HN Explorer

Wells Fargo won't accept cash deposits, recommended I use uninsured Zelle app

9 points by winternett ↗ HN
I was trying to deposit money into a family member's account at Wells Fargo today, the bank said they no longer accept cash deposits and recommended that I use Zelle, which is not an official, nor insured app for bank to bank transfers. Ref - https://www.google.com/amp/s/techcrunch.com/2018/02/16/zelle-users-are-finding-out-the-hard-way-theres-no-fraud-protection/amp/

I feel somehow that banks should provide better options for online transfers. Am I wrong?

23 comments

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abyssmaven
I think that is absurd and you are in the right to think that there should be a better option. I much prefer just depositing cash into family member's accounts when they need it instead of having to use yet another app to do so.
winternett
What worries me is that a compromise of the app could directly expose my bank info. Wells Fargo said the change was made to stop money laundering. I doubt that will do any good for the cause.
rolph
what worries me is that cash is legal tender. assumption of guilt without cause is also a big concern here. i wonder how thier tune would change if they were owed money.
winternett
Agreed. It should be illegal for banks to not accept verified US dollars for deposit in any case. The money is only moved when official ID is used anyway...
sizzzzlerz
I doubt drug cartels are walking in with a few hundred that they want to launder. That might take awhile to launder the millions a day they're making.
Wowfunhappy
So is a smartphone now literally required in order to use the financial system? I realize most people have them now, but far from everyone. That's pretty scary.
maxerickson
It's one bank.

My credit union will dump change in a counter for members.

rolph
its also faster, and a bit more sanitary to use a counting machine.
Wowfunhappy
True enough. I guess I’m thinking, I really hope this isn’t the start of a trend.
wmf
No, everything is possible through a browser and checks and wires don't even require that.
winternett
Unfortunately bank transfers are not available from Bank of America in their online & mobile interfaces...

I know... begin your "well leave BOA and join a credit union" posts below, but credit unions are not an option for me... :P

bradknowles
I’ve done transfers with the BoA mobile app.

What is it that you’re trying to do that doesn’t work?

2rsf
In Sweden ? more or less yes.

It's very hard to deposit cash, you can withdraw cheques you got from Swedish companies (for a high fee) but otherwise it's difficult and expensive. A lot of physical bank branches are closing down, and many won't accept deposits everything is done online.

Your day to day banking is managed by Mobilt BankID which is mostly a mobile app, it's also used to identify yourself in everything official towards the government or commercially.

If you really want there are physical mini-keyboards to replace it, but they are rare.

And then there is Swish, and other applications, that allows instant, free person to person transfers backed by a consortium of banks.

Trias11
WFC is under compliance pressure to have proper paper trail for everything or else.

US Gov printed so much paper money lately so it's getting hard to track it all.

winternett
They have cameras everywhere in banks. To make an in person deposit, you're logged by default when you show id and get caught on bank cams... Even so, banks could issue apps of their own, backed by the FDIC. That would be the right way in my opinion.
wmf
Zelle has issues but it seems like they wouldn't affect your use case. There are various alternatives but if you're not willing to use Zelle then you probably won't accept any of them either. https://transferwise.com/us/blog/how-to-transfer-to-another-...
winternett
I solved the issue by getting a certified check from my bank... It just gets me that its 2019, and banks are going backward, and also encouraging insecure and risk-laden solutions into normal operations. They're endorsing 3rd party apps, totally unaffiliated with them to customers, all at the customer's risk. Wells Fargo has proven multiple times they don't mind public shame at all though...
toomuchtodo
Your family member might consider moving to a better bank (or preferably, a credit union). Wells Fargo is notoriously a poorly run institution.

Zelle is also not a third party app; Wells Fargo is part owner of the banking consortium that operates it (Early Warning Systems) [1]. It is the large banks’ solution to real-time-ish funds transfer settlement because the Fed has been dragging their feet on a national system as part of ACH modernization.

What fraud prevention or insurance are you seeking with Zelle considering cash deposits and checks (both certified and not) have none?

Disclaimer: I work in financial services, but not Wells. Opinions are my own.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zelle_(payment_service)

RaceWon
> They're endorsing 3rd party apps, totally unaffiliated

Actually Zelle was created by a consortium of banks: Wells Fargo, BOA, Cap 1, etc., etc., to do battle with PayPal and other P2P money apps.

throwaway989898
I think your title is misleading. They will accept cash deposits, just not cash deposits into someone else's account. That's a big difference.
tzm
Of course you can deposit cash in accounts that you have authority. If you aren't on the account, you can deposit a personal check, cashier's check or money order instead. This has been the case for years.