Bank fees: costing you a small fortune?
Bank fees continue to get more expensive and new fees are introduced all the time. Australian households paid $2.7 billion in bank fees in 2002.
A third of those fees are taken from our deposit accounts. Between 1995 and 2002, the monthly account servicing fees charged by the major banks increased from $2 to $5.25. Over-the-counter withdrawals went from $1 to $2.50.
Banks are using increasingly complicated fee structures that make it extremely difficult to compare accounts. CHOICE thinks some fees are simply over-the-top, even if you use electronic, self-service banking. If you think bank customers deserve a better deal, read on. We�ll show you how to beat bank fees once and for all.
Depending on how you do your banking, it�s easy to end up paying hundreds of dollars each year in bank fees. Fees will hit you hardest if you have a low balance, make too many transactions each month, use ATMs that don�t belong to your bank, write cheques or withdraw money over-the-counter.
Watch out for one-off charges. If you write a cheque that bounces, for example, you may have to pay a cheque dishonour fee and a fee for overdrawing your account.
You’ll pay three main types of fees on an everyday transaction account:
- Account-keeping fees which are usually waived if your balance stays above a certain level.
- Transaction fees: There may be a number of free transactions each month or quarter, after which you�ll pay a fee for each. The cost depends on the transaction type. A significant one is that it usually costs more to use an ATM that doesn�t belong to your bank. The highest transaction fees are usually for over-the-counter
- withdrawals. Very few accounts offer free over-the-counter withdrawals.
- One-off charges apply for things like requesting a copy of your statement, unauthorised overdrafts, dishonoured cheques, express cheque clearance or a new cheque book. You may even pay a fee to get your account balance from an ATM.
There are now fees for phone banking (including Bpay) and Internet banking. EFTPOS fees are also creeping up.
Even if you take your bank�s advice and use the phone or Internet for most transactions, running a personal transaction account can still be very expensive.
It�s always worth looking for cheaper alternatives. For example, a prearranged direct debit is usually cheaper than using Bpay for regular repayments. Then again, you can no longer take it for granted that services like direct debits and credits are cheap.
Some bank accounts are definitely better than others, so it�s worth changing accounts if you think the fees you�re currently paying are too high.
The good news is that there are steps you can take to reduce fees or even stop paying them altogether.
Source Yahoo.com.au
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