I have also called 1-800 number to talk to a Phone Banking Rep who adamantly said when one has a Business + Personal banking relationship, there is NO monthly fee to the Premier Checking Account. I asked her about the conditions listed on Chase website, how to explain that? She said the website did not address the Relationship Banking. She told me even when one misses the 5 debit card non PIN transactions, one would ONLY be charged with the fee on the Business Classic, but NOT the fee on the Premier Checking that linked to the Business Classic.

My banker also called me back again today to re-assure me this IS the case - no fee as long as I do the 5 debit card non pin on Business Classic. She further said, "I am your personal banker, if and ever you get charged the fee on the Premier Checking when you have met the 5 debit card transactions, come see me at the branch and I would take care of it."

And YES, I can go back to my banker in case there is a fee hit our accounts.

Seriously, one can easily downgrade back to the Personal Classic Checking and it STILL allows the 5 debit card transactions (on the Classic Checking itself) to avoid monthly fee. Only the Better Checking or whatever the name is called, requires $1500 balance and then one does not need to do the debit card trannie.

I dont see such a big deal because one can easily downgrade back to the Classic Checking. Besides, there is no notification whatsoever on our accounts whether from statements or email or what have you, 0 notification on such changes - the only thing I know such may be coming is from your post.

Finally, she is NOT babbling the WAMU change over you talk about - she is talking about Chase is NOW hitting those "converted" WAMU free checking accounts with new stipulations to avoid fees. Nothing to do with the description you gave about WAMU - those were in pass tense already.

She also wasn't trying to sell me a CC, she was just going over my account and then saw that offer of $100 sign up bonus. As a banker, this is natural she would mention this to the client. I would do the same thing if I am in the same position. However I have yet come across a banker, be it with Chase, BofA or Citi, who would mention the offers in their system but when customers tell them there are better offers from other sources, that they would still press the offers. They are just doing their jobs, like you and me, and part of their jobs is to sell their banking products they see from their end. I would not read into that being "ignorant" on the current changes while trying to sell a new product.

So now I feel much better because personal banker's info has been VERIFIED by a 3rd party - the Phone Banking Rep from 1-800-935-9935. The phone banking rep also said THE ONLY CHANGES are to those old WAMU accounts.

You may want to call the 1-800 number and see if YOUR area accounts are the same. I honestly feel you SHOULD call the 1-800 number as there is at least ANOTHER poster who called Chase and got the SAME info as I did. I am 100% sure the poster is NOT in the same region I am in.

I were you I would call to see if the 1-800 tells you the same thing your branch manager has told you, so you can know for sure if your branch manager is telling you the truth.

Now we have at least 3 sources - my personal banker, the 1-800 number I called, and the other poster who also called Chase though that person did not say whether it is 1-800 or his / her branch.

As for your branch manager, he is BSing in my opinion. Yeah, every bank wants to have customers put ALL their money with the bank, regardless other things. My banker has no issue for me NOT to put money into our Chase accounts when I told her CapOne is paying 1.05% for a MMA and 1.01% for a fully liquid checking account. Chase cannot match that whatsoever, and she fully understands it.

Out of curiosity, were you told by the branch manager when you came in to close the accounts, or were you go in the bank to do some business and the branch manager came out to talk to you? Or did you EVER receive any notification of any form about this changes?

May be your branch manager wants to get rid of unprofitable accounts and choose such unethical tactics to scare you to close all your accounts. Who knows?

For us, our accounts are not 6 months old yet, therefore I would not close them to risk my bonuses being yawned.

As for the "Chase at the verge of buying another big bank..." this aint going to happen after the financial crisis and the outcry of the "too big to fail" bail out big banks.

Who the heck "a big bank" in this country Chase could buy? Not BofA, not Citi, not US Bank, not SunTrust, not PNC...

No such rumors circulating on WS lately regarding this. The only news I saw right now is JP Morgan Chase is in the thick of the Madoff's Fraid...

News Alert
from The Wall Street Journal


J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. stood “at the very center” of Bernard Madoff’s fraud, according to a lawsuit unsealed Thursday that reveals for the first time how bank employees’ concerns went unheeded and irregularities in his accounts were overlooked.

The $6.4 billion lawsuit filed by Irving Picard says J.P. Morgan only reported its long-held suspicions of Mr. Madoff to British authorities in late October 2008, less than two months before he surrendered and the fraud was exposed.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...=djemalertNEWS

I dug up the November 13 to December 14 statement, there was a page of notice of changes on fees effective Feb 5th. This is the ONLY notification I ever receive regarding any changes on Fee Structure.

Affected items are:
ATM and Debit Card Fees
Overdraft Protection Transfer Fee
Deposited Item Returned (or cash items returned) Fee
Stop Payment
Stop Payment via Chase.com or Chase by Phone automatic phone system
Wire Transfer Domestic Outgoing, also Domestic Outgoing via Chase online
Counter Check
Legal Process

There is No Mentioning about Monthly Fee change.

The Premier Checking Account never can use debit card transaction to avoid Monthly Fee if it is all by itself - I dont know if you ever know about this - it is only when you have a "Relationship Banking" that has both Business and Personal accounts linked together, then the monthly fee is waived as long as it is linked to the Business Account(s).

Now there is another twist to the "Relationship banking" because at least one or two posters said they do NOT have to do any debit card transactions even on their Business Classic because it is linked to the Premier Checking which existence is due to a Business Classic is opened ... I even went into lengthy discussion with a particular poster on the main thread because again my banker said I DO NEED to do the 5 debit card transactions on my Business Classic to avoid fee. Ditto another poster friedice is told the SAME info when s/he called Chase.

It would be too co-incidental that both me and friedice are told erroneous information by 3 different Chase employees - my personal banker and the phone banking rep I talked to, as well as the Chase employee friedice talked to....

Time will tell. However for anyone who still needs to keep their accounts open for a good while, the best thing to do is to call the 1-800 number AND to call the banker who handles your accounts, to find out for sure.

Those who do call, please report back so we will get a better picture of the situation. There are folks whose accounts were opened in October or even during the extended period, they can NOT close their accounts as the 6 months are not up yet. Else their bonuses would be yawned by Chase and I do believe it would happen, particular now Chase actually has such language in the new UA 10K offer.

rep told me you can no longer get this debit card??

The CO debit card is no more, and the new cards come with a $3 a month fee. Paper statements, which wasn't mentioned in your list of items affected with new fees are also $3 a month.
My accounts are now closed as well as my wifes...I got in at the beginning of this offer, and actually told my banker about it, when I signed up. I cancelled my accounts and signed up again last year because the T&C stated you could get the bonus once per calander year. Nowhere in any of the T&C did it say 6 months required. I left them open that long because I knew my banker would get a commission for each account that way, she also got a bonus for us using billpay. Unless it said so in the T&C chase cant yank back any points. We first opened the basic account and then business, and we had to swipe each debit card 5 times to avoid fees....then my banker told me I could change the basic accounts to premiere and link it to the business and only have to swipe 5 times on the business debit to avoid the fees.
I was told this wouldnt work anymore, and one of my bankers reads FT and looks for the same loopholes we do. they didnt say if downgrading from premiere to basic again would work and maybe there is a configuration that will keep accounts fee free without 5k in business or 1.5k in premiere or $500 DD, but my bankers just told me, no. The fact that our bankers tell us each different stories is confusing, but i have no doubt that the fees and requirements have changed and I would have had to pay a fee. just as you are sure that you will not be hit with a fee if you continue your 5 swipes for your accounts. I could have waited for proof in writing or let the fees hit my account and then disputed them with my banker next month, but why wait?
It really doesn't matter to me since I would have closed them in a couple of months when the debit card fees hit again, but with new fees and changes hitting these accounts now, for people like me it's easier to just close it down now. I can see wanting to find a way to keep them open for the 6 month, not for fear of points being repo'd (unless it specifically states 6 months in the T&C of your offer), but out of thanks to your banker. The best thing you said was you discussed it with your personal banker and they will reverse the fees if you get hit. I suggest others do the same, if they plan to keep these accounts open for a while.
I am now happy with my free checking at Suntrust and the DL miles I got from their program, although i will cancel my business account there in June when the min balance requirement changes to 1K and just keep the personal account which has no min balance req, no req DD, and no required swipes of the debit card.
Hopefully Suntrust will do the DL offer again next year and I will be able to do it again. I also hope Chase will do a similar offer with UA miles later this year once the merger has progressed.

I know the whole thing is confusing - but for those of us who still need to keep the accounts open for 6 months so not to risk the miles being yawned back, here are a Summary I hope would help.

For accounts opened after Aug/Sept - yes, there were languages about the 6 months and that actually was also specifically mentioned by personal banker. Others have reported same data points in the sister thread residing in CO forum.

Here is the post on the sister thread in CO forum about the 6 months clause. Incidentally this poster has been arguing with me and a few others about the 6 months are not needed, UNTIL of course he got the same wordings for his account(s) from Chase as an Update.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/15423888-post260.html

Therefore, I say, close the account before 6 months are up at your own risk. Me, I would wait till the 6 months are passed with a week or 2, before closing them for good. Meanwhile I will count on my personal banker's words. I also feel that in the case if a fee is posted, the banker has the discretionary power to reverse at least the first such posting as a courtesy. Then she can downgrade the account back to Classic. I have no issue for that. I even offer to downgrade it now but she insisted there is no such need.

First of all, the personal Classic Checking is still free IF you do the DD of $500, or the 5 debit card transactions.

The $1,500 min balance is for Better Checking (or something like that), NOT the Premier Checking, which actually requires $15,000 combined balances from all eligible sources - quite a big difference - when one important 0 is omitted.

The Business Classic remains FREE regardless balance as long as you do the 5 debit card transactions each month.

All the above are stated in Chase own web page for anyone to see.

I dont see WHY one cannot downgrade to a Personal Classic, especially it is upgraded from that very same produce to begin with. Banks allow customers switch product types to meet customers need all the time. They normally find ways to work with you instead of "scaring" you off.

It does not mention any fee for a debit card. If a bank charges a monthly fee to have a debit card, I believe many would simply close their accounts because many people use their debit cards to do ATM withdrawals. I can see a Saving account, a MM Account may impose a monthly fee on a debit card. But for a demand deposit account, i.e. a Checking Account, an ATM card is almost a given. Again, such info is not published on Chase website.

The missing parts and that have caused lots of confusion is, on Chase website, it does not mention about any "Relationship" banking that would avoid monthly fee.

At the beginning some bankers even told some FTers as reported in the original CO bonus thread, that once the Business Classic and Personal Premier is linked, neither account requires any particular action to avoid monthly fee... This seems to be a mis-interpretation to me because the Premier Checking for most folks is a product of upgrade when a Business Classic is opened. Otherwise I seriously doubt anyone here would keep a $15,000 combined balance at Chase to have a Premier Checking... A $1,500 Better Checking - many of us would do if this means not to worry about the debit card transactions or DD.

There are though, several separately verified data points about 5 debit card transactions done on the Business Classic side would avoid monthly fee not only on the Business Classic but also the linked Premier Checking.

May be friedice could chime in on his / her conversation with Chase about no need to keep a $15,000 monthly balance.

Just a suggestion, next time when you post, would you mind use paragraph?

It is kind of hard to read and understand your posts due to its format. Using paragraphs would help us all.

Thank you for your heads up information regardless.

Based on the materials that I received, the only account that I have that will change at this juncture is my old WAMU "free checking" account. Maybe it varies from state to state (I am in California).

I just opened a new business account with Chase that came with a UA CC (30k miles bonus after 1st charge). I was instructed that, so long as I use the CC once a month, I will not incur fees. I plan to charge my virtual office rent to that card, plus some other monthly bills, so that's a piece of cake.

As noted above, my old WAMU "free checking" is no longer free, but my banker is linking it to yet another business account that I have (in addition to my own business, I am Treasurer of another organization) that has a decent average balance (typically $20k+) and -- according to my banker -- it will keep that checking account free. I went into the bank to close that account, as I have plenty of other accounts (as emphasized in this post!) and don't really need it. It was never linked to a FF account.

I was further informed that my "second" personal account at Chase will continue to be free, so long as I do the 5 credit transactions each month with my CO debit card. They said that, given the balance in one of my business accounts, I get 2 free checking accounts, so I assume I could change it to that.

I'm far from an expert and frankly fairly lost, but, for now, I have left all of my accounts open. I have gotten roughly over 100,000 in miles from Chase, so I'll ride it out to make sure the banker isn't giving me bad info.

Oh, come on. Don't buy their crap. This is basically a money grab because they are pissed at the government at capping their fees and they have the scale to effectively tell the government and consumers "Screw you". It's not like they actually need the money (correction: they wouldn't if they stopped making lousy investments), it's because they can.

Meanwhile, somehow card issuers in Europe and elsewhere have long figured out how to survive on tiny commissions.

EDIT: Anyway, I closed both my accounts today. Bye, bye Mr. Dimon.

+1

Chase is a good bank--perhaps a cut above the rest. Recently, another bank, Bank of America, moved its mini-branch out of a local supermarket (Save Mart), left a sign explaining where the nearest branch is located. Guess who moved in? Who has fresh coffee free to walk-in customers at its branches? Who has the modern, accept-anything ATM's? Who has the cleanest looking banks? Who pairs up with several airlines to offer airline cards? Who really listens to airline credit card acct holders?

Answer: Chase.

"Chase is my base, my taste!"

I dunno. When I was with Chase I always had the feeling of being a very valued number.

I closed that account down when Chase started adding in new fees. My new bank is very small and, thus far, thinks of me as a person.

It's not crap, they want to make money, and the government is cutting off one of their biggest revenue streams. Many companies would probably do the same thing if they ran a business and the government cut off a money making program.

The fee cap that caused them to end these reward programs doesn't apply to smaller banks. You should be complaining to the geniuses who wrote this law without thinking about the consequences it would have for consumers.

Chase needs the money, because their mission is to make as much of it as possible.

Yes, and the cost of almost everything there is higher.

Thanks for the info and in-depth research, Happy. I have both accounts, with a $200 DD to the personal, and I try to do the 5 swipes each month. Got my accounts in May 2010.

Glad to know it should be staying the same.

For those of you with CO debit cards, I received this today. I inquired when I will stop earning CO miles on my preferred debit card.

Dear docr775,

Thank you for contacting the Internet Service Center.

We apologize for the inconvenience you are experiencing
right now with regards to your Continental Airlines debit
card rewards.

Due to the overwhelming response to Chase Online, we are
experiencing an increase in the volume of e-mail messages
and, therefore, a temporary delay in responding. We
appreciate your patience and apologize for any
inconvenience this may cause.

In line with your inquiry, we reviewed your account ending
in xxxx and our records indicate that you will continue to
earn rewards until July 2011.

If you require further assistance, please e-mail us via
the Secure Message Center or contact Chase By Phone at
1-800-935-9935
Thank you,


Modesto Torrado
Internet Service Center

So I sent a secured email to inquire the same ...

The first 2 responses were full of inaccurate information. I told the 2nd replier to go up to the manager level to find out ONCE and for all, because their replies were total contraction with the personal banker's and the phone rep's information.

The 3rd reply finally came, and basically they explained why they have missed the correct answer, and blah blah blah... Oh, they only replied my account, but haven't replied to husband's account... though I guess having ONE written reply finally bears correct info is good enough, I am not going to follow up on husband's account..

Here it is: Underlining and Bolding of course are mine.

Date: 02-07-2011 22:01:21
From: Chase Online
Subject: Re: Account Inquiry
Message:
Dear Happy,

Thank you for contacting the Internet Service Center.

I'm sorry for all of the confusion this situation has
caused. I've reviewed your original message, and our
response to it. From what I read, it appears our
representative only stated that the general requirements
for Chase Premier Checking will remain the same, which is
correct; however, the general requirements do not include
a statement about the Business to Personal connection,
which is what your personal banker is referring to. That
requirement is also remaining the same.

Unfortunately, the second representative took your
question to mean that you were using your personal Premier
Checking account to waive the monthly service fee on your
BusinessClassic Checking account, which is possible to do.
Because of that, she said you must meet the regular
Premier Checking requirements while the BusinessClassic
Checking service fee would automatically be waived.

To get to the heart of your question: Your BusinessClassic
Checking will continue to waive the monthly service fee on
your Premier Checking account. You will not need to worry
about the changes to our checking accounts, with regard to
this matter.

The e-mail representatives who respond to these questions
also take phone calls, so it's possible the phone
representative you spoke with was also an e-mail banker.
For the final decision on your accounts, I would always
recommend you use the information you've received from
your personal banker, as that person has more control over
your accounts and is readily familiar with your banking
relationship.

Again, I sincerely apologize for the confusion this has
caused and appreciate the time you've taken to message us.

If you have any questions or require further assistance,
please e-mail us via the Secure Message Center or contact
our Internet Service Center at 1-877-242-7372.

Thank you,


Eric xxxxx
Internet Service Center