Stealth Trip Up - New Bank Account?

[jdmswagserf]

Originally Posted by Dmshark25

Most banks now have monthly fees, or require a minimum amount to waive the fees

I will have to double check, just saw students under 23 get fees waived or a $12/month fee.
The weird thing is the checking account I have with BOA(was linked to a suspended account so I can't use it) has no minimum balances or monthly fees, I can't remember if I signed up as a student though.

[plumsake2]

Yeah sometimes you can get grandfathered in. I opened my BOA account when I was in high school way back when they had different account types. They weren't charging any fees then (not even to normal checking accounts if I can recall correctly). Of course since then they added various monthly fees but I haven't had to pay any of them on my checking that I opened then, nor on my savings that I opened at the same time.

If you were in the military or you are related to someone who was, I suggest USAA. They don't have any minimum balance fees or monthly service fees, charge only $25 to open an account, and they allow mismatched deposits. They're basically like a credit union/major bank hybrid. All of the features of a large bank, but the customer service of a credit union.

If not then I recommend PNC. Their virtual wallet program would open you 3 accounts at once (checking and savings x2). The checking has a $7 monthly fee if you don't meet balance requirements but the savings doesn't have monthly fees. They're one of the cheapest I know among major banks that works well with stealth.

[jdmswagserf]

Originally Posted by plumsake2

Yeah sometimes you can get grandfathered in. I opened my BOA account when I was in high school way back when they had different account types. They weren't charging any fees then (not even to normal checking accounts if I can recall correctly). Of course since then they added various monthly fees but I haven't had to pay any of them on my checking that I opened then, nor on my savings that I opened at the same time.

If you were in the military or you are related to someone who was, I suggest USAA. They don't have any minimum balance fees or monthly service fees, charge only $25 to open an account, and they allow mismatched deposits. They're basically like a credit union/major bank hybrid. All of the features of a large bank, but the customer service of a credit union.

If not then I recommend PNC. Their virtual wallet program would open you 3 accounts at once (checking and savings x2). The checking has a $7 monthly fee if you don't meet balance requirements but the savings doesn't have monthly fees. They're one of the cheapest I know among major banks that works well with stealth.

I know you're not a bank teller, but since my current account has no fees, could I grandfather new accounts in it?
I will call and ask today, but just wanting a heads up.

Originally Posted by jdmswagserf

so maybe one bank every week or 2 weeks?
if i open 2-3 new checking accounts at one bank at a time, will that raise flags?

Opening 2-3 new accounts at the same bank shouldn't raise any flags (they might ask why).

For different banks, I would spread them out at least 2 weeks. Nothing (in my opinion) is worth risking a red flag.

[plumsake2]

Originally Posted by jdmswagserf

I know you're not a bank teller, but since my current account has no fees, could I grandfather new accounts in it?
I will call and ask today, but just wanting a heads up.

No I don't think so. I have opened a few accounts at BOA and they all have monthly fees. It's just my original checking + savings that doesn't seem to be charged monthly fees.

I tend to stick with savings accounts for my low volume stealths since the monthly fee (and requirements to waive the monthly fees) are lower. Downside is that you are only allowed up to 6 transfers from a savings account per month (and with some banks they don't even allow 6). I just do 2 transfers per month from my various savings into my main checking.

[fbueller]

Why bother with a physical bank to begin with? Most online banks are fee free and you can open/close from home. I've heard about some banks where you can generate subaccounts with new account numbers, so if one PP gets banned you just go generate a new one and you don't need to open and close accounts. But I'm not 100% sure on that, can someone back that up please?

Edit: Looks like it's about opening a 'supplemental' account that you can reserve specifically as a secondary account for this stuff. Opening and closing at a bank you're already at is a 5 minute process. I notice Alliant Credit Union lets you do this, do they allow mismatch?

Also, does the mailing address on the stealth account have to be the same as the bank's information about your address? I.e. can you open a bank account at 666 Maple Lane but successfully use it with a Paypal account that has your address listed as 111 Main St?

[plumsake2]

Online only banks tend to not accept mismatched name deposits and in general do not work well with stealth. I'm sure there are many untested ones and/or ones that are not well documented, but the most popular online only banks (Ally and CapitalOne360 come to mind) are troublesome. And I also do know that Discover Bank doesn't work with mismatched names either.

If you use an online only bank that works with stealth, then that's great - but for most people it's a lot easier to just open an account at a major bank that is proven to work well with stealth, as a opposed to hoping that an untested bank works.

CapitalOne360 is about as close to your example that I can think of. You can open sub-accounts in a matter of seconds, but as I mentioned they aren't a good choice for stealth.

The address on your Paypal account doesn't need to match the address your bank has on file. Paypal does not know anything about your bank other than what you willingly tell them (i.e. your account number).

[fbueller]

Thanks plumsake2, that's perfect. I'll give Alliant a try since it's two clicks for me to open a supplemental account and run a test deposit from PP. It seems that Credit Unions are a little more lenient than other banks as well. If it doesn't work, no big deal - I'll open a major bank account somewhere.

[gtara1]

boa has $300 saving account with no fees

[123]

PNC is also pretty cool, if you get there wallet they actually give you 3 banks in 1

[Rubberdog]

Originally Posted by just_smile

You only add your bank account to paypal, not ebay.

Let me explain, you open a new bank account in your real name, bob smith.

When you attach it to paypal, use your stealth name. Paypal can not see the name attached to the bank account, they only see the account number and sort code.

Whenever adding information to paypal, ALWAYS use your stealth details.

Ah this is good info! So when you add your personal 'real' bank details to the stealth PayPal account you just use the name of the stealth person and the real account number etc? And therefore when you pay your eBay fees via PayPal it's all clean?

[autumnraven]

Hey there, I just opened up a Wells Fargo checking account and they will be sending me a visa debit card. Can I use that same card on my stealth paypal account instead of getting a virtual card? Thanks!

[plumsake2]

A debit card like that won't work with stealth because it will fail AVS check. The name/address on your stealth Paypal isn't going to match the name/address Wells has on file, which is where the AVS check fail would happen.

[freddyg]

What happens when PAYPAL asks to verify with ID and SSN?