Wainwright Bank Stole My Grocery Money

[redheadedmuse.livejournal.com]

After almost 10 years of doing business with Wainwright, I finally jumped ship this week after they charged me almost $100 in overdraft fees - even though my statement shows no overdraft at all.

As I said in my open letter to them, this is not just my issue. Banks are poised to rake in over $38 billion in overdraft fees this year, and Congress has just approved new regulations making the kind of sneaky accounting and overdraft "protection" racket Wainwright is using illegal. Those regulations haven't gone into effect yet, but I would have hoped our neighborhood "progressive" bank would be ahead of the curve in this important social justice issue.

I'm disappointed that a local bank that advertises itself as "banking on values" would treat its customers this way. It's a deceptive and predatory practice that traps financially marginalized people in a painful cycle of debt they can't get out of. Shame on you, Wainwright.

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/_meej_/]

We had a very good and forthright process getting a mortgage (and then, later, refinancing that mortgage to an even better rate) through Winter Hill Bank. Just sayin'.

Which isn't to say that they didn't have a lot of extra paperwork that we wouldn't have had when dealing with a broker - but it all worked very well in the end, well enough to go back when it was time to refinance.

[ignignokt.livejournal.com]

There might be more paperwork, but you're more likely to get a straightforward deal (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/04/your-money/mortgages/04money.html?_r=2&partner=rss&emc=rss) from a local bank than you are from a broker.

[boblothrope.livejournal.com]

When I was getting a mortgage, I decided to look into using the local bank where I have a checking account, in addition to a mortgage broker.

The mortgage broker, Summit Mortgage, gave me a pre-approval over the phone, with the best rate and lowest fees I could find.

The bank made me go there in person, fill out all kinds of paperwork, and wait a week just to get a pre-approval. The rate and fees were not a good deal at all.

Since then, my broker moved to Mortgage Master, and the process was just as easy when I refinanced.

I couldn't imagine ever getting a mortage from a small bank in the future, unless they totally revamp their application process and improve their deals.