Bank of America Will Stop Offering Checks for Savings Accounts
Bank of America customers will no longer be able to use checks for their savings accounts soon. The bank has informed affected customers that they can no longer order checks for their savings account. Checks that are presented on or after Aug. 20 will be returned unpaid even if funds are available in the account, and payments processed as a check using a savings account may be rejected.
An image of the notice that was sent out, is posted on reddit:
The news shouldn’t affect many customers. The feature was little-used, Bank of America said. Just 1% of savings account holders were writing checks from their savings accounts, and those customers were writing an average of just four checks a year, Charlotte Observer reports.
Savings accounts are better for storing money and earning interest, and Bank of America says it is trying to encourage customers to do just that. Most savings account don’t offer checks, so Bank of America was one of the very few banks that had this option. Another limitation of savings accounts is that withdrawals could be limited. The FDIC announced in April that it would no longer require financial institutions to enforce the limit of six withdrawals per month. However, you should check with your financial institution to know whether these limits have been lifted. You might be charged a fee for making more than six withdrawals in a month.
If you still need to use checks, then you should look at Checking accounts. They are a better for everyday transactions such as purchases, bill payments and ATM withdrawals. But these accounts normally don’t earn interest. You can however earn bonuses when opening a new account.
