Is This Even Legal???

I own a little coin operated business as a side line which requires that I deposit bags of coins at my local bank which is BofA.

The trouble started about two years ago when on one visit, they claimed to be back ordered on the bags (untrue…they stopped providing them apparently as a form of discouragement).

After several months of waiting for bags, they assured me that all of the local office supply stores carried them and suggested that I go and purchase my own (again untrue, I visited two each of the big three chains in my area and none had ever carried them).

Annoying yes / illegal no…I’m just mentioning this to vent.

Anyway, the last two times I’ve deposited bags of coins, I have not been given a receipt and instead, I’ve been shown a hand written entry in a log book showing the transaction. Additionally, both times I was told that I would see the deposit in my account within three business days but the first time, it took three weeks and I’m now just a few days short of it being three weeks since my last deposit and the money still isn’t showing.

I completely get that coin transactions offer a horrible effort / profit ratio for the bank. My question is, can you legally call yourself a bank when you’re effectively refusing to accept something that satisfies “all debts public and private”. And beyond this, aren’t there financial regulations that require reasonable documentation of transactions.

I just can’t imagine this is legal...thoughts???

Can you switch banks?

Local credit union. BoA is the worst. Run away quickly. They obviously don't want you as a customer.

4cylndrfury wrote: Can you switch banks?

I did that about ten years ago when my last bank (Washington Mutual) started turning me away claiming that the “vault was full”… seriously, that’s actually what they started saying.

When I opened the account with BofA, I worked out a gentleman’s agreement with the branch manager to maintain at least 10K in my zero interest checking account to offset their cost which I have honored to this day. That person has long since moved on but I’m questioning the legality of what they’re doing rather than anything else.

ThePhranc wrote: Local credit union. BoA is the worst. Run away quickly. They obviously don't want you as a customer.

Credit Union isn't the best choice here- they are for members, and typically are not for businesses.

I would find a very local bank. Like one that is named for the city, and is happy to take actual money as deposits.

BoA has gone downhill really badly over the last 5 years. really down.

I work for a bank, but not that part of a bank. Regulators are very involved in what banks do. There are checks and balances on everything.

There is no way I would believe that it is okay for the teller to fail to provide you proof that you made a cash deposit.

At this point, you as a customer have nothing to show that this wasn't a three week personal loan to a teller.

Consider a different bank, who actually values your business. If you stay, you need to complain to corporate.

...every credit union I have used in the last 10 years has a change counting machine for me to use (either in the ATM or inside that pops out a receipt that you took to the desk... and the only cost to open the account is $20 that has to stay in the savings account....

one didn't have the change counter at my local branch so I had to drive the 10 miles to get to the one with the counter... but when changing in $100 in random change it was a lot easier then rolling my own

donalson wrote: it was a lot easier then rolling my own

What? You don't like to roll your own

The way to complain to corporate is to call and ask to speak to The Compliance Dept. This department is essentially the internal audit department.
My local bank put a bad mark on credit report for an issue on my home equity loan. The bad mark was a result of something that happened a year after I sold the house and subsequently paid off the loan.
The issue was that the bank continued to keep open a line of equity against an asset that I no longer owned. The Fed would freak. When I asked the workers to speak with The Compliance Dept. everyone freaked. I was given statements like, "that dept does not speak to customers (really??) but boy did everything get turned around quickly.
If you are not happy with a bank transaction, ask to speak to the compliance dept for verification of the policy and procedure.

jrw1621 wrote: The way to complain to corporate is to call and ask to speak to The Compliance Dept. This department is essentially the internal audit department. My local bank put a bad mark on credit report for an issue on my home equity loan. The bad mark was a result of something that happened a year after I sold the house and subsequently paid off the loan. The issue was that the bank continued to keep open a line of equity against an asset that I no longer owned. The Fed would freak. When I asked the workers to speak with The Compliance Dept. everyone freaked. I was given statements like, "that dept does not speak to customers (really??) but boy did everything get turned around quickly. If you are not happy with a bank transaction, ask to speak to the compliance dept for verification of the policy and procedure.

You speak the truth. Actually, there is usually both an internal audit department and a compliance department. At a big bank like BofA, they're probably both huge.

mmosbey wrote: You speak the truth. Actually, there is usually both an internal audit department and a compliance department. At a big bank like BofA, they're probably both corrupt and bankrupt.

FTFY

Bank of America is and has been insolvent. They are one of the giant zombie banks that we all keep alive by supplying life support both in terms of taxes and inflation. Please, just change banks.

I've been with a local credit union since I opened an account in high school. Every branch has a machine in the lobby that you can dump bags of change into and then take the receipt to the teller. And they act like they care about your customer experience.

Jus Sayin'

if a credit union isn't an option, then get an account with a small, locally owned bank that will actually be happy to have you as a customer.. and the lines are generally shorter, too.

ThePhranc wrote: Local credit union. BoA is the worst. Run away quickly. They obviously don't want you as a customer.

ThePhranc speaks the truth. Pull up stakes and get gone. Join a Credit Union. This website will help you find a Credit Union near you that will accept you in as a member. Their membership policies are very open these days.

PNC has the change-counter sorter machine. Dump in buckets at the top, out pops a receipt and the amount goes straight to your account. You should see the Chuck-E-Cheese and other assorted tokens that get rejected!

First, to answer your question, any bank can refuse your transaction for any reason. They are a for-profit corporate enterprise and they have every legal to right to choose who they do business with.

Find out what banks are in your area and research them. Local Banks aren't always the best, but sometimes they're great. B of A sucks horribly in every possible way. The only truly local bank in my area is one of the most corrupt E36 M3storms you can possibly imagine. Seriously, there are charges of money laundering, countless types of fraud, etc against the bank and the poeple that run it. Don't assume your local bank is operated by Mr. Rogers. I'd pick a bank that didn't need a bail-out (keep in mind that didn't need a bail-out and didn't take TARP money aren't the same thing).

My folks are both in banking and one of them is in a branch behind the teller line. Everything that happens there is very very well documented and if a teller were going to skim money it wouldn't be coins, so I wouldn't worry about that too terribly much. I would go to branch and calmly ask about why the transaction isn't showing. Escalate things as far as you have too to get a resolution, close your account and take your business elsewhere.

They are referred to a BOFA in most online conversations. You can figure out what the F is.

Ditto the ditch BofA. And credit unions are for businesses. Businesses can be members too.

I used a CU for over a decade as a business.

BofFA has change sorters so they just don't want to do business with you. Honor their wishes.

If you haven't, you should.

By no means do all bank branches have coin machines. If yours doesn't, they've no real way to determine how much money you're actually depositing. Not until they count the coins would they actually know. Until that happens, all you're depositing is some bag-o-coins, and those don't have a uniform dollar value.

So, as much as I despise BOA from my own experiences with them, I can't say I find them to be out of line on this particular point.

Don't expect a credit union to accept your deposits of bags-o-coin at claimed value either. They are also going to count. And again, if your particular branch doesn't have a coin machine....

I was on the phone to my VP of a large bank sis-in-law when I saw your post foxtrapper. She says she can't imagine ANY bank not having a coin machine. Coins are a fact of life and they couldn't function without a machine.

every bank i've been in for the last 20 years has had a coin counting machine.. the tellers might play the funny little games they play to try to get you to go to a different teller if they see you walk in with a big jug o' coins, but they all have them.

alfadriver wrote:

ThePhranc wrote: Local credit union. BoA is the worst. Run away quickly. They obviously don't want you as a customer.

Credit Union isn't the best choice here- they are for members, and typically are not for businesses. I would find a very local bank. Like one that is named for the city, and is happy to take actual money as deposits. BoA has gone downhill really badly over the last 5 years. really down.

I've done business banking at two different credit unions. They were actually very accommodating.

I'm pretty sure every TD Bank (formerly Commerce Bank) has a coin machine in the lobby. One of my friends has an account and every few years I deposit my filled change bottle into it, he deposits the slip into his account and he writes me a check.

What cracks me up is where you have these CoinStar machines that will count your change and they want like 50% for the service of telling you how much money you have. There's a business model for ya!

As part of his rental business, my dad owned 3 coin op laundromats. Part of my chores was to help him roll coins. It was tedious and a PITA and one day I was getting really bored and asked why he didn't just let the bank count it. He said no way could he trust them to get it right. That got a 10 year old's attention quick.

I guess what I am trying to say is do NOT trust any of the banks to do right by you. Hey, if you have no idea how much you are dumping in the coin sorter and it errs on the side of the bank by 1% and you multiply that by the number of branches well there's the gas for the CEO's Lear.