2011 ATX Transmitter Add-On Fee?

[Chowdahead]

Has anyone here determined what the ATX Transmitter Add-On fee will be for bank products this year? Last year it was $10.00 from ATX. Is it the same?

I just noticed that Santa Barbara raised their amount to $21.00, plus the $32 account handling fee. :angry:

[Eli]

Has anyone here determined what the ATX Transmitter Add-On fee will be for bank products this year? Last year it was $10.00 from ATX. Is it the same?

I just noticed that Santa Barbara raised their amount to $21.00, plus the $32 account handling fee.

According to ATX it's $21.00. $4 goes to the preparer & they keep the rest. Sounds like a pretty good shake down huh?

Eli

[Chowdahead]

According to ATX it's $21.00. $4 goes to the preparer & they keep the rest. Sounds like a pretty good shake down huh?

Eli

Where did you get the info from, customer service or the ATC Support Web Site? So this means that, right out the gate, any client looking for an Electronic Refund Transfer or Check will be paying:

$32 account setup fee (sbbtg)

+$21 bank technology fee (sbbtg)

+$21 transmitter fee (atx)

=$74 total fees, BEFORE any preparer fees!? This is getting absolutely ridiculous.

Is ATX still charging $15 for fee collect for direct deposit? Do they also charge the Transmitter fee on top of that as well.

[BulldogTom]

They did not charge the transmitter fee for Fee Collect last year. I don't think they will be charging it this year. That is why I changed to Fee Collect and dropped the bank products all together. It just does not make sence to pay the bank all those charges. Just MHO.

Tom

Lodi, CA

[Chowdahead]

I'm seriously considering signing up for FeeCollect because of these ridiculously high fees. My only problem is that I can't get through to ATX because of the weather.

Does anyone know if it's too late to sign up for FeeCollect? And If I already signed up for a Bank Product, can I rescind it and offer Fee Collect instead?

[BulldogTom]

That is exactly what I did last year. I dumped SBBT and signed up for fee collect. It took about a week to work out the kinks because when you have an application in to the bank, it screws with the fee collect application. I think I had to fax a couple papers to SBBT and ATX to get it going. It wasn't fun at first, but once they got it all squared away, it worked well.

Good Luck.

Tom

Lodi, cA

[HV Ken]

Where did you get the info from, customer service or the ATC Support Web Site? So this means that, right out the gate, any client looking for an Electronic Refund Transfer or Check will be paying:

$32 account setup fee (sbbtg)

+$21 bank technology fee (sbbtg)

+$21 transmitter fee (atx)

=$74 total fees, BEFORE any preparer fees!? This is getting absolutely ridiculous.

Is ATX still charging $15 for fee collect for direct deposit? Do they also charge the Transmitter fee on top of that as well.

This is why I dumped the bank products this season and opted to go with Fee Collect and the Western Union Prepaid MasterCard. I never did RALs and only had the bank products so I could collect my fees from their refund and print checks for the few clients who needed that. Now with the Western Union card, I don't need checks and Fee Collect can handle collecting my fees, all for a lower cost for my clients.

[Chowdahead]

This is why I dumped the bank products this season and opted to go with Fee Collect and the Western Union Prepaid MasterCard. I never did RALs and only had the bank products so I could collect my fees from their refund and print checks for the few clients who needed that. Now with the Western Union card, I don't need checks and Fee Collect can handle collecting my fees, all for a lower cost for my clients.

I finally got through to ATX Support and verified, multiple times, that the Transmitter Fee will still be $10 this year.

I am really on the fence with Fee Collect vs. RAC. I processed about 140 bank products last year, about 90 of which were printed checks. These are people who just don't have bank accounts, for one reason or another. Usually, it's because they owe a bank money due to an overdrawn account or uncollected overdraft fees. Once they owe one bank, they can't open an account in nearly any bank. So obviously, these are also the people least likely to pay if I bill them.

So, if I take the chance and offer Fee Collect, which I love because it's cheap, I take the risk of losing a lot of these unbanked customers.

By the way, there is a very lively discussion going on in the comments in this recent article on MSNBC about RALS:

http://redtape.msnbc.com/2011/01/tax-refund-loans-gone-replaced-by-other-bad-products.html

[Eli]

I finally got through to ATX Support and verified, multiple times, that the Transmitter Fee will still be $10 this year.

I am really on the fence with Fee Collect vs. RAC. I processed about 140 bank products last year, about 90 of which were printed checks. These are people who just don't have bank accounts, for one reason or another. Usually, it's because they owe a bank money due to an overdrawn account or uncollected overdraft fees. Once they owe one bank, they can't open an account in nearly any bank. So obviously, these are also the people least likely to pay if I bill them.

So, if I take the chance and offer Fee Collect, which I love because it's cheap, I take the risk of losing a lot of these unbanked customers.

By the way, there is a very lively discussion going on in the comments in this recent article on MSNBC about RALS:

http://redtape.msnbc.com/2011/01/tax-refund-loans-gone-replaced-by-other-bad-products.html

Thanks for clearing that up, Chowdahead.

Eli

[HV Ken]

So, if I take the chance and offer Fee Collect, which I love because it's cheap, I take the risk of losing a lot of these unbanked customers.

This is precisely what the new Western Union MoneyWise Prepaid MasterCard is for. This and fee collect, no need for "bank products" for unbanked customers.

[Chowdahead]

This is precisely what the new Western Union MoneyWise Prepaid MasterCard is for. This and fee collect, no need for "bank products" for unbanked customers.

I plan on attending one of the remaining webinars this week. My main concern about the prepaid mastercard are

1. Since the card is sent to the taxpayer, I am worried about dealing with claims for lost/stolen cards and fraud. if the card was sent to me, and I handed it directly to the client, it would be more attractive.

2. Although RACs have high fees, what are the options for people who want to access all the cash at once? ATMs limit transactions to $500 per day right? What is the ATM fee the client must pay per transaction?

One benefit I believe I read is that these prepaid cards may be offered even if the preparer is using bank products. Is this accurate?

[kcjenkins]

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Treasury-launches-debit-card-apf-3319072713.html?x=0

Treasury launches debit card pilot for tax refunds

Treasury launches pilot using prepaid cards for tax refunds; less expensive than refund loans

Eileen Aj Connelly, AP Personal Finance Writer, On Thursday January 13, 2011, 5:04 pm EST

NEW YORK (AP) -- Low-income taxpayers who don't have bank accounts will be able to get their tax refunds this year on prepaid debit cards supplied by the government, the Treasury Department said Thursday.

The department plans to send letters to 600,000 households next week, asking them to take part in a pilot program to put their tax refunds on the debit cards, which can be used to get money from ATM machines, pay bills or to buy goods and services from retailers.

The Internal Revenue Service is aiming to reduce the amount of paper it handles. To encourage taxpayers to file their returns electronically, for instance, the IRS is not mailing paper forms to taxpayers this year.

[HV Ken]

I plan on attending one of the remaining webinars this week. My main concern about the prepaid mastercard are

1. Since the card is sent to the taxpayer, I am worried about dealing with claims for lost/stolen cards and fraud. if the card was sent to me, and I handed it directly to the client, it would be more attractive.

2. Although RACs have high fees, what are the options for people who want to access all the cash at once? ATMs limit transactions to $500 per day right? What is the ATM fee the client must pay per transaction?

One benefit I believe I read is that these prepaid cards may be offered even if the preparer is using bank products. Is this accurate?

I would agree the best place for these answers is to attend one of the webinars. They are the experts! :)

[Lloyd Hudson]

I stay with fee collect, the western union card seemed attractive but I was told from multiple sources that it is considered a bank product and can not be used if you are using fee collect.

Also be aware that the transaction fee for western union is $1.75. If the tp uses it as a debit card then fees could be excessive.

I am aware that I am not their keeper but I do try to stay within moral bounds, (no RALS)