In Banker's Clothing

I posed a simple question to my friends that appears to have struck a nerve

Very disappointed in my relationship with National City Bank, I asked people to tell me whether they love or hate their banks so I could be better educated in choosing a new one.

The resulting waterfall of "I hate my bank" messages was fairly substantial. It seems like people feel that banking is a necessary evil and the relationship that people have with their banks is, more often than not, only beneficial to the bank.

I'd like to live a cash-only existence, and I try to as much as I can, but I need an account for basic transactions like paying bills, buying things by phone or Internet, or to access the money if someone pays me with a check.

I don't like using banks and I'm not sure why I should trust anyone who offers to keep my money for me.

My experiences with Sovereign Bank when I lived in Rhode Island and with National City Bank here in Louisville have been enough to move me from "not liking" banks to being vehemently anti-bank. And based on the responses I received from friends over the past 24 hours, my experiences have not been unique, nor is my resulting frustration especially unusual.

STEALTH FEES

Why do people hate their banks? Well, I found that it's almost always because of what are called "stealth fees."

These fees occur when a customer overdraws their account - either at an ATM or through a debit card purchase - without being warned that their account has insufficient funds to cover the transaction. The bank approves the transaction as a "convenience" to the customer and adds a fee to their account. This happens silently, without the bank ever alerting the customer that their account is empty and that a fee has been levied. It is not uncommon for these fees to be as high as $35 each.