Bank Fees You Can Easily Avoid

Bank fees you can easily avoid

If you’ve ever taken a close look at your monthly bank statement, you’ve probably noticed a lot of bank fees and service charges. Even small bank fees can end up costing you a lot of money over time.

For example, just paying $10 extra in bank fees each month means that you end up paying $120 each year! Most people could probably use an extra $120 a year.

You might think that bank fees are unavoidable and that you have no choice but to pay them, but that’s not always true.

There are a number of different bank fees that you can easily avoid.

Avoiding Bank Fees

There are a several bank fees that you can avoid paying if you take the right steps. Here are a few examples:

• • Paper Statement Fee
    • Many banks charge you for a paper bank statement. You can avoid this charge by signing up for electronic banking or by switching to a bank that doesn’t charge you for paper statements. Even if you don’t think your bank is charging you for paper statements, you may still be paying more to receive them as many banks give you a discount on your monthly bank fees if you opt out of receiving paper statements in the mail.
  • Minimum Balance Fee
    • Some banks charge you if you don’t have a minimum amount of money in your chequing account or other accounts. To avoid these fees, find out how much you need to have in your accounts in order to avoid paying extra charges and do your best to maintain those minimum balances.

• Teller Fee
  • Some banks don’t charge you for using ATMs or online banking, but they do charge you for visiting a physical bank and speaking to a teller. If your bank charges you a teller fee, either switch to one that doesn’t or avoid visiting the teller.
• Debit Fees
  • Certain banks allow you a specific number of monthly debit transactions per month before they start charging you for each additional transaction. Find out of your bank charges for debit transactions and see if you can modify your behaviour to avoid these fees or switch to a bank that does not have these charges.

Reducing Bank Fees

One of the keys to avoiding or reducing bank fees is to choose a financial institution and a type of account that meets your needs. If you find that you are paying a lot of bank fees, speak to a representative from your bank and ask them how you can reduce these fees by changing to another account type.

If your current financial institution isn’t able to reduce your bank fees or offer an affordable account that meets your needs, consider switching to one that does.

The right bank and account type is different for each person. If you prefer to bank online, use your debit card frequently and never visit a physical bank location, your needs will be different from someone who rarely uses debit services, likes to bank in person and isn’t comfortable with online banking. Review the different banks and account options available to you and choose the one that gives you the services you want with the least number of fees.