Do you pay bank fees....or not?

Jace

Jace

Well-known Member
Did you know....Banks collect$15.5 Billion in overdraft and similar fees.

Me..Not...quite careful.

You?
 

Careful so I don't have any fees. I get a lot of free services that others have to pay for because of my accounts. My credit card through the bank pays me cash back on purchases. I use that card for everything and have it set up for autopay every month. I never carry a balance that would result in interest charges.
 
I have to be very careful, to avoid them, and usually manage to, unless I must have something they charge for.
The fees for anything they do charge for, have grown a lot, so it's significant.
 
Most banks, if you are not chronicly overdrawing, will waive the occasional overdraft fee. You do have to ask tho. And many have plans that allow for automatic transfer from savings if you keep a good bit in savings because they earn interest and checking rarely do. (I have one of those).

One of things i like about modern tech is i can reconcile my checking account as often as i like, check to make sure payments have cleared. When stressed i'm more prone to small errors, tho they often are in direction that doesn't cause overdraft, but happy surprise i have a bit more than i thought.
 
I haven't paid bank fees in about 50 years...literally. After getting direct deposit when I was about 25, I no longer had to pay checking account fees. Also when I was in my 20's, I had already started building a good (now excellent) credit rating. When applying for cards with fees, I'd call and ask them to waive the fees and they did. Then more cards started being fee free and I have those now. I don't pay interest since I pay all my credit card bills in full each month. I'm sure I've saved several thousands over the years. In fact, we purchased our timeshare, interest free and that alone saved over $4,000. After two reps couldn't sell me, the manager came over, dropped the price to 1/3 of asking then I hit him with I'm Muslim and we don't pay interest (Riba)...which is true. He said if we paid it off in a year, it would be interest free and that's what we did.

Forward thinking: I very rarely use ATM machines but In case I'm ever out of town and need to use an ATM not connected with my bank, I opened a checking account to get a debit card from my brokerage because they refund all ATM fees, even foreign.
 
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Banks make most of their money from fees, according to an article I remember reading in Forbes Magazine. I like reading Forbes and even though I have a lot of respect for Steve, his Dad, Malcolm was quite the genius when it came to picking stocks. I think he was actually better than Buffett and his group. Steve doesn’t actually pick stocks like his dad did. He is more of a purveyor of information on different stocks or companies, if you prefer.

I got my start in investing by following Malcolm Forbes’s advice. Between Forbes and Peter Lynch’s advice, I did very well for a beginner. I always advise people, mostly younger people that are just getting started in investing, to read the book by Lynch “Learn To Earn.” The book kind of gives the new investor an inside look at investing and also talks about managing your investing strategies.
 
I haven't been charged any fees by Ally Bank. I think it is a wonderful bank. They sent me a letter saying my account was in overdraft and they waived the fee. That puzzled me. The next day, I got a letter saying they had made a mistake and were sorry. That's the first time I've ever gotten an apology from a bank!
 
Nada! Not this dud! I am a credit union member all my adult years. I have heard and read too many stories about regular banks leaving smaller communities, ripping off their customers and just being plain ordinary bad guys. They never listen to their customers until the story hits the media and then they spring into action. As for credit cards, I pay them off in a few days and never pay interest. He, he! I have read several stories about folks being "maxed out" on their credit cards. Gee? What gives with them folks?
 
No, I wouldn't deal with a bank that tried to charge me fees, the way I see it I'm doing them a favor by being a client. I even keep my adult children's accounts linked to mine so they have no fees either.

But I've also never overdrawn an account or paid credit card interest.
 

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