They are an awful bank, but you are stuck with them for your son's duration in college.
Yes, I would go in and speak to a supervisor. Even if we give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they did not know he was a college student and being supported by his parents and offered him the new account as they would any customer, the bank clerk certainly did know when she saw him coming in with his Mom!

I am assuming your son went to the bank by himself at first, then you went with him ?

You should look online what types of accounts your bank offers; there might be a product that suits all your son's needs, he could deposit his cheques at the atm, then move his money in a savings accounts online after the fact.

One thing I did when I was supporting my kids through university, was install them as a beneficiary on my account online so I could flip money into their accounts online, it was a one click operation.

Passbook savings account, does this mean he has to go to the branch to deposit the cheques ?

I would file a complaint with the Federal Reserve. The employee's attitude is not illegal, just sucky, but she was clearly recommending an account that was not in his best interests. The Fed is obligated to investigate every complaint, and believe me, that will get the attention of the employee's superiors. I had to employ this method of getting a bank official's attention once, albeit for a more serious problem, and let's just say it was successful.

I have had a joint account with each of my children since they were 14. They have their own accounts now that are more convenient, except for the college student. It helps me sleep at night knowing we can help them instantly if they really need it. When they were in college it also meant I could monitor their spending and neither of us could make unilateral changes to the account. Big brother is watching--- or rather, Big Mother :-)

I would absolutely go in and complain. Do you do other business with this bank? Even if you don't, you have a legitimate gripe. Most bank associates get compensated for opening new accounts be they checking, savings, credit - whatever - so they have an incentive to do this, unfortunately. Step up to a manager and beyond and complain. I had a similar set up to kswl's with my sons college accounts and for the exact same reasons.

Yes, absolutely talk w/mgr. I'm guessing he/she will resolve the issue within five minutes. They do not want unhappy customers (or, even worse, lost customers). And should the issue not be resolved, I'd close my accounts and find another bank.

NOTHING gets a bank's attention like a customer complaint and subsequent inquiry from the federal reserve. You can file it online now.

I'll give the contrary view - I think that you should have just let your son keep the new accounts. There will come a day when he will have to figure this stuff out without your help, and better that he learn now when the stakes aren't so high as later. This is a young man in college, who needs to start making his own decisions - and mistakes. Though I don't see why this new account was so horrible.

I have to agree with terriks. Reading through this thread, I kept wondering what the real problem was. The bank's suggestion sounded like a good option and probably perfectly safe as long as he takes care of his cards and now would be a good time to begin being cautious. I think you over reacted, but you can get the $25 back if you talk to the right person at the bank. Don't bother talking to anyone that doesn't have the authority to grant your request.

Also agreeing with Teriks. The account as you describe it doesn't seem so bad, although I don't know why there'd be 2 ATM cards. But if it's just an ATM card or a debit card, there's not that much damage that can be done. If it were a debit/credit card, then yes, the potential for damage is there.

Were there high monthly fees for the new account? That would bother me, if his old account and/or the passbook savings account had low or no fees.

But I'll say that my parents helped me open a checking account the day I moved into my college dorm and never asked anything about my bank accounts after that. I'd say if he's old enough for college, he's old enough to make his own mistakes.

I'd take this matter up with the manager of the bank, but I don't think it has risen to the level of contacting the Federal Government yet. You don't know exactly what your son told the bank officer who suggested the account to him.

The Federal Reserve is privately owned. It is not a branch of the federal government.

I'm in with terriks. I don't see the harm in this kind of account, don't think it's unmanageable for your son, and as it's the product of his own decision making, maybe he'll make more of an effort to manage it well.

Original poster here. My husband recommended that I NOT speak to the manager and deal with the $25 fee (a teaching moment, I guess). Our son went into the bank alone and made a choice. I can agree with that except the bank knew he already had a debit account at their bank. Yes, we could close the 1st debit account but I recently purchased checks for that account and his summer job has direct deposit and he has already completed his paper paperwork on that end. I am a bit miffed that the bank "upsold" him on the one type of account that they has a cancellation fee. The clerk also set me off. He started talking about overdraft protection. I reminded my son that overdraft protection is not needed when you know how to SUBTRACT! Ok, I have vented and will let this go. Thanks for listening.

My bank has en e-savings account, they install it on your online profile, and you simply transfer from your checking to your e-savings online, no cheques can be drawn on that account and the interest is higher.

This seems to be what your son needed initially.

I understand you being miffed- it seems like they are pushed to upsell products that don't necessarily fit.

One reason this type of charge is so ubiquitous is that people just put up with it. Most people just accept it.

I'm not one who does. I would hope that since you don't appreciate this type of bunk, you can pass that attitude on to your son. Otherwise, he will become one of the many who just sucks it up and pays, and pays, and pays, until this stuff becomes the norm.

Regardless of your final decision about which account is used, the issue of upselling to a young adult should be brought to the attention of the bank - and the Federal Reserve if that is the entity that oversees this type of complaint.

Banks are really good at tricky moves. They've got it all figured out. It's pretty disgusting. We all know the motives, so I can understand your being upset this happened to your young son.

I thought FR was over the top and they wouldn't care or have the time for something like this, but maybe that's a good idea after all. They've been called on their practices before.

This post was edited by snookums2 on Mon, May 20, 13 at 15:25

Unless the OP's son is under 18, there's no reason the bank can't try upselling him. Maybe he needs to learn how to deal with upselling--it happens all the time, in most retail establishments.

I looked up where to complain about your bank--it's not the Federal Reserve. It varies depending on what type of bank it is. The link below should help determine the type of bank and where to complain.

Here is a link that might be useful: who oversees which bank

Final update: I calmly went into the bank today and spoke to the manager and explained the situation. My husband, who has been in sales for many years has taught me to explain (without emotion) my problem and, instead of complaining, ask for what I want to rectify the situation. I wanted the $25 fee waived and it worked!

Oh dear, YOU went to the bank?! That is so damaging to your son's developmental process of becoming an independent adult. This isn't your problem-it is your son's *if he chooses to make it a problem.*

Running interference prevents him from building a sense of confidence in himself as someone who can deal with life as it happens. Parents have got to learn to step aside and allow children to grow up. Do you plan to keep managing his banking forever? College is certainly well old enough to do it on his own.

Sometimes decisions will be made that indeed probably aren't as good as ones mom or dad would make with the benefit of life experience. But if he doesn't learn from mistakes, how will his own life experience be of benefit?!

OK, off my soapbox now.
Ann

I still don't know that this is a case of "upselling' or if the bank representative truly thought this kind of account would be best, since he wanted both savings and checking accounts. It sounds as if it is a streamlined way to get both.

I just noticed Ann's comments above, and I totally agree.

Why are we calling this "upselling"? He wasn't paying for the account was he? It's a very common and convenient way to manage money today. Can I make an observation, which may be way off the mark, but I think mom is more bothered by turning her boy loose in the big world and is still in controlling mode.

They upsold him because he went in to get a passbook savings account and walked out with savings, checking, overdraft protection and an ATM card.

And if I were the Mom supporting him, I too would be monitoring his finances. When he is self supporting - that's the time to be making financial decisions alone.

Independence comes in stages and a lot of college kids need to be shown how to handle situations like this - they aren't born knowing and you can't teach to a situation that hasn't happened yet. Let's all assume the best of this and that it being used as a teaching moment for the son. Cut the OP some slack - she knows her son and when she needs to be in the mix or not.

All that other stuff is what people use to manage money these days. Overdraft protection doesn't cost anything unless you overdraw, savings is savings with or without a passbook, he wanted checking anyway, I guess she could take his ATM away. After all is said and done, did he do so badly that a little parental sit down counseling wouldn't have been more appropriate than marching him back into the bank. Don't blame the bank.

i'm not really sure why some think the bank was trying to 'upsell' here... seems more like an issue between the mom disagreeing with son's decision...

definitely was the right move to simply speak to the branch manager!!! (the fed reserve is not a private institution and def wouldn't have been the appropriate place to file a complaint, if one was warranted...)

Ratherbesewing, I'm glad it worked out. If either of my children had not had the potential $25 charge explained to them (if I understand the situation correctly), I would have done the same thing. Both are responsible, independent, successful (both professionally and in their personal lives) fully functional adults:) Your son observed the way you handled the situation and that example has been filed away for him to follow in the future.

USAA is the best bank. No physical branches but I deposit my checks at the UPS store, all ATM fees (up to a point, higher than I've ever used) are refunded to me so I can get money anywhere and no fees for anything (including checks). I know this has nothing to do with parenting but... I've moved around a lot the last few years and it's the best banking experience I've had.

Isn't USAA only for military families?

USAA is pretty much for those who are in the military or who have a family member in the military. They've loosen up a bit over the years, but I think there still has to be some connection to the military.

As for the OP, I don't think you can put all the blame on the bank. The OP sent her son off to open a specific type of bank account. At the bank, he was told about the other types of accounts the bank has. Sure, I think there was a bit of upselling, but I also think the bank officer was doing his/her job in making sure that the customer knew all the options.

Then the OP's son made a choice. And that choice was to ignore his parent's advice and make a decision of his own.

So yes, the bank had a part in this. But I think that some of the blame needs to be directed at the son, who didn't follow orders.

Not saying the son did anything wrong--maybe the new account met his needs better than the two separate accounts his parent wanted. But the son didn't do what he was told to do. I don't think the bank bears the full responsibility for that.

USAA only offers insurance to those groups. Their banking is open to anyone. If you go to the link below and scroll down to "other individuals" it explains...

Here is a link that might be useful: usaa products