General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhy it costs money to get your own money
Banks are in the business of making money, and a lot of it even if that means charging you to deal with money thats yours.
From ATM fees to overdraft fees to maintenance fees, banks have all sorts of ways of extracting funds out of consumers. You go to an out-of-network ATM for cash and wind up paying a few extra dollars. You dont have a ton of money in your checking account and notice your bank is charging you each month just to hold onto your (dwindling) funds. Maybe you screw up, accidentally try to spend money that isnt in your account, and you get slapped with a $35 overdraft fee. Or you dont have a bank account, need to cash a check, and the place where you do it winds up keeping a cut.
The whole thing can feel a little gross. Sure, banks are private businesses beholden to shareholders. At the same time, its hard not to look at the ways big and small theyre scooping up extra cash and think wait, what? Banks made $279.1 billion in 2021, up $132 billion from the year before.
One might want to question whether the amount of fees that are being charged are necessary to cover the costs, given those levels of profit margins, said Brian Shearer, senior adviser to the director at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), which recently launched an initiative to look into what it describes as junk fees from banks and financial institutions. One, they add up and they really can have a substantial impact on consumers pocketbooks, and, two, were concerned that they distort the competitive process and have hindered overall competitive forces in banking. The concern is that consumers arent able to effectively comparison shop because of practices such as drip pricing or hidden pricing that hide actual costs. Basically, if youre looking for a new bank and on the back end there are all sorts of fees you dont notice, you might not make the best choice for yourself and banks wont have to compete as hard for your business.
https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22969273/bank-fees-overdraft-atm-postal-banking
Johnny2X2X
(19,066 posts)I get 3% interest on my checking account at my credit union and I don't pay fees for much of anything.
underpants
(182,800 posts)Weve bought two cars and got the letter of credit to buy our house from the credit union and I have exactly $45 in that account.
Freddie
(9,265 posts)To watch for fraud and to monitor the balance, as I have all my bills on autopay and sometimes that takes the balance lower than I want.
underpants
(182,800 posts)Ever.
Changing banks is a hassle not just for switching over auto payments but because they keep bankers hours. Unless you work short or odd shifts you have to take off work to change banks.
Celerity
(43,349 posts)Demsrule86
(68,565 posts)the banks...you get ATM charges refunded. I know this because we have money from the sale of a house in various accounts and atm charges are refunded
doc03
(35,332 posts)The part is bad I get .01 % interest at the present time I am losing over 7% per year. MM mutual funds pay next to nothing. That is why the stock market has exploded for years, there is no place else to put your money.
What we are doing is still paying off the banks that failed in 2008.