Stifling bank fees

Editor: We have $4,000 in our savings account. Chase gave us 2 cents interest for last quarter. We were overdrawn in our checking account recently by 82 cents, due to the order in which the bank processes transactions.

My payroll check is automatically deposited from the city of Petaluma at 12:01 a.m. every other Friday. The service charge was assessed after the deposit was made. A $39 overdraft charge. We then took money out of our savings to make sure we kept enough in our checking account. The bank then assessed a $10 charge on our savings account for excess activity.

My first loan was at Exchange Bank in 1963. I was in my junior year at Santa Rosa High School. It was $500 for a ’56 Chevy. My mom co-signed for me. It was done with little more than a handshake. If I was a few days late, it wasn’t the end of the world. A simple phone call would suffice. And they would actually answer the phone.

We are now going on a cash basis. I think a can in the backyard will do just fine. Unfortunately, we will be losing a few cents in interest.

NEIL SHEA,

Petaluma