American bank question - "branch credit, subject to verification"

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This is a seriously lame-ass question, but geez, you clicked.

My online "account activity" dealie for my checking account says "$70 branch credit, subject to verification," and said credit is included in my balance and available for withdrawal, but I have no earthly clue what it is. I can't think of any reason my bank would owe me money. I haven't challenged any debit charges or anything. There aren't any bounced checks they'd be refunding the charges for. They don't charge me for anything except ATM fees, which in the history of the account haven't totalled anything approaching $70.

Normally I'd wait and just see if the money stayed there or not, but frankly, my balance without that seventy is two dollars and change, and I'm in the middle of moving across the country here.

My instinct says that "subject to verification" sounds a lot like "can't touch this, punk," but I have overdraft protection, and don't get charged anything if my balance goes negative.

― Tep (ktepi), Thursday, 22 May 2003 02:08 (twenty-two years ago)

two months pass...

so , did you spend the $70?

― kephm, Wednesday, 23 July 2003 20:23 (twenty-two years ago)

I didn't! Good thing, too. The money wasn't real, although now I forget why.

― Tep (ktepi), Wednesday, 23 July 2003 21:20 (twenty-two years ago)

The Republicans frittered it away.

― Leee (Leee), Wednesday, 23 July 2003 21:29 (twenty-two years ago)

Let me get this straight:

ATM.

Fees?

I'm glad I live in the UK.

― Chewshabadoo (Chewshabadoo), Wednesday, 23 July 2003 21:41 (twenty-two years ago)

You don't have to pay a fee if you use an ATM that isn't owned by your bank?

― oops (Oops), Wednesday, 23 July 2003 21:44 (twenty-two years ago)

Quick primer:

American banks generally charge per transaction and for ATM withdrawals, also for printing your chequebooks, but I don't know their interest rate payout on current/checking balances. I never had an overdraft facility on my US bank accounts.

UK banks will charge interest on your overdraft but there is no fee with that, nor for using ATMs in your network, nor for supplying you with chequebooks. Cheques take five business days to clear but this is bogus because if I pay in a cheque from Edgy Style Mag into my same-bank account at their branch, it clears at MIDNIGHT.

― suzy (suzy), Wednesday, 23 July 2003 21:50 (twenty-two years ago)

Thinking about it, you will get charged for ATMs in the UK, but only if they are a third party ATM that you find in a corner shop or pub.

But from other banks, you are fine. I've never understood the reasoning of charging for ATMs. Surely it costs a bank less for you to use an ATM than to get money from a clerk.

― Chewshabadoo (Chewshabadoo), Wednesday, 23 July 2003 22:01 (twenty-two years ago)

"Check-clearing" = we are going to run around the world investing your money willy-nilly for five days after which we'll give you back the principal. Let me put this another way. You = Cameron in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Your check = your dad's cherry-red Corvette. The banks = the guys at the garage who take it for a joyride all over Chicago. Maybe the $70 was like a temporary accidental "thank you" for using your money so flagrantly.

There was a bank in Chicago, Chewshabadoo, that tried charging people $3 every time they talked to a clerk. That didn't last very long. I'm actually all in favor of disincentives for automated services that can just as easily be done by humans.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Wednesday, 23 July 2003 22:07 (twenty-two years ago)

I get charged if a 'teller fee' w/the account I have at Bank One. Had it for 2 years and have never had to use a teller--do all my transactions through ATMs

― oops (Oops), Wednesday, 23 July 2003 22:11 (twenty-two years ago)

That should be fucking illegal (the "teller fee") (haha France has changed me!)

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Wednesday, 23 July 2003 22:16 (twenty-two years ago)

it's just specific to the type of account I have, ie the only one that doesn't have a monthly fee. If you pay $10/month, you don't have to pay the teller fee.

― oops (Oops), Wednesday, 23 July 2003 22:18 (twenty-two years ago)

That checking account is with a bank which didn't have any branches in New Orleans (nor Bloomington), so yeah, the ATM fees I was talking about were because of that.

But from other banks, you are fine. I've never understood the reasoning of charging for ATMs. Surely it costs a bank less for you to use an ATM than to get money from a clerk.

Profit -- ATMs are 24 hours, there are fewer lines and you can better predict how long the wait will be when there are lines, and they're all over the place -- so people will use them. If people will use them and are willing to pay extra to do so, of course they'll charge.

― Tep (ktepi), Wednesday, 23 July 2003 22:23 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm actually all in favor of disincentives for automated services that can just as easily be done by people

May be a good idea to help keep jobs and I suppose the walk to my branch and the 15 minutes spent standing in the queue to get my money will help me plan my finances for the evening. Not to mention the fact that I'm at an internet only bank without a branch to speak of.

Funnily enough I was just in Germany where the cash machines close at midnight and don't allow you to take money out till 6 in the morning. Do they have some kind of ATM rights charter or what? I heard they have a similair thing in Japan except, get this, you can only take money out from cash machines during opening hours mon-fri *bangs head against wall repeatedly*

― Chewshabadoo (Chewshabadoo), Wednesday, 23 July 2003 22:24 (twenty-two years ago)

That's so the guy behind the machine can go home too.

― nickn (nickn), Wednesday, 23 July 2003 22:31 (twenty-two years ago)

lol

― Chewshabadoo (Chewshabadoo), Wednesday, 23 July 2003 22:31 (twenty-two years ago)

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