Free checking accounts are supposed to be bare-bones, that's why they have so many fees and other "gotchas" attached to them. I know through experience that TCF will always reverse an overdraft charge if you talk to a manager. That's pretty good service for a bank. Try asking Citibank or Bank One for the same thing.

My senior year I went looking for an alternative bank because at the time TCF wouldn't interface with Quicken. It's hard to find a bank, with branches in Dekalb and in the western suburbs, that offers free checking. I ended up with 5/3rd, which is over by Walmart. Still not as convenient, but I've been happy with them ever since then.

But yeah, I will agree with you, TCF is a pretty decent bank for free checking. You can't beat the convenience of TCF, they're everywhere! If you can't balance your god damn check book, I'm sorry but the $35 penalty is the least of your worries. So stop bitching.

I should also mention that I know someone who had their TCF checking account number and pin stolen (paypal scam) and lost close to $1500 because of it. TCF ate the whole thing and deposited the $1500 to a new checking account within 48 hours. IMO, TCF was under no obligation to provide the $1500, but they did and the experience ended being a positive one.

yes, and if you just watch what they charge for, a checking account is really free. i mean not only is my discover credit card totally free, they also pay me! if ur dumb and dont watch what they charge for, yes you will pay discover some 25 stupid %, so therefore, you cannot have a balance! its just that easy, dont use non-tcf atms, and you will have no surprise fees!

ive said a lot more on the niu livejournal, look at the comments there.

This is about a comment made by John. I have an account with a Founders branch and I had money taken from me one three separate times. If you catch the mistake soon enough which I caught it the third time then the bank will pay you the money that was stolen from you because you didn't authorize the charge or allow anyone to take it. It is a banks policy to try and fix want went wrong. But I have known people that had experience with TCF and they would deposit money into the account and it take sometimes almost a whole week to clear before the amount was listed and you could touch it.

Good lord! Three times?

Well, I have to disagree that TCF is a decent bank. It's fine to say just balance your checkbook, but I have found that to be nearly impossible with TCF since they are so good at hitting your account with fees. I've had fees show up on my account when it's been inactive for a week. I once had a $14 ATM fee assessed to my account (surprise!). Since I am struggling and can not afford to keep much cash buffer in my account, I am the kind of customer TCF just looooves - the poor who can not afford their charges, resulting in more charges, resulting in more charges. And their mistakes on my account have been innumerable, and no, they do NOT necessarily refund overdraft fees, even if it's their goof. They refunded fees to me once, but only the fees that were a direct result of their mistake. It did not pay for the big returned check fees of the merchants I had to pay off to clear up the returned checks. And I can't just close my account and go to another bank because I am still in the check reporting system despite the fact that the checks were paid. I need an account for my business, so TCF has me by the short hairs. And while we're at it, I talked with two different people at TCF about a fraud issue and another issue, and they are both a week late in getting back to me. Go, TCF!