How to waive a Wells Fargo monthly account fee
You get the published rules for Wells Fargo Everyday Checking, the words to look for on a statement, and a short list of questions for the phone. Asking Wells Fargo to remove a fee already charged is a request. Wells Fargo can say no. This page does not promise a waiver.
What this fee is
A monthly service fee is a charge from the bank for the account itself. It is not a store purchase, not a subscription, and not a refund. A refund is money back. It is not a new expense.
An overdraft fee, a wire fee, and an ATM fee are different lines. How to ask about an overdraft fee is the page for that separate charge. A different Wells Fargo checking account can have a different monthly fee. Match the account name on your statement. Your account agreement controls the fee, not this page.
Wells Fargo Everyday Checking
These amounts are in US dollars. They come from the Wells Fargo Everyday Checking page. Monthly fees at Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo lists this account next to the other two banks.
Wells Fargo lists a $15 monthly service fee for Everyday Checking. The same page says you can avoid it with one of the following in each fee period. You do not need all of them.
One: a $1,500 minimum daily balance. Two: $500 or more in total qualifying electronic deposits. The page says which deposits count in the qualifying deposits section. Read that section before you rely on a deposit. Three: the primary account owner is 17 through 24 years old. Wells Fargo says that when the primary owner turns 25, age no longer avoids the fee. Four: $5,000 or more in qualifying deposit balances, investment balances, or both. Five: a qualifying monthly non-civilian military direct deposit with the Wells Fargo Worldwide Military Banking program.
Wells Fargo says the fee period is the period used to calculate the monthly service fee, and that the details are on the Monthly Service Fee Summary on your statement. A fee period is not always a calendar month.
Find the fee on the statement
Read the account name first. Then look for the Monthly Service Fee Summary and a line named monthly service fee. Write the date, the printed name, and the amount. A Wells Fargo checking statement in US dollars stays in USD. How to read a statement PDF separates fees, purchases, payments, and refunds.
If Wells Fargo later credits the fee back, that credit is money returned. It is not a new expense, and it is not a subscription.
A $15 fee charged every month for 12 months is $180. The result is arithmetic. It is not a quote from Wells Fargo, and it is not money Wells Fargo has agreed to return.
What to ask Wells Fargo
Use the phone number on the statement if it is printed there. Have the date, the fee name, and the amount. Ask which of the five ways to avoid the fee Wells Fargo says you missed. Ask whether a deposit was a qualifying electronic deposit. Ask what the fee period was, using the Monthly Service Fee Summary. Then ask Wells Fargo to review the fee or remove it. They can say no. This page has no success rate, because a made up rate would be a guess.
If the answer is no, ask what would have to be true in the next fee period for the fee to be $0, and ask for the bank's complaint steps. You can also send a complaint to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau after you have Wells Fargo's answer. US bank fees links that step. Expenvo does not file the complaint.
Upload a statement in Expenvo to see the bank fee lines it recognizes, listed on their own. The PDF stays on your device. Expenvo does not call Wells Fargo, and it does not promise the fee will be removed.
Questions
- Does turning 25 change the Wells Fargo age rule?
- Wells Fargo says the primary account owner being 17 through 24 can avoid the Everyday Checking monthly service fee. When that owner turns 25, age no longer avoids the fee. Another condition on the Everyday Checking page can still apply.
- Is the fee period always a calendar month?
- No. Wells Fargo says the fee period is the period used to calculate the monthly service fee, and that the details are on the Monthly Service Fee Summary on the statement.
- Will Wells Fargo remove a fee it already charged if I ask?
- They might, and they might not. Asking is a request. Nothing on this page says Wells Fargo has to waive a fee already on the statement.
- Can Expenvo tell me the fee will be $0 next month?
- No. Expenvo can list a bank fee that is already on a statement. It does not know whether you will meet a Wells Fargo condition in the next fee period.
Sources
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