank…
This time… I told those faucers where they could go and tossed the deposit canister at the window…. Shot em the finger and sped off ires squealing.. not very mature I’ll admit for a 40 year old academic.. But Im sickk Sickk Sickk of them… Does anyone even investigate these crooks… venting , may feel great… but it doesnt get the problem solved… does anyone know of a class action lawsuit?
Yeah good luck closing an account with them… I did or THOUGHT I did and now I am over a grand deep in overdraft fees but yet I walked out with an 87 cent credit when the account was closed… I am getting the local TV station to go after them, Lord knows I can’t do anything to straighten it out with them, I have tried and tried… and this account is STILL OPEN and STILL COLLECTING FEES even though I have all documentation that states otherwise. How the heck can they make me keep an account open that I requested BE CLOSED????
I bet that Glenn Ferrell works for BBVA
I am also considering closing my account with this greedy bank. One day my account was in the black and then it the red the next day. EVERY day I check my account and EVERY day there is a difference. They arrange and juggle withdrawals & deposits to suit them so that they can collect outrageous fees. How can you charge me a fee first and BEFORE you take out my charges? You charge a fee first OF COURSE my account will overdraw!! It’s ridiculous. I can barely get ahead.
And also an note on those closed accounts: I remotely closed an account when I moved out of state. It still had money in it but not enough to be bothered with. How about 4 years later I come back to the state to open an account with Compass and they have tacked so many fees on the account it was ridiculous. It wasn’t overdrawn nor completely empty when closed (supposedly closed), so how could they justify their actions. They took off the fees, but that should’ve been my red flag there.
I am sorry that everyone (with exception of Glenn Ferrell) has had to go through the same things with this bank as my husband and myself. I am glad on one hand, though, that it’s not just us. We can watch our money daily being moved around in the “pending” catergory. All though we do not have a balance required account, because of unauthorized activities with our account, we got close to having a zero balance…about 3 bucks was left in our account…guess what we got hit with 2 nsf fees, now mind you we weren’t at a zero balance. We were told that after the unauthorized transaction were posted we could then dispute and if it was an actual unauthorized transaction they would put the money back in. This is not the first time they have done this. They do manipulate funds. If you have a nice amount in your balance, funds tend to stay as you make them. If your balance starts getting low, you can watch transactions being manipulated. I have made copies of online statements from day to day that show this. When we opened our account 12 yrs ago, we couldn’t have ask for a better bank. Never had a problem, but now that they have grown and merged they are just rip offs. And Mr. Ferrell, I do have a check register, and I do keep up with my money. Believe or not most people aren’t idiots!
I thought it was just me!!! That awful low feeling thinking I was sub human because I always seemed to screw up by buying something at a fast food joint for $4 and then having to pay $38 NSF fee because my deposit was made the same day within a few minutes of the purchase (But not credited by the bank until all debits) . Do other banks do that?? It is such a bad feeling when maybe the 4 or 5 small charges that don’t even add up to $38 get charged that per item. Then I spend the whole month trying to do without to make up for those penalties. Also, BBVA sent me a new card that they said I had to activate right away and to notify me that they were no longer allowing debit/ATM charges or charges for my current card and that they would deny any charges without a signature…. I have not been asked to sign at any of the fast food places yet…
Someone help… Are there any customer friendly banks out there any more??
Well what i can say about bbva compass,is its a disgrace,all i can say is one of their fraud invesigators,is the bigest fraudster of all.i am talking about jacksonville,fl,conned me out of $3100 for a boob job ,stays in my apartment ran up over $800 in electric and water bills to jea, fails to pay rent, this month so far over $2000 bucks (which i had to pay) still wont pay a red cent for power water,or other bills, as she has no credit rating thats why shes been mooching from me and wont get out my place,has several adults staying there,and she is still stealing my water and power, a bank officer a load of old tosh,accessing my account,i have reported this fact to officials further up the chain, they just cover up,even though i reported this to jso, so dont count on bbva for help,imagine a fraud investigator making decisions over bank employees jobs,and customers lives, when they thr biggest thieves, its digusting, and disclosing bank confidential details to members of the public,i know she told me, all sorts but they dont care all cover up, absolute stinkers the lot of them so dont hold your breath for justice from BBVA COMPASS i have tried and lost ADELANTE follow the route
PEOPLE…IT IS YOUR FAULT IF YOU BOUNCE A CHECK OR OVERDRAFT YOUR ACCOUNT!! GET THAT THROUGH YOUR HEADS!!! THE BANK DOES NOT MAKE THE PURCHASE FOR YOU, YOU ARE THE ONES SWIPING YOUR CARD AND WRITING THE CHECKS!!! IF YOU OVERDRAFT ONCE, LEARN THE FRIKIN LEASON AND DON’T DO IT AGAIN!! START SAVING, GET AN EDUCATION AND MAKE MORE MONEY…ONLY THE IRRESPONSIBLE PEOPLE OVERDRAFT, LEARN THE LESSON AND QUIT COMPLAINING, STRIVE TO DO BETTER IN YOUR LIFE SO YOU DON’T LIVE PAYCHECK TO PAYCHECK!! KEEP A REGISTER AND DON’T BLAME OTHERS FOR YOUR PROBLEMS TO MAKE YOU FEEL BETTER!!!
Dear DontComplain:
From your childish (and unnecessarily capitalized) rant, I gather that you are quite the simpleton. Only the bank exec, Mr. Glenn Ferrell, has managed to match your ignorance. I am a PhD candidate, and someone else who commented here was in med school. So we’re not exactly uneducated–and, in fact, your simplistic reduction of all financial struggles to laziness and irresponsibility has been least-intelligent statement made in this thread so far.
If you know a way to get through med school without living “paycheck-to-paycheck” then please let us know. Your ignorance is truly impressive. The only way I know of is to come from inherited wealth and filthy rich parents who don’t mind subsidizing you into your thirties, in which case your financial good fortune is not exactly the result of hard work, is it?
Dear DontComplain,
Are we to assume that the capitalized letters means that you are angry? Does it imply that you are screaming?
This is probably when you stop reading and throw a nasty remark back at me… If you choose, however, to read on, perhaps you may some day decide that it is not a good idea to make a statement such as “…get an education and make more money…” I have no idea who you are but I would be willing to be that I make more money than you do in one month than you ever have in an entire year.
I happen to have an MBA in Global Finance and I too am a victim of BBVA Compass’ fraudulent policies.
Sit back and watch. They will not get away with this.
It is not standard banking policy to only credit deposits at the end of the banking day. Standard policy is for banks to credit deposits and withdrawals as they get them.
Compass has plainly stated to me that it is their standard policy to only credit deposits at the end of the banking day. Meaning you can deposit 2000 dollars cash at 9am but you will not have access to it until at the end of the day and if you make a purchas at 1pm that would over draft you without that money they will charge you a 38 dollar NSF fee.
No other bank that I have ever banked with does this. not even Wells Fargo who I extremely dislike does this. Unfortunately there are no laws protecting consumers form a bank doing this.
No, of course Compass Bank doesn’t have to wait until the end of the day to credit deposits to the customer’s account (lots of banks will run everything through at night starting with deposits, and I even know of a credit union here that will credit deposits immediately, and hold charges until the end of the business day)… why can’t Compass do this? It wouldn’t behoove them, that’s why… their explanation is something to the effect of “well, deposits have to be physically walked to another area and processed”… HUH? Deposits have to be physically processed at the end of the day but charges can go through as soon as they’re received? To this I say “BS”… it’s all designed to pluck as much money as they can from their customer’s pockets… at night they run checks/debit transactions/credit transactions through first, starting with the largest amount and trickling down to the smallest… then deposits are run through… clearly an unscrupulous way of making sure lots of NSF charges are racked up… I’m thinking a class action lawsuit might be the only way to go to stop their unfair/unscrupulous business practices, and deter other banks & institutions from following in their footsteps.
I do not have time at the moment to read all of these posts, however, I found this thread by typing into Google “BBVA Compass Class Action Law Suit”. This thread was the first to appear. There were several more in line.
I noticed the question by one individual, “Does anyone know of a class-action suit against Compass?”
I do not, but I would like to begin filing one.
My situation with Compass is absurd and their actions are completely fraudulent. I will not bore anyone with the details at this moment, however, suffice it to say, I will not stand by and allow them to get away with it.
We cannot continue letting these large banks charge absurd fees “just because they can”.
Please contact me if you are iterested in fighting back.
c k w 2 7 at y a h o o dot c o m
Charles Wilson
The first thing that people need to realize is that people really are responsible for their own mistakes. Ego seems to be the real problem not only on this forum, but essentially it’s the main reason why we have conflict, corruption, and war. Seriously, I am almost 100% positive that everyone on this forum signed a signature card. A signature card that a bank has a customer sign is a CONTRACT between the bank and the customer. For MR. PHD and MR. MBA ( I doubt you guys have those degrees because you wouldn’t be posting on this forum, you would be too busy working with a high profile job or teaching at a university)., there is a standard definition of a CONTRACT that you should all know ASAP.
CONTRACT – An agreement between two or more competent parties in which an offer is made and accepted, and each party benefits. The agreement can be formal, informal, written, oral or just plain understood. Some contracts are required to be in writing in order to be enforced. (2) An agreement between two or more parties which creates obligations to do or not do the specific things that are the subject of that agreement. Examples of a contract are a lease, a promissory note, or a rental agreement.
Ok, so the lesson here should be learned. This bank, and believe me other banks (I SWEAR ON THIS!!!) always have a system that will select which items will be paid first. If you dislike this system or think its unfair you have 2 choices.
1.) Set up an auto transfer account— (NOT HARD!!!). Open up a savings account with $1000. 00 that is linked to your checking so anytime you overdraw, the account with cover you.
2.) Set up Overdraft line of credit for $10.00 per year (BIG DEAL!!). Don’t think that you are just too good to balance everything perfectly or stop being cheap and pay the $10.00. I’m sure you all have been offered this service before but your Ego’s must have replied“Oh, no I don’t need that service, I never bounce checks, (I’m sure you all have said this, ADMIT IT!!)
Charles Wilson,
Good Luck! So you have an MBA, you are not the only one, if you make as much as you do I would suppose you understand how a bank works, even further, are you part of a wealth management department, or private banking? Probably not! You would not be complaining then…good luck buddy!
Wow, Yvonne… for someone screaming about how big other people’s egos must be, yours is certainly shining brightly… along with your obvious contempt for the people posting here… cases in point:
( I doubt you guys have those degrees because you wouldn’t be posting on this forum, you would be too busy working with a high profile job or teaching at a university).,
(I SWEAR ON THIS!!!)
(NOT HARD!!!).
(BIG DEAL!!).
ADMIT IT!!)
Nobody here has said they hadn’t, at some point, made a mistake regarding their accounts (okay, maybe a couple have)… people make mistakes, we’re not perfect… the point here is that Compass Bank counts on people making mistakes… their entire operating system is designed to capitalize on their customers’ mistakes… deposits aren’t credited until the end of the day, until after all charges (checks, debit transactions, etc.) have been processed… why? I’ll tell you why… mo’ money for Compass Bank if something bounces… the charges are processed in the order of largest amount to smallest amount… why? Mo’ money for Compass Bank when the largest charge sucks all or most of the money from a customer’s account, leaving not enough funds to cover other debits that still need to run through… and again, all of this going on before a single solitary deposit is processed… why, when processing the deposits first might completely eliminate the NSF factor? Because doing it the way the do it means mo’ money for Compass Bank… then we’re talking about the NSF charges… $38 a pop… why, when many banks charge much less and it does NOT cost a bank that much money to return a check? Obvious: mo’ money for Compass Bank! There’s a credit union right here where I live that processes deposits to accounts as soon as they’re made, any time of the day, but holds all charges against an account until the end of the day… is there a real reason Compass Bank can’t do the same? Sure there is… because not using unfair (not to mention unscrupulous) business practices wouldn’t mean mo’ money for Compass Bank… it would mean less money for Compass Bank… in my opinion, it’s time someone stepped in and started better regulation of the banking system in order to keep crooked banks like BBVA Compass Bank in line!
I’m in the process of fighting with them today. Last Friday, I checked my account at 5:45 – direct deposits posted, plenty of money in the bank. Later in the day I checked, rent check pending – still plenty of money. Sunday morning I check, rent check gone, account balance includes rent check amount credited back.
I call today and find out because my rent check was DATED for the 1st, even though it did not get to the bank until the 2nd, they NSF’d it. They are clearing it today along with a $38 fee. Was told the “people in the back” look at the check date and decide whether there was enough money in the bank at that time…. unfortunately for me, I was $1 and change short on the 1st.
So beware, now they go by check DATES rather than the day the check is presented for payment. Total B.S.
Oh, here we go again… yet another way for Compass Bank to generate mo’ money: use the check DATE to determine whether they can snatch another NSF charge from a customer’s account… what bank bothers to even look at the date on a d@mn check? I’ve never heard of any bank doing that, ever… the only thing that should matter is whether there’s enough money in the account to cover the check when it actually arrives at the bank to be processed… what a racket Compass Bank has going!
Well people it’s plain and simple keep up with a register and you would be okay. Do you think that the banks are a non-profit organization huh. I think you all are be irresponsible that’s the problem. You all need to quit spending money you don’t have. It’s not the banks fault for anything. You should be thanking them for paying for the items that you really don’t have the money for. It’s people like you that don’t realize that its your fault always want to blame others for your loses….grow up. Maybe you all should get a second job and but an allowance away so that way your not spending money you obviously don’t have. It makes me sick to read all these complaints because all of you sound so sad. Every single bank is the same, so don’t think that if you go to ABC bank down the street they don’t have fees. GROW UP PEOPLE.
Well, YNVME, let me say first that all banks are not the same… I’ve dealt with plenty of banks in my lifetime and they are… not… all… the same… is that clear enough for you? Second, I’d like to say that judging from the way you type and your poor use of the English language, I’m quite sure I’m a bit more “GROWn UP” than you are. Banks are like any other institution… some are there to serve their customers, in an honest and upstanding fashion… others are there to serve themselves first and foremost, using (as I’ve said before) unscrupulous practices to generate those fees that you were talking about… this is the difference that everyone here is “complaining” about… do try to pay attention to the thread of the conversation, missy… and maybe one day, when you’ve bought something from a store and have a problem with it, and the store absolutely refuses to satisfy your complaint when any other reputable store would do so, perhaps you’ll have an inkling of what people go through with Compass Bank.
Well Miss AnnReed…poor you, I feel sorry for people like you that just have to put others down to make yourself feel better. I guess you need to do your homework and look up other banks fees, and for your information I’m grown. Tell me this, why do you think banks should pay for something that you knew in the first place didn’t have the money for huh. Well it’s plain and simple stupidity from your part. How are they suppose to know if their ever going to get paid. If you don’t like it then go elsewhere put your money under your matress. You need to go back to school and maybe learn how to calculate. Take your complaining somewhere else because you don’t see the banks crying over it. I’ll tell you what the holidays are coming up and if you would like I’ll send you something called a register. How dumb you sound you probably don’t even know what that is.
YNVME, I not only know what a register is, I also know how to use one… I know how to use a calculator, as well… I’m a bookkeeper… I know what deposits and checks and ATM withdrawals and credit card charges and debit transactions are, and I know how they all work… and I also know what a rip-off establishment is… Compass Bank is a scamming rip-off of a bank… and this is my last comment to you… I’m not stupid, I never have been… but I have been taken advantage of by Compass Bank as have many others, which you might be able to see if you weren’t so busy spouting off about people being irresponsible… good day.
I own a business and I have a business checking account with BBVA Compass. I’ve had the account 3 years and had been happy with it until recently. I always keep $1000 safety cash reserve in the account because I was aware of their policies on overdrafts. Deposits made during the day are not credited until MIDNIGHT. Withdrawals (checks/check card transactions) are taken immediately from your account.
When I deposit checks I receive from customers, my customer’s personal checking accounts are withdrawn electronically using “check 21′ at the time I make the deposit. I won’t be credited until midnight.
Their merchant service (I can charge my customers’ credit cards) is carefully set to deposit my money immediately after all withdrawals for the day are counted. Sometimes it takes 48 hours to receive the money that I am supposed to have in “24 hours.”
I am very unhappy with BBVA Compass right now. This has been a good year for my business, meaning I have a lot of deposits and withdrawals. Their system is carefully engineered to manipulate your account into overdraft. There is no way to cancel their “overdraft protection.” They will wait an extra day to credit a $1500 visa deposit from a customer, then allow your account overdraft all day long being charged $38 per over draft. The overdraft charges always seem to occur on small things like an $8.00-$20 transaction.
I feel like these guys have just embezzled $700 from my business this month. Oh, even if you wake up in the morning and notice merchant services didn’t feel like posting your deposits you are out of luck with Compass– EVEN IF YOU RUN DOWN TO THE BANK WITH CASH BEFORE ITS OVERDRAFTED! “SO SORRY DEPOSITS ARE CREDITED AT MIDNIGHT!!”
YNVME, finally someone posted something that makes sense! Everyone here is complaining about their problems, nothing more. If you are broke it’s ok, no one says you must have money, just don’t complain about it. That’s life, sometimes you are broke, sometimes you are not. Remember, the bank is not swiping the debit card or writing the checks, YOU ARE!!! It is an added service, if the card did not go through you would complain about the embarrasment, there is no winning you people!! Banks provided you with online banking, registers and many more tools to keep you on track, take a class and learn how to use them…
Maybe someone here can explain something to me. How is that my wife can buy a $2.00 cup of coffee at work on the 16th (when there was $35.00 in our account) and Compass not take the money out until 2 days later, when there was no longer any money to cover it ($38.00 NSF charge)…. which also caused a $25.00 debit for groceries we made the night of the 16th to “bounce” ($38.00 NSF charge) as well as a $5.00 debit at McDonalds made the 18th to “bounce”?
I’ve already asked Compass this very question, and all I got was a lot of banking jargon that amounted to “tough luck”.