Stop Bloating: All the Additional Bank Fees You Can Avoid
If there is one thing that banks love, it is that they charge you extra for stupid things and hope you don’t notice. Don’t let greedy banks forget you. Here are some very common fees that are easy to avoid.
Fees are one of the worst offenders in spending money. It might not seem like a lot, but they can pile up quickly, are easy to avoid, and don’t do you any good – they’re wasted money. Anyone with a bank account can get rid of these fees with a little effort, and this is one of the first steps you should take to get your finances in order.
Commissions on your bank account
We all need checking accounts, and most of the time they are free … unless you withdraw too much money, have enough money, or accidentally pay someone money that is not there. Basically, if you don’t have money in your bank account, the banks will gouge you out. Fortunately, most of them can be avoided with a little research – and if they do start paying you, you can turn them off with a simple phone call.
Overdraft Fees and Credit Card Late Fees: Overdraft fees are probably the most well-known of bank fees. In the first three months of this year, the three largest banks earned $ 1.1 billion in overdraft fees . Sometimes you just don’t understand how much money is in your account and write a check that sends you a negative result. So, naturally, banks charge you for lack of money – often up to $ 35 apiece .
A simple solution? Stop overdrafting and learn to better manage your money . If you’re still struggling, set up a low balance alert on your account so you know when your account is running low .
Of course, mistakes do happen anyway, and you might overspend from time to time. Provided you don’t overdrive too often, a simple phone call to your bank can fix this problem. The bottom line is simple: call and ask to waive the overdraft fee. If they refuse your request, please indicate how long you have been a regular customer. In most cases, they charge the fee right away. “I Will Teach You to Be Rich,” author Ramit Sethi wrote a great script that you can follow to do just that .
You can also opt out of overdraft protection, which means you will opt out of checks, but the fees are usually much lower. Talk to your bank to find out how to do this.
The same goes for credit card late fees. If you pick up the phone, call your bank and ask them to waive the commission, they usually will, provided you don’t do it every month.
The easiest way to avoid these fees is to qualify for a free checking account. Every bank is different, but let’s take Bank of America as an example . To opt out of the monthly fee, you need to: have at least one direct deposit of $ 250 or more per month, maintain an average minimum balance of at least $ 1,500 per month, or be a member of the reward program.
Maintaining a $ 1,500 balance isn’t easy for everyone, but most of us probably have a direct deposit of at least $ 250 from work. If you don’t, or your employer doesn’t support direct deposit, you can send yourself money using an online service like Square Cash, Venmo, or Paypal . This appears in your account as an ACH transfer, which is considered a direct deposit and should be free of commission. However, if you’d rather skip this entirely, try contacting an online bank or credit union instead – most of them don’t charge you such fees.
Minimum balance and service charge. Many banks offer you a checking account free of charge, but require that you keep a certain amount of money in it – the so-called “minimum balance”. If you do not, you will be charged about $ 12 per month for maintaining an account (called a “service charge”).
Returned Check Fee: It is common knowledge that if you discard a check, you will receive a fee (which can often be refunded by following the same steps as for overdraft). What’s even more frustrating is when you get charged a commission because the check you deposited bounces when the sender doesn’t have the money to back it up. Banks usually charge about $ 7 per check and are listed under the “Processing Fees” section.
Again, you can usually waive these fees by calling. In I Will Teach You To Be Rich, Sethi asked the bank to withdraw fees with a simple statement , “I would like this to be withdrawn.” That’s it, they charged the $ 7 fee.
Customer Service Fee
It’s actually pretty easy to find a no-fee ATM these days. If you have not yet installed it, download the application for your bank’s smartphone. Most of them have an ATM search option, so you can easily find the nearest free ATM, which is awesome.
Alternatively – and this is even the best option – there are many banks out there that will refund all your ATM fees , so it looks like you never paid them. Switch to one of them and you will never again worry about ATM fees.
Sometimes it seems like banks are trying their best to be uncomfortable. Do you want to withdraw money from your account at an ATM of another bank? Pay your commission. Want a paper statement by mail? Pay your commission. Did you accidentally send it to the wrong address? Pay big commission. Fortunately, these accusations are incredibly easy to avoid – you just need to know that they exist.
ATM Fees: The ATM fees are pretty well known, but that doesn’t make it any less annoying. If you use an ATM that is not owned by your bank, you will be charged a fee by both your bank and the ATM company. If you use ATMs a lot, this builds up quickly.
Paper Statement Fees : This may sound ridiculous, but some banks charge you $ 1 or $ 2 for paper statements. Among the large ones are TD Bank, US Bank and a number of regional banks. Unfortunately, there is really no other way but to subscribe to paperless statements (which you receive by email) or change banks. However, if you don’t need paper statements, it only takes a couple of minutes to subscribe to paperless statements on your bank’s website. All banks are different, but usually you’ll find the link on your main account page.
Return Mail Fee: Moving is already hard enough, but forgetting to change your bank address can get expensive too. If you receive paper statements, a number of banks, including the Bank of the United States and many regional banks, do not allow forwarding of statements, and when they are returned, you will receive an unexpected non-delivery commission of $ 5 to $ 15. The fix is simple: don’t forget to change your bank address.
Other commissions due
You probably knew about some of the above – they may even have noticed you before. But there are tons of other fees you might not know about. You can be turned down or at least reduced in price if you know what to do, but sometimes it’s just about getting ahead of them and not being surprised by the fees.
Overseas Transaction Fees : When you travel overseas, your bank charges two fees: one conversion fee for ATM withdrawals and another fee for each time you swipe your card. We talked about this in our guide to road tolls , but it’s worth repeating here because they can add up very quickly if you’re on vacation.
To avoid these fees, you need to prepare. If you travel a lot, choose a credit card that does not charge any foreign transaction fees ( there are quite a few ). Banks charge you between 1% and 3% for your credit or debit card transaction, so call them before you travel and use the card with the lowest fees.
When it comes to ATM fees, most major banks have partner banks where you can withdraw cash for free. Just make sure you research ahead of time so you know where to go.
Credit Card Interest Rates : We all know that there are interest rates on credit cards. This is just part of the deal, right? Ideally, you shouldn’t have a credit card balance at all, but if you have any debts, you can negotiate your interest rate. The Washington Post notes that a phone call is often enough to bring down the interest rate . The older you are, the more likely the phone call will ring. Only 33% of people aged 18-29 were able to lower their interest rate, but 59% of people aged 30-49 were able to, and 79% of people aged 50-64 were able to lower their interest rate. However, this script should help you with this.
Termination of Fees: Sometimes you need to cancel a check. Perhaps you wrote the wrong amount, or the check was lost in the mail. You can call your bank and cancel this check, but it will cost you it. Each bank differs slightly in terms of commission, but usually it ranges from $ 30 to $ 35 .
Like many of the other fees on this list, your magic bullet is a phone call. If you are a regular customer and do not ask for payment checks to be stopped very often, you can call your bank and ask them to waive the commission. Depending on your bank, you may be able to delete it.
Bank Transfer Fee: It costs … well, more money to transfer money to and from your bank account. Most banks charge around $ 15 for incoming bank transfers and $ 25-30 for outgoing transfers. This builds up pretty quickly if you move money around a lot.
Fortunately, it’s 2015 and bank transfers are no longer needed. In most cases, you can send money to other people or companies using the service without additional fees. It should be as fast as a bank transfer.
Banks love commissions, and even when you know about them, sometimes it’s hard to track them down. Luckily, a tool like Mint will give you a breakdown of your monthly fees, so it’s easy to track. When a new one appears, you’ll know what to do to remove it and make sure it doesn’t happen again.