Banks Run To Help After Hurricane Irene

Hurricane Irene “plowed” through the Eastern seaboard recently, as of the weekend of Aug. 27, leaving behind a widespread trail of damage that was bad, but not as bad as expected by hyped-up news teams and forecasters. And as a result of the damage that was incurred, from August 29 through September 4, some JP Morgan Chase

customers in the greater New York/New Jersey/Connecticut area will have certain bank fees waived. As per a letter officially sent via email to the customers throughout the entire affected region, Chief Executive Officer of Chase Consumer Banking Ryan McInerney notified customers that Chase would be “increasing staff and extending hours at key branches in severely affected areas.” Though they “expect most, if not all” of their ATMs to be operational, Chase customers won't be charged “for using someone else's ATM in the Tri-State area.” McInerny went on to note (in said email) that “however, the bank that owns the ATM may charge you.” They will also be temporarily waiving the following fees: “Overdraft, Overdraft Protection Transfer, and Insufficient Funds Fees for deposit accounts,” as well as “late fees on credit cards, business and consumer loans,” as the email went on to indicate. Bank of America

intends to assist their customers, “on a case-by-case basis,” Kelli Raulerson, a spokeswoman for BofA, said in an email, according to Bloomberg. “Mobile ATM units are being deployed to support customers where most significant needs exist due to storm impacts,” Raulerson said as reported by Bloomberg. Citibank will also assess customers in need individually, in a case-by-case basis. Furthermore, ATM fees will be waived for Wells Fargo customers residing in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut from August 29 through September 2 when they use out-of-network ATM's, although transactions may still be subject to fees administered by the other banks that operate the machines. According to Bloomberg, Wells Fargo spokesman Kevin Friedlander stated that the lending institution also won't charge early withdrawal fees on CDs. Meanwhile, Capital One is inviting customers affected by Irene to reach out in person at a branch, via phone or online, if they should have special banking needs, said Stephen Schooff, a Capital One spokesman, via email to the Bloomberg website. “We have policies in place to assist those customers on a case-by-case basis to include fee waivers, APR reductions, payment plans, etc.,” Schooff said. The full extent of the damages from Irene has yet to be fully assessed. Many residents in the area went without power and incurred damages to their homes, property and automobiles. All this, while yet another new and possibly hazardous hurricane, Katia, is brewing out in the Atlantic Ocean and is expected to hit the United States Gulf Coast region on the coming Labor Day weekend. Will banks in that area react similarly if customers are left as affected? Unfortunately, time will be the lone test of that.