| Let's look at each of these to understand how HigherOne expects to make money off students, particularly students who are new to banking, or only have this one outlet to manage their financial aid dollars:
Insufficient funds fees are traditionally fees that banks charge at the instance of overdraw. In other words, when you spend more money than you have, they charge you a fee. For banks this is a way to recuperate the cost of extending to you a good faith payment to your debtor in the amount of your overdraft protection. Unfortunately, HigherOne does not offer overdraft protection.
This is singly a punitive measure that is twice the normal rate of nationally competing banks!
Lack of documentation fees target international students without ready access to state issued ID cards, Federal Social Security cards, Federal TIN forms. This is easily the most predatory. Establishing your identity in the form of your enrollment in a financial aid program simply isn't good enough for HigherOne. They want to take advantage of international students and students without certified documentation like birth certificates in a supposed attempt to control fraudulent attempts to receive your financial aid. This tactic is particularly nasty when their greatest boon to students is offering banking services to those who do not already have a trusted institution to manage their financial aid funds.
If you thought it couldn't get any worse, you've yet to see the $19 per month inactivity fee. If, for 9 months, an account with a balance receives no activity, HigherOne will charge that account $19 per month until that balance is depleted.
We must consider this fee beyond its face value. As HigherOne has proven in other markets, 9 months happens to be the end of summer for most traditional students who do not attend classes during the summer intersession. Many students in Oregon and other states around the nation have come back to college after summer break only to find that their account has been reduced substantially by the automatic withdrawal of this one fee alone.
Domestic and international wire transfer fees that are outrageous compared to competitors offer yet another way to bleed students of government funds that are in their care. Paypal would offer a cheaper alternative than HigherOne!
But that's not all. The even more devious $.50 fee for PIN based transactions. What is free from any other bank or credit union, HigherOne insists on a profit from and offers no fraud protection for! Only "sign and swipe" transactions are exempt and protected!
"Ease of use," and "wealth of choices," are simply the semantic tools Higher One uses to grow fat off guaranteed government aid to low income students, and their parents. These are not choices. These are not services that benefit students. These are the pork of profiteers. And we wonder why the cost of tuition is rising.
Help fight Higher One by letting OCCC and other Oklahoma Higher Education institutions know your opinions. Help put a stop to predator banks that take advantage of students and young people just starting their adult life.
Call or write your Congressmen, the State Board of Regents, and your local Universities through their Bursar's Office. Let them know that this kind of banking is class warfare and is unacceptable. |
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