Lower Bank Fees with These Tips

Tired of paying high banking fees for nominal services? Higher charges and hidden charges for services combined with increasing penalties have most banking customers looking for a better way to handle financial transactions. These tips will help you pay lower banking fees while maintaining the same level of services.

Stop Paying Overdraft Protection Fees

Bank customers used to be automatically enrolled in overdraft protection programs and charged a monthly fee for the protection, but that changed last year. Now banking customers have to ask for, and of course pay for, overdraft protection. Instead of paying a monthly fee for overdraft protection, link your checking account to another line of credit, like a savings account, so the bank will automatically transfer funds to cover an overdrawn checking account. The bank will charge a small fee for transferring money between funds, but it will be far less than an overdraft charge, which can reach up to $75 per overdrawn check. The one time transfer fee (per transaction) will be less than paying a monthly overdraft protection fee as well.

Easy Tracking Trick for Debit and Credit Purchases

Whipping out the debit card or credit card makes shopping easy, but it also makes keeping track of purchases difficult. The ease of buying also makes it easy to overspend and rack up overdraft fees. To avoid overdraft fees and keep spending within budget, make a paper 'sleeve' for your debit or credit card so you can keep track of purchases as you make them. Cut a small piece of paper and fold it around the debit or credit card, leave both ends open and tape the middle. Write down each purchase on the paper sleeve when you swipe the card so you can keep a running total of expenditures. The card will slip in and out of the paper sleeve easily when needed.

Avoid Human Conversation When Paying Bills

We all hate being put on hold, pressing '1' for English, and all the other keypad hoops we have to jump through when trying to handle a financial situation over the phone. However, having no human conversation saves on banking fees. Pay any bill online or by phone, and banks are not allowed to charge a fee, unless you talk to a human, like a customer service rep, then the bank can and will charge you. Some banks will even charge you a fee to talk in person to one of their bank's tellers. Avoid human conversation and check your bank statement for these sneaky banking fees.