Yves here. As much as banks do try to increase the cost to customers of switching banks, depending on what the Consumer Financial Protection proposed rule about requiring a bank to “unlock” a departing customer’s financial data and transferring it to the new bank amounts to, the banks may have a very legitimate beef.
I do not know how many customers find access to historical records to be important. I have to assume small business customers do since payment records are almost certainly needed in the event of an IRS audit. Yes, you can retain them locally, but I prefer having the security of knowing I can get them from the bank if needed.
Merely from my dealing with three banks (Citi, TD and PNC), it is clear they retain historical information in very different formats. For instance, in my Citi small business account, which has an entirely different (more stringent) login process than their consumer accounts, I have been stymied in locating images of cancelled checks (Citi is very anti-check, this may be part of their effort to discourage use).
TD by contrast links small business to consumer accounts of the owner. They also includes check images in monthly statements for a fee; otherwise, if you want TD to run them down later, the past and perhaps still current practice is for TD to run them down for a fee. PNC does not include them with statements, evah; you can download images painfully, check number by check number, from the bank website.
Similarly, TD only allows downloading of transaction data in a CSV format for a very limited time, as in the past two months, while Citi does not seem to impose time limits.
So if any of these banks were to export their data to a recipient bank, the odds that it could affordably made it accessible to new customers seems like a fantasy.
However, to support the Consumer Financial Protection Bureaus’s beef, many (I assume all) banks wipe historical data when you close an account.
I apologize for not running down the fine points on this debate. Knowledgeable readers are encouraged to fill in the gaps.
By Julia Conley, staff writer at Common Dreams. Originally published at Common Dreams
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SO proving it is important to keep an electronic copy of all bank statements. I used to keep paper but no longer – all have gone on the burn pile!
Having finally fired B of A after a 25 yr relationship in favor of a local Credit Union, so nice to go into a branch and talk with another member. AND – credit unions share ATM’s nation-wide, no fees, so you can access funds anywhere. B of A had coverage gaps, notably in New England, necessitating opening another account just for New England. CU’s are both local, and through collective agreements, national as well. Perhaps a good model for a federation? SOrt of like we sued to have prior to the Wilson administration’s corrupt and war- and global bank-serving actions – federal reserve bank, espionage act, entry into foreign wars with no clear US interest, suppression of free speech, jailing of political enemies – interestingly, repeated by our current Dem administration all. How is it that Dem administrations are responsible for all the wars of the last 125 years (except Iraq, but of course now JWB is an honorary Dem along with Liz Cheney). And it was under the FDR administration that probably the most evil acts of prohibition were enacted – alcohol prohibition, and cannabis prohibition.
How is it that the Dems are so revered when they have done so much evil to the citizens of the US of A and to the world in general? Not entirely sure how I got here from banking but nonetheless, I have to repeat, the Dem party is pure filth. Especially in its current incarnation.
Divadab. Wilson (Dem) vetoed the Volsted Act (Prohibition) in 1919. But Congress over rode the veto.
FDR repealed Prohibition. He was a Dem.
Reagan Repubs started the whole “War on Drugs” thing.
divadab: if dems are pure evil, why did Biden appoint Lina Khan to FCC? Conversely, if Trump is pure evil, why did he kill TPP? Both actions are citizen friendly, big business unfriendly.
Politics is shaded.
This is simply wrong. Alcohol prohibition was the result of the 19th ammendment, passed in 1919. Roosevelt ended prohibition in 1933. It is true that cannabis prohibitioon was criminalized at the Federal level in 1937, but by 1931 marijana was already illegal in 29 states.
Google is your friend, unless you have an agenda.
Alcohol prohibition is a very old issue, going back to the 1820s. Mostly a state issue which became an important party platform issue as a differentiator. Federal prohibition is really just an episode in the larger scheme.
I have notice in my bank statements now bank can see what i buy. I have a feeling they will sell these data to who knows, is there no limit to these people greed. EU even pass new law where bank can close easily your account. I have a feeling they did it for Russians citizens or people who are pro Russians
Electronic banking in the “information” age?
Here in Hawaii, there is no demand for “mainland” banks. Our largest, First Hawaiian (started by the husband of Hawaiian royal Princess Bernice Pauahi) was bought out by what eventually was foreign bank but kept local systems and eventually was spun back out as an independent entity. BofA tried to get into the market by buying Honolulu Fed S&L during the S&L crisis but threw in the towel and sold the branches/accounts to American Savings (owned by local utility).
But in general, I find getting copies of check images is a chore (we use two banks and a credit union). Other than that all data is in Quicken (some going back to 1978) so I’m not really dependent on historical data unless I need “official” statements.
When my father got too old to keep it up I helped him shut down his small business, and my experience is trying to close small business accounts at Chase is the hardest financial thing I have ever done (next to dealing with crappy home loan servicers like Wells Fargo or WaMu).
I’m not sure what data exchange the “open banking” effort is designed to apply to. Does anyone have a link to a summary of the details? If we’re talking about things like: list of online payees, check history, credit card history, etc. This seems designed to appeal to upper middle class people (like me). I don’t see how this ability to exchange data helps any working class people actually get a better deal on their bank services. It seems like “regulation theater” to me.
Stockman Bank out of Miles City, Montanny offers ‘free’ over-50 checking and paper statements via mail (Pony Express!) include check images.
If something is Free, you are the commodity, not sure how they are monetizing my non-glamorous
nominal consumer life.
On line banking forces pass-word changes monthly, I dumped out on it years ago.
A gal I was helping with a Mortgage declined my attempts to cross-sell her on line banking products (Wells Fargo!). She worked in mergers and acquisitions for Cisco, and said, “I will NEVER transact on-line.”
That was enough for me.
Not transacting on line at all is difficult. Risk on a pc can be minimized by using a browser just for financial accounts. I will never put finance related stuff on my phone, including the built in wallet. Far too risky. Won’t get a debit card either.
Banks don’t delete your data when you close an account. Under the new consumer law you can request they do (they still keep some data as required by the federal government). I made this request when Wells Fargo, for the second time since I closed my account in 2009, opened an account in my name. No one ever took credit or provided info on how it happened. But they did report deleting me after I requested.
PNC says very clearly they do delete your transaction records when you close an account, which is what most consumers and business people value. The data they are required to retain is of the account holder, which I assume is things like your SSN, your address and phone number when you had your account, whether this was a solely-owned or joint account, perhaps the types of accounts you had. I don’t see this as very useful for customers to ask their banks to provide to them.
Can’t speak to other FIs’ practice, but mine as a matter of policy retains statements for 7 years irrespective of whether the account is open or closed (and we don’t even remove access to the online platform for closed accounts, a practice I have loudly complained about for years as a big security risk, to no avail). I have always assumed this is a regulatory requirement, but record retention isn’t exactly in my wheelhouse. Judging by your description of other FI policies, I might’ve been off the mark on that assumption.