Forum Overview :: Tansin A. Darcos's Alter Ego

I am now a customerr of Bank of America due to dropping Citibank by Commander Tansin A. Darcos 04/28/2017, 5:14pm PDT For the last couple of years I have had a corporate business checking account with Citibank after moving from Wells Fargo. Wells was okay, to get a waiver of the $12 monthly service charge I just had to make at least 10 electronic transactions. So, to be sure I did when I'd be doing some minor shopping trip to Giant of Maryland I might pick up $20 or $30 of groceries, using the self-service checkout, and stopping every 2 or 3 dollars and paying for that much, then starting a new order, to be sure I'd have at least 10 transactions each month. Then I discover Citibank (Citi) had a great offer. Pay at least 5 bills a month with their on-line bill pay service - very nice, if they have a connection to the biller, Citi pays them electronically, otherwise they mail the biller a check - and Citi will waive the (also) $12 monthly service fee, so I moved my corporate account from Wells to Citi about two years ago after using both banks for a few months to be sure Citi does things ok. Well, last month Citi discontinued any free accounts, and I have two choices: pay $15 a month, - which they started charging me for - or keep $15,000 in my account. The first is distasteful and the second is beyond my means. So, anyway, I got the agent on the phone to waive that service charge. So I have until the end of the month to find a new home for my corporate checking account or get dinged for 15 bucks again. Sun Trust and TD bank want the same paperwork: IRS letter showing out corporate Employer Identification Number (EIN) and a copy of our corporate charter. I have no problem; the EIN - the corporate equivalent of a Social Security Number - I applied for in 2006 when I decided to charter a corporation, and when I got the letter in the mail I scanned it and stored the image on my computer. I did the same thing in 2006 when the Virginia Corporation Commission approved our charter; I scanned that too, and all I've ever used is copies. Plus I save the bank officer trouble since they get to keep the printouts; they're not originals so I don't need them back. When I'm out at my credit union I talk to someone there, but they don't do business accounts much, the place has a specialist who handles this and will get back to me. Never heard back from them so I figure they're not interested. So I take the bus and Metrorail train into downtown Washington, DC to go to Eagle Bank, they are a small local bank serving the Tri-State area (DC, Maryland and Virginia) and have a branch near 7th and G Streets NW across from Gallery Place Metrorail train station. As the guy is handling the account opening, he discovers a red flag from PNC Bank for something over $200. So they can't open the account. I find a PNC branch and first he can't find anything on my corporate account. Turns out it's a problem from 2013 on me personally. Which made sense and I'll look into it. So I decide to go back to Wells Fargo again, and they have two choices for a fee waive account: (1) the original "make 10 electronic transactions a month via corporate VISA debit card" that I had three years ago, or (2) just keep an average of $500 in the account. That's even better since the other banks wanted $1500 (which i could manage with some effort). So I decide to sign up. I collect the paperwork, including a couple extra things - copies of the web pages from Virginia's Secretary of State and Maryland's Department of assessments and taxation showing my corporation is in good standing in both states. Guy takes 20 minutes and comes back to inform me they have to have the original corporate documents. The last time I ordered certified copies of the charter and proof of good standing from Virginia it took two weeks and cost $6. Funny but I've opened corporate accounts at four banks using copies of the scanned documents, and had no problem. So I go back to a bank I had used before, Bank of America. First question: no, they have no problem with copies. And their requirement for fee waiver is even easier: spend $250 a month on the debit card. (Groceries alone will cover that.) They never ask for my social security number, and all he needs to do a phone check to make sure the corporation has no red flags. And, as I suspected, since I've opened corporate accounts at four other banks since 2013, there were none. So I give him an initial check deposit of $500 and I get a temporary Visa debit card until the regular one comes in the mail. So now that I have a business account I go over to City and close my account. No problem, the teller can do that for me, he gives me the remaining money in my corporation's account, and the customer service guy was very understanding about not wanting to pay $15 a month. I mean, if I had enough bills that I had to pay at least 30 bills a month I could justify Citibank's fee - it would be a wash on the postage to mail that many checks a month - and they do provide an excellent service as their on-line bill pay service is very good.

I am now a customerr of Bank of America due to dropping Citibank by Commander Tansin A. Darcos 04/28/2017, 5:14pm PDT     I knew you weren't dead yet NT by Deathclock 04/29/2017, 7:10am PDT     ... Annnnd B of A fucked it up by Commander Tansin A. Darcos 04/29/2017, 11:23am PDT         clarification by Commander Tansin A. Darcos 04/29/2017, 11:26am PDT