Do you offer Bank Products?

[mcbreck]

Don't think it works with my client base but just wondering how common it is in the market. (I'm talking refund bank products)

Met with a guy 2 years ago who offered them and it was a $50 fee which is an amazing interest rate for most people.

[Catherine]

Never have, never will. Cost to clients is totally outrageous.

[jklcpa]

No, agree with Catherine, and it isn't something my clientele would ask for or need. Heck, some of them don't trust direct deposit and want to wait for that check in the mail.

[mcb39]

Never would consider.  My husband doesn't offer them in his business either.

[BulldogTom]

I did when I first started out.   After a couple of years I was no longer comfortable offering to my clients.   E-file took off about the time I gave it up and refunds started coming in 2-3 weeks.  The cost of a 2-3 week loan just seemed exorbitant to me and I felt yukky being part of the transaction.

Tom
Longview, TX

[Corduroy Frog]

A rip off to my customers.  Never have, never will.  In fact, I've even lost customers because I didn't offer the RALs.

I remember a truck driver telling me he just bought a rig..  He had a $1500 refund, and wanted me to write him a check instantly for about $1200 because that's what HRB told them they would do.  I told him to go back to HRB if he wanted to pay that much.  He couldn't wait the 10-11 days it would take for the e-file to get his money back.

Then he had the nerve to ask me if I thought he would make a great living driving his new tractor-trailor truck.  I was frank with him and told him he would never be able to pay off the $90,000 he borrowed because he didn't have any clue about how finances work.

[Patrick Michael]

The people who need the money the most end up paying outrageous fees to get their money back a couple of weeks early.  Never offered them. 

[schirallicpa]

I just cannot believe the number of people who pay HRB for money that they would get in a couple of weeks anyway.  I offered to take my fees from refunds a few years ago and NYS stopped you from being able to do that.  Big Brother here always so helpful.  But I never have offered the early refunds.  It's nuts how much it costs and is completely unethical in my opinion. 

[BrewOne]

Treasury report from last week stated that 22 million taxpayers used some sort of bank product last year.  I thought those days were long gone.

The report also faulted the IRS for not warning taxpayers about the fees...There should be fair warning, but I think the IRS has enough to do already.

[Sara EA]

Way back in the day when I worked at Block, I found you could get on your hands and knees and beg clients not to go for a bank product, usually to no avail.  I'd point out that for the exorbitant fee you could buy a couple of weeks of groceries or a tire for the car.  (That really was back in the day.)  Maybe a few really did need the money now because the rent was overdue, but I think the majority were EITC recipients and the refund was free money to them so it didn't matter if they got $3k or $2700 because either amount made them a lot richer than they were.