Don't be ripped off…
July 27, 2007
christine has spoken
…by excessive bank charges!
We are fortunate, in that we chose NOT to use one of the overpriced, big-box banks around here. We were getting tired of all of the mergers…the bank we used to use kept merging into a a bigger bank, and every time, the fees for just having a basic checking account increased. This is why I recommend a smaller, local bank. The bank we use charges us NOTHING to have our checking account. They reward us for having Direct Deposit of Mike’s paychecks, which saves them time and money. And we mostly use the ATM at the bank, seldom do we go in and make people do stuff manually. So why should we pay upwards of $15/month to have our checking and current accounts, when we can get them elsewhere for free? Where do they get off charging all of this money, when it is all automated? Do yourself a favor and find a small, local bank that looks like no one wants to suck it up into a merger. That is what we did.
By charging high fees, the big-box banks make it unaffordable for lower-income people to have accounts. Sadly, in many neighborhoods, they have no choice. The banks often close branches there, and poorer people are stuck with even more expensive check-cashing places. It’s not fair and it’s not right!
Anyway…about excess fees…in some cases, it is possible to reclaim bank charges. If you feel you have been unfairly charged, it can’t hurt to dispute it, and maybe get your money back.
