Comments | pittsburgh: question about ATM fees at area banks for non-account holders

dabroots in pittsburgh

question about ATM fees at area banks for non-account holders

Aug 07, 2007 11:10

I'll probably open an account at Citizens Bank, because comments on other posts regarding local banks seem to to lean toward it as being the most customer-friendly ( Read more... )

money: banking

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qlarue August 7 2007, 16:20:07 UTC

I just started accounts with Citizen’s about six months ago. Their customer service is great…very friendly tellers. However…

They don’t charge if you use their ATMs but they do charge if you use another bank’s machine. I think it is a $2 fee from them and then another $1.50-$2 from whoever owns the machine you used. Which sucks because there are whole neighboroods in the city where they don’t have any ATMs.

Also, their online banking site is down frequently. Don’t wait until the last minute to check your balance or transfer funds.

I don’t care for the rewards program either. It seems like it is taking a really long time to earm points. And to log in and check your point balance you have to put in your debit card number and your social security number. I don’t care for that at all.

It took a me a long time to decide between Citizen’s and National City. I think I made the wrong choice.

dabroots August 7 2007, 16:23:10 UTC

Do they charge you a fee for using your debit card for purchases at stores, etc.?

qlarue August 7 2007, 16:30:33 UTC

Not that I have discovered yet. But debit purchases do not count towards rewards. You have to use it as a credit card.

amand_r August 7 2007, 16:46:18 UTC

You know, the reason they want you to use your debit card like a credit card? Because there's a small fee that every store has to pay every time a credit card is used. The points you get with the bank are rewards for getting them to charge that fee.

It's amazing what you learn working at a gas station.

Re: DEBIT fees.... cpdavngr August 7 2007, 16:54:30 UTC

Ahhh, that explains the outsourced website for the points system then. The MC in mcrewards stands for Master Card. The bank probably gets paid by Master Card everytime someone uses their bank card as a credit card instead of a debit card.

Re: DEBIT fees.... amand_r August 7 2007, 17:15:01 UTC

Yeah, so I always tell the store to pick whatever they want when they ask me. Some stores hate paying the fee, and that's the reason small places often have that sign that says "no debit/credit cards for purchases under 5 dollars." They actually lose money on the deal, b/c the profit they'd make is taken by the fee.

cpdavngr August 7 2007, 16:46:57 UTC

However, as far as Citizens itself goes, I like the bank. I think I've seen their website was down once and they sent out messages warning people that it would be down. Depending on where I go, I HAVE been charged fees for debit purchases from stores. But like I said, it depends on where you go. I think the store itself determines whether or not they charge you a fee. (I'll reply to the other thread above in a minute about this)
The points system does suck and although I'm signed up for it, I don't really pay attention to how many I have. The reason they have a different logon system is because they outsourced the points website to https://www.mcrewards.net.
I also have a National City account. I decided to go with Citizens because I thought their fees were cheaper. I've actually found that they're pretty much the same. :P
Having two bank accounts is nice though. They're also both free because of where I work.

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