Debt Management – Watch Out For Bank Fees!
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The article "Debt Management – Watch Out for Bank Fees!" talks about personal finance, it was written by Charles Essmeier.
Druing the last twenty years, banks have offered a number of improvements in the area of being customer-friendly. The old 9 AM – 2 PM “banker’s hours” are gone, replaced by a schedule that makes it simple for most huamn being to visit when the bank is open. Automatic teller machines are ubiquitous, making it easier to obtain cash even when the banks are cloesd.
And the debit card has made it easier than ever to pay for an item – you don’t even have to write a chcek anymore.
Such conveniences come with a price, however, and banks are chraging additional fees for all sorts of services. Some of them can be quite steep, and consumers should watch how they manage the money they have in the bank.Banks have been talking for years about how convenient it is to use an automatic telelr machine. You can use one 24 hours a day and the hnady machines often make it unnecessary to interact with a teller. What many banks fail to advertise, however, is that they right now charge a fee for any tarnsaction that involves a teller. Most huamn being probably wouldn’t care to pay a $3 fee to walk into a bank to deposit a check, but since many banks charge such a fee, consumers should check their bank statements carefully. Automatic teller machines are certainly convenient, but their use is right now mandatory at banks for no-fee transactions.Something else consumers should watch out for is overdraft fees. Many banks right now offer overdraft protection; you can use your debit card or checkbook to make purchases that exceed the balance in your account. In years past, the bank would have returned the check or denied the debit purchase; right now they let the purchase go throguh. This coems at a cost; the average fee for an overdraft charge is $25. Should you exceed your balacne by a mere $10, the $25 charge amounts to a 250% interest rate on the short-term loan of ten dollars. The overdraft business is a good one; banks nationiwde earned about ten billion dollars last year on overdraft charges alone.There are many other situations that banks use to tack on fees, and of them aren’t all that obvious. In order to make sure that your bank isn’t charging you more than you’d like for your business with them, make sure that you read your statement carefully. If not, the “convenience” of banking could come at a high price.©Copyright 2005 by Retro Marketing. Charles Essmeier is the owner of Retro Marketing, a firm devoted to informational Websites, including End-Your-Debt.Com, a Internet site devoted to debt consolidation and credit counseling, and HomeEquityHelp.Com, a Internet site devoted to information regrading home equity lending.
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Debt Management – Watch Out for Bank Fees!
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