Just got back from Chase "we are going to have to hold your $3000 check"

[TwixVoy]

Well I just got back from my former WAMU (now Chase) bank branch.

I walked in with a $3000 cashiers check drawn on Navy Federal Credit Union.

Here is my history with them. I have had a WAMU deposit account for over 5 years. I have moved thousands of dollars in and out of that account over that time period. I have NEVER had a bad check. I have NEVER overdrafted. I am financially responsible.

I have ALSO had a deposit account with Chase before they took over WAMU for almost as long. Same story. NEVER had any kind of negative activity on the account.

I have a freaking $8000 line of credit with Chase that has a ZERO balance and has rarely been used, and NEVER had a negative activity with the account.

My credit reports have ZERO negative information. I have never so much as paid a bill late in my life. (I realize they are not pulling a credit report here, but I am just trying to convey that their computers should not have any kind of red flag on me for anything)

So I hand the teller my cashiers check. He runs it through and says "Oh the computer is saying we have to hold this for 14 days due to the amount of the check". I am thinking to my self "WTF?".

I tell him that this is odd because I have deposited much larger checks than that in the past and have never had them held. I ask him "Do you see that I have an unused $8000 line of credit with you?" He says "Yes I do." I say "Well if the system is worried I am trying to deposit a bogus $3000 check, wouldn't it make more sense for me to cash out that line of credit and take the money instead?"

He tells me he understand the logic of that, but that this is something they are doing with everyone. I tell him fine hold it.

Gosh Chase bank sure is a little fast to hold on to our money for 14 days for a bank that is just positing a surprising "profit". So they are so paranoid about a $3000 (CHUMP CHANGE) cashiers check written from a major credit union being bad that they have to hold it? One someone with a spotless history with the bank? On someone who has a larger than $3000 line of credit with them? They can trust me with an $8000 credit line, but not that my $3000 cashiers check will be good?

We are in for some serious problems if this is how bad the banking system has gotten.

[spinbaby]

1. These things clear electronically in no time

They're pulling a fast one on you.

[hfojvt]

8. that's what I thought

14 days for a cashier's check? Crazy.

[robinlynne]

12. 14 days for anything is crazy!

[ronnykmarshall]

14. WAMU wasn't part of electronic check exchange.

BUT if the CC was drawn on a bank in the same fed district, it would clear within two days.

[Warpy]

15. Yes, "float" no longer applies

especially on a cashier's check, which is supposed to be as good as cash. They can know within seconds whether or not a check is good.

What they're saying is that they're pushing you around because they can, and they're collecting 14 day's worth of interest on it because they can while you can't.

[depakid]

29. "they're pushing you around because they can, and they're collecting 14 day's worth of interest on i

That's exactly right- and it's worth noting that neither the "new" Democrats in Congress- nor the Obama administration are going to do one thing to hold them accountable for this abusive practice.

[Vinca]

2. I could understand it if it was a personal check, but not a cashier's check.

14 days seems a bit long, too, since any check usually clears within 5 days (the exception being something from a foreign country).

[Mojorabbit]

20. I left Sun Banks

because they tried to do the same thing to me with a social security check. Hell if they don't think a govt check is ok I think they have big problems.

[jtrockville]

3. Bah! I'm in the process of ditching Bank of America in favor of

a LOCAL bank. I don't think I'll ever bank with a national bank again.

I plan to keep my account at the credit union, and my newly opened account at the local bank: Presidential (who claims to be the FIRST online bank ever).

[ecstatic]

11. but aren't local banks usually the ones who pull

such stunts? BoA is a heartless corporation, but they never hold checks for that long. They just nickel and dime you to death if you are caught slipping.

[gulfcoastliberal]

25. BofA held a 9K check for 10 days, untill I escalated it and finally got them to back down. They do

it just the same as local banks. Usury.

[jtrockville]

27. I'm not sure of their policy, but...

I've decided not to support "heartless corporations" anymore, when possible.

Presidential.com gives 1.98% (2.00% APR) on their no fee Checking PLUS account.

BOA gives NO interest AND beginning in June there will be a $12/month fee even if you have your paycheck directly deposited. Buh-bye boa.

[EmeraldCityGrl]

4. No more banks. I deal only with a credit union now.

There's something big going down and they're getting ready for it.

[ColbertWatcher]

5. That is strange.

I really don't know what to say, but I'd like to know the answer.

Didn't Chase recently make some announcement about how well they're doing?

[Duer 157099]

6. Hah! But you post on DU!! Clearly you don't understand the criteria they use

No seriously. It's like the no-fly list.

[LisaM]

Is it because it's a cashier's check? How can they justify 14 days?

What if you needed that money to pay your mortgate? Isn't a cashier's check the same as cash, anyway?

This is fucked up.

[ecstatic]

7. That's insane. That would earn them a letter indicating that I'm switching banks

What if you needed the money for a bill that was due? BoA is irritating to deal with at times, but they would never pull something like that.

[barbtries]

9. i would have told them to shove it

fourteen days is such bullshit. they'll have the money themselves by tomorrow i'll bet. they should not be able to do that. these bastards.

[Jane Austin]

10. I had the same thing happen at a local bank we've traded with for years.

I walked a cashier's check from our credit union down to the bank where we have a business account, and they were going to put a hold on it.

Because I was inside the lobby, they said, "Well since it's you, we can go ahead and clear it".

A couple of weeks later, I did the same thing except at the drive-through bank. They did put a hold on it there.

This was a check from one of our accounts to another account of ours at a different bank.

I mean, what's a cashier's check for, anyway?

[ronnykmarshall]

13. That's a load of crap

First off you're a FIVE year customer with an excellent record.

Second - You deposited a CASHIERS CHECK.

My guess that CC from the credit union is in the same state as your account at Chase?

A 14 day hold is WAY out the fed regulations.

[Uben]

16. It's not uncommon at all

I took in a $4200 ck to my credit union that I have been a member of for 40 yrs and had the same thing happen. The reality is, I have been taking in a check for that same amount every month for the last twelve years! I have over $20K in a savings account with them and over $8k in a checking account. They still have to hold it! I don't understand it, but it doesn't cause me any problems, so I go along. It's bank procedure. If I wanted to cash it, I am sure I could, but it would have to be approved by the lady that runs the CU, whom I have known personally for that same forty years!

Anyway, don't feel singled out. It's what they do!

edit: I must add this only happens when they hire a new girl. Everyone that has been there a while knows me and knows I'm in there every month with that same check, and that I have enough cash in my accounts to cover it.

[KamaAina]

17. Get a load of what Chase did with its credit cards

also to a former WaMu customer.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=5519273&mesg_id=5519273

:grr:

[ComtesseDeSpair]

18. Wamu always did this to me

It's my biggest complaint against the assholes. I've missed deadlines for bills because the assholes held my money for 14 days. They say it's a Patriot Act law that they HAVE to hold the money because, you know, we might be planning some terrorist attack with that money or something. It's ridiculous.

[GoneOffShore]

19. Credit Unions feel much safer these days.

[Joanne98]

21. They need 14 days to play the market with. It's just a loan. lol

[ourbluenation]

22. who earns the interest on the money for the 14 days? You or them? n/t

[Manifestor_of_Light]

23. Cashier's Checks are certified funds.

This is bull shit.

[ourbluenation]

26. ITA total bullshit. Imagine if they held a boat load of checks for 14 days...

the amount of money they would earn in interest. Reminds me of the scam UPS pulled years ago. People would make out checks to UPS for their COD's. UPS would deposit the check, sit on it for a couple weeks, then cut a check to the vendor for the COD. The interest they earned on all those checks was enormous. The got sued or prosecuted or something so the practice was pulled and UPS is no longer the middleman.

[hunter]

24. Sorry, you have to join the Republican Party and get a proper money laundering permit.

Otherwise they can hold your cashiers checks as long as they please.

[juno jones]

28. I just deposited a check for a similar amount at my Credit Union.

No hold on funds and was even able to withdraw a couple of hundred that day.

You need to get away from Chase. WaMu was OK (although they turned down my buisness-checking account- at a time I actually had money :eyes:) but Chase is as bad as Bunch o' Assholes or Hell's Cargo.

Local banks and credit unions treat you better and with their co-op ATM system, I've never had problems finding a location to get money even when out of town.