Can I tell the bank my debit card/check book was stolen?

If you lost your bank debit card and checkbook, you should notify your bank. The bank will deactivate the card number so that anyone who wrongfully possesses the card/checks cannot make fraudulent puchases. This also means that they will most likely issue you a new card (with a new card number) and, depending on how the bank operates, they will change you bank account number or close the old account and open a new one for you (transferring all the funds from the old account into the new account). The big hassle for you is to update all the payment information if you use automatic bill pay (using your account info) for paying some of your bills.

That will not always work. Usually, when they do that, they do not block preauthorized ach's, so the payday loan transactions will still go through.

Your best bet is to simply be honest with your bank. Tell them you got over your head with payday loans and need to stop the ach debits on your account, and you feel the best way to do this is to close the account and get a fresh start. Most banks will see this as an effort on your part to get control of your finances and will be more than willing to help you.

Which bank do you use? Some are easier to deal with than others. Perhaps we can share our experiences with you.

Quote:

:(

My work always complained about the problems and differences between the regular old educated consumer, and then the "over-educated consumer" ... apparently this is the sort of thing that they were referring to.

Thanks for the reponses everyone. I bank with Bank of America. I plan to close my account this week after my rent check clears (that always clears within a day or two). I've already opened a new bank account at a different bank.