Banks offer a valuable service that everyone should use to help manage their finances, however banks also try to force their customers to pay fees for a variety of reasons and paying fees is no fun! Because of this, Fix Your Credit Consulting wants to offer some tips that can help you avoid paying fees to your bank.
Checking & Savings Account Fees
Some banks charge a monthly fee for just having a checking or savings account with them, justified via some oddly specific policy. One common version of this is a maintenance fee that is applied whenever your account goes a whole month without a deposit, which can easily be avoided by setting up an automatic monthly transference between a checking and a savings account. But every bank is different, so be sure to ask a representative of your bank how you can avoid the standard checking or savings account fees that they implement.
Overdraft Fee
An overdraft fee is when you are spending money from your bank account in a sum that is more than you actually have available. For example, if you have $100 in your bank and write a check for $200, then you will have gone over the amount you actually have available and will incur an overdraft fee. The easiest way to avoid this is by keeping track of your expenses and available funds and not over spending!
ATM Fees
Most banks will charge a fee if you try to withdraw money from an ATM that is not affiliated with them (i.e. withdrawing from a Wells Fargo ATM if you do your banking with Chase). The simple way to avoid this is to just use ATMs that are owned by your bank, but this is easier said than done. Another option is putting as much of your spending on your credit or debit card as possible. If you have to withdraw from an ATM that will force you to pay a fee, be sure to withdraw a large sum at once to make it worth your while.
You can call Fix Your Credit Consulting at 877-212-2450 if you have any questions regarding your credit.