Any banking people in the house?

The internet tells me;

" In consumer banking, "Regulation D" often refers to §204.2(d)(2) of the regulation, which limits withdrawals or outgoing transfers from a savings or money market account. No more than six such transactions per statement period may be made from an account by various "convenient" methods, which include checks, debit card payments, and automatic transactions such as automated clearing house transfers or electronic bill payment. Institutions must warn any customer that exceeds the limit and must freeze, close or reclassify accounts that do so repeatedly. The regulation does not limit transactions made in person, at an ATM, by mail, or by telephone request for a mailed check. Even in these cases, the institution may require seven-day advance written notice before releasing funds. This right is not normally exercised, but it must be part of the account agreement.[2] "

My understanding is that savings accounts can only have up to 6 outgoing transactions per statement cycle that are done electronically (ie not in person)

After talking with a banker, he said that they look at *ALL* electronic requests, incoming and outgoing (direct deposits, atm withdrawals, electronic bill pay, transfers within your accounts)

This is the first time I've had an issue in 10+ years. which version is 'correct', or is it all institution based?

"Looking at" shouldn't be a problem.  Are they denying your access to funds?

1kris06 said:

My understanding is that savings accounts can only have up to 6 outgoing transactions per statement cycle that are done electronically (ie not in person)

After talking with a banker, he said that they look at *ALL* electronic requests, incoming and outgoing (direct deposits, atm withdrawals, electronic bill pay, transfers within your accounts)

 

This is the first time I've had an issue in 10+ years. which version is 'correct', or is it all institution based?

My guess is this might just be the way your bank operates, or the person you are talking to misspoke.  From my own experience with my savings accounts, your understanding would be correct.  It seems to only count the outgoing transactions, not incoming, against the six transaction total.   I suppose there could be differences in if the savings account bank is the originator of the ACH transaction or not, but I didn't think that mattered.  The regulation seems to specify outbound transactions only... 

I'm not a banker, but from their perspective, the problem is they are trying to leverage your money on loans to make more on it than they pay you in interest. It is hard for them to give the money out and make money on a loan if you are constantly asking for it back. They want you to park the money in a savings account and let them use it for a while. Checking accounts are for many transactions. (Mutual funds often have similar rules by the way - after you transact there is often a waiting period before you can take money out again).

You putting more money in multiple times a month does not hamper their activities however, so it theory, the rules should just regulate withdraws. 

I have a second savings account I use for Paypal purchases, with the idea I can keep a small amount in this account in case it ever gets hacked.  I normally don't buy that many things with Paypal, but I recently had multiple purchases within a few days and that's when I found out my bank limits the number of electronic withdraws allowed per month; the end result is I got hit up with $15 service charges for each purchase I made over that limit.  I've been thinking I should change it to a checking account to avoid any future problems.

Yeah, basically no reason not to use a checking account for anything that would have a bunch of transactions. All funds available w/in 3 days of deposit.

In reply to 1kris06 :

My understanding, from my credit union, was that it's some sort of administrative thing similar to transferring over $10,000 dollars. There's paperwork that needs to be filed with the feds and they charge you for that inconvenience.

stuart in mn said:

I have a second savings account I use for Paypal purchases, with the idea I can keep a small amount in this account in case it ever gets hacked.  I normally don't buy that many things with Paypal, but I recently had multiple purchases within a few days and that's when I found out my bank limits the number of electronic withdraws allowed per month; the end result is I got hit up with $15 service charges for each purchase I made over that limit.  I've been thinking I should change it to a checking account to avoid any future problems.

This is exactly what happened to me. I have an old account at our podunk bank back in IL that I kept open just for PayPal, and I set it up so I’d deposit money into checking, then transfer money to savings just to cover individual purchases(to prevent PayPal from potentially freezing my account). When I was working on the Miata last summer I crossed their withdrawal threshold a couple months in a row & ended up with multiple fees(which I didn’t notice for a while since I only use the accounts for PayPal. 

I ended up setting up a second checking account for PayPal & transferred everything to it. 

They pay you interest on your savings account because it is of limited use.  Want to use it more often?  Turn it into a chequeing account and give up the interest.