Joint bank account - is this normal?

Question

I've recently opened a joint bank account with my fiancee. And yet, everything seems to be in his name, with me tacked on as an afterthought. Is this the normal way of doing things? If I were to move to a different bank (I'm not sure I like this one), would it be the same end result?

For illustrative purposes, today I went online to check my balance. I logged in with his username, had to answer security questions I'd never seen before about my fiancee's childhood, and was greeted by his name, all because I'm told there's no way to have two separate logins. His name appears either solely or first on every document as well. I registered my phone for text banking and it doesn't appear to let me register his (thankfully he has a smartphone and I don't, so he can download the app instead). It basically feels like it's his account that I have access to, like when I was underaged and my parents could access my account.

Answer 1

I believe different banks have slightly different experiences.

My wife and I have both joint and individual accounts.

When I sign in, I see Joint, Mortgage and Joe. When She logs in, she sees Joint, Mortgage, and Jane. It happens that the Mortgage and Joint accounts have her Social Security number attached. Aside from that, I don't feel like I am an afterthought.

Answer 2

I had a joint account at Chase, and each of us had own on-line login, and could access the account (each of us also had non-joint accounts in Chase, and with the same login we already had we could access the joint accounts, but not the other's non-joint accounts).

It seems like your bank is really backwards on this, change the bank.

By the way, in joint accounts you have the option of requiring both partners to sign on every document, so that every check or order you write will only be valid with both of your signatures. I don't know if that's what you need, but some may want that (it is quite uncomfortable, IMHO).

Answer 3

There are two ways that "joint" accounts work in most US states... an authorized user or a joint tenant.

For banks with older online systems, the first named user controls the online account. My wife and I have an account with a bank like this, and we use the account number as the username. Newer systems separate your identities from your accounts.

If you are not married, you really need to be cautious about keeping money in accounts where you are joint tenants, as there are very real financial and tax risks associated with doing that. Once money is deposited into the account, you both have full ownership rights on the money in the account. Also, you can get into a situation where you could have a gift tax liability.

Answer 4

For reporting to the IRS, every bank account has a primary tax ID number associated with it. When there are multiple joint owners, they (the owners) usually pick a person at random to be the primary, unless there is a large amount of interest involved, in which case I would suggest consulting a tax attorney.

As for the online banking, it depends on your institution's software. My institution allows every individual to have a separate ID; if this is important to you (and it would be to me), then look for another bank that offers it.

Answer 5

With the joint bank account my wife and I have (with Wells Fargo), I am able to set up separate log-ins for each of us. Check with your bank to see what you can do.