Wells Fargo Is Charging Me $10 to Use Quicken!

Should be free if you have an eligible account. For a list of eligible accounts, see

Cy Burnot wrote in news:iuqsr6$j8v$1 @dont-email.me:

Since I am over age 55 I qualified for Wachovia Crown Classic which waives the Quicken fee.

I just received a package of documents relating to the transition from Wachovia to WF. One of them says that the current fee schedule will continue for all accounts.

If they decide to charge me anything I will move my accounts to another bank. TD Bank has branch near me and they don't charge for Quicken.

Correct. Crown Classic accounts at Wachovia converting to Wells Fargo still receive free bill pay using Quicken. The OP did not say he had a Wachovia Crown Classic but, as the link shows, there are other ways to get bill pay for free at Wells Fargo. I established a PMA account at Wells Fargo which has free bill pay. I also have a Wachovia Crown Classic which will convert in a couple of weeks. Either way, I expect bill pay to be free.

I think I started with First Union which was absorbed by Wachovia, there may have been one before that but I figure to let them convert me, see what I don't like, call and see if they will change, then move or not move depending upon the answer.

TD bank is appealing because I have TD Ameritrade accounts. At some point they should be integrated and that has always been my goal.

I did have a Crown Classic account and I just got off the phone with James who said that there is no way to do with WF as I did with Wachovia unless I maintain a $5000 balance in my checking account!!!

I'll have to see if I can find the material they sent stating specifically that Crown Classic accounts that moved to WF would still get Quicken free. The manager at my local WF office said I would also get bill pay free if I opened a PMA account. So I did.

Just 5 large? Peanuts!! Seriously, what with the availability of FREE pre authorization of debits to cover regular obligations, WHY even bother with Quicken Bill Pay and all the concern about payments reaching the payee in time to avoid penalty? Absolutely NO need for Quicken Bill Pay these days.

Sharx3335 has written on 7/6/2011 11:34 PM:

Tell me about pre-authorization of debits. I'm not familiar with it.

I like Quicken because I've used it for a very long time and, as an old person, I am loathe to change. Also, it helps me greatly at tax time.

I'm not concerned with timing; I always pay my bills on time.

"Cy Burnot" wrote in message news:iv39o8$lhb$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me...

Cy, I'm also no "spring chicken". To me, it's all about cost, in money, time, and effort. In all cases, the statements for our regular bills come in plenty of time for us to review them and challenge any errors. I recall but one error in almost 20 years. The payee accounts, e.g. power, water, natural gas, sewer, garbage, land-line phone, cell phone, ISP, long distance carrier, municipal taxes, auto club etc are pre-authorized to debit either our checking account or credit account for the required amounts which often vary somewhat from month to month. There is absolute NO cost to us for having this done. No charge by the payee, no charge by the bank or credit card company. The LDistance bill comes by e-mail as a paper bill would cost us $1 a month. Where possible, bills are streamed to the credit card as we get an annual cash rebate for anything charged to the CC which, BTW, is full paid off, AUTOMATICALLY, **EVERY** month, by debit to the checking account. Few accounts require any manual intervention, e.g. car/house insurance, annually, simply requires a letter or phone call supply them with our credit card #. Paying that insurance more often would incur finance charges. Bank charges NO service charges as long as we keep $1500 minimum balance. Since it is up to the payees to process the pre-authorized debits, we never get ANY static for timing problems. Since we track all accounts in Quicken (and have done so since 1994), there is never any worry as to not having enough funds in the checking account.

I am not aware of any easier or cheaper method of handling family finances aside from having a personal accountant who works Pro Bono.

It just seems so antiquated to have to pay Quicken to send out, ugh, checks. So many things can go wrong, not the least of which is the carrier who brings the checks to the payees.

Sharx3335 has written on 7/6/2011 11:57 PM:

Interesting! What banks do this?

Uh, I'm in Canada. All chartered banks in Canada plus most Canadian credit unions. Different financial institutions may have different minimum balances before service charges are waived, I caution. As usual, as they say, YMMV. I just despise service charges of any type especially since 99% of the time the service charge is vastly higher than the actual cost of the service. Quicken Bill Pay is one gigantic rip off and you can quote me on that--even in "retirement", I still do some work, I.e. income tax prep, in the financial sector. If there is a cheaper, easier way of doing something involving money, I intend to find out about it and apply it if and when relevant.

Why not just convert your account to a PMA account to get free Quicken

Cy Burnot wrote in news:iv3db6$5q3$1 @dont-email.me:

This would be authorizing the payee (Verizon, credit card company, utility, what have you) to pull the money from your checking account on the due date. The advantages are that 1. It doesn't cost you anything. 2. It leaves it up to the payee to make sure they get the money on time. 3. no need on your part to do anything but check the bill and dispute any discrepancies,and make sure your balance is OK. Most repeating payees do this, because it cuts down on their administrative costs.

Han wrote in news:Xns9F1B6E75BB35Dikkezelf@207.246.207.165:

I've never been comfortabel with alowing some company to automatically woithdraw money from my bank account. What happens if they make a mistake or you want to contest a charge?

I have several vendors (CATV, Electric company)who automatically charge my Visa card each month. The rest I pay via Quicken Bill Pay, which for the time being is free.

Sharx3335 has written on 7/7/2011 3:37 AM:

Oh. I'm not.

How can it be a rip-off if I don't have to pay for it?

Good for you! I hope you'll share what you find. :-)

Han has written on 7/7/2011 10:51 AM:

I see. Would I still get a bill for my records?

Thanks.

$25,000 minimum balance??????

Cy Burnot wrote in news:iv4ks7$pu$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me:

Sometimes the "balance" includes the credit limit (not the amount actually borrowed) on a Home Equity Line Of Credit. I know Wachovia worked that way. Not sure about WF.