Banking fees eating you alive? Let us help find you
a bank that will keep more money in your account and
less in their bottom line.
Is your money in your bank safe from their new fees
the top banks have imposed over the last few years?
Since all the mergers and small banks about to close
their doors from huge monopolies taking over all the
banks are looking for all the money they can squeeze
out of you. If you are sent a check and it bounces you
may have to pay a few of $20 or sometimes $35 (a greedy
bank in NYC). The check bounce is not your fault but
the unorganized person that sent it to you. The awful
thing is that the banks only incur an expense of around
$1 from that bounced check if even that much so why
do they have to charge your bank account?
The banks also have ATM fees that will eat you alive
unless you are using their ATMs or the supermarket stores
that use incentive machines with no-fees to bring in
your business. But we are all aware of the ATM fees
since its what we see all the time. We know of the cash
advance fees from credit cards and the extra ATM charge
we get on top of the daily accruing interest. But do
you know of the fees that some banks now charge you
if you close your account? Yes there are some banks
that charge you to close your account if its only been
onen for a few months. There are so many fees now that
cannot be stopped because of those fine print letter
we get in the mail all the time and the government allows
it. The fine print letters are normally telling us the
changes, privacy notices, and INCREASE and ADDITIONS
of fees. Look for these in a mailbox coming soon to
you and make sure you read all the terms and be aware.
Also, make sure you check out our website monthly and
watch which banks we consider the low fee banks vs the
high fee banks.
You will see us use Bank One or Chase for Credit Cards
but not for actual Banking. So don’t put all your
financial fun in one basket, just because they are good
with credit cards doesn’t mean they will be a
good bank to escape the checking fees. It is also those
small banks that really hit you wth charges. They thrive
off the local presence of small towns and smaller communities
where people do not have a major bank that has to compete
with things like “free checking”.
Tips on avoiding bank charges
• Make sure you check out several banks including
online banks before you open a new account. The bank
should be there to please you the customer. Research
on bank websites and compare.
• Do not be confused by all the banks that say
they provide “free checking”. It only means
certain balance or direct deposit, etc…
• If your opening up a basic checking account
make sure you balance your checkbook each month and
use their online bill pay to make recordkeeping easier
• Make sure you do not send too many checks per
month if you have a money market account or savings
account that may have a maximum amount before fees are
applied
• Keep in mind the bank does not have to be in
your neighborhood or town to have a bank account with
them. You can put you money in any bank in the US no
matter where you live in the US. Banking online is normally
the cheapest and less fees than a traditional bank and
they normally send you postage paid envelops to make
your deposits so you do not even have to leave your
home.
• Try and find out your banks ATM locations before
you withdraw or deposit funds to avoid extra fees.
• If a bank charges you a fee on your monthly
statement call their customer service and it was your
first time then call and ask for them to debit your
account that amount. They normally will do this as a
courtesy, especially when someone sends you a bounced check.
• Set up a savings account connected to your checking
account so you do not accidentally overdraft the checking.
It is easy to overdraft using your debit card and writing
checks and purchases add up fast.
• Keep your check ordering down to a minimum.
Who needs checks anymore? Use online billpay and only
write checks if a company takes no other form of payment,
even then you can normally use billpay because the bank
sends the check for you.
• Plan ahead when you open up an account. Know
your income and expenses knowing what kind of account
you can work with.
• Compare Banks
Online
Banking Links:
Help With my bank - a government site set up to explain some consumer questions such as fraud, forgery, interest rates, and bank fees.
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