If you have dealt with banks, you might be familiar with seemingly endless fees for just about every transaction: When you open a savings or checking account, when you apply for a loan, when you request a hard copy of your banking statement or withdraw from the ATM.
You would understand the fees if you are dealing with a bank where you do not have an existing account.
Make sure that you always hold on to all receipts, passbooks, withdrawal or deposit slips, or any other documents from your bank. No system is perfect, and it is a common enough occurrence for banks to overcharge their clients. You need the correct records if you are seeking a bank fee refund.
How Much do Banks Earn from Fees?
So, going back to the question of why they are not waiving off their fees. The simple answer is that they earn so much from these charges.
At its essence, a bank earns for the storage service. When you deposit funds, you are supposed to pay a monthly maintenance fee. They may waive this as long as you keep a maintaining balance.
However, they will also use your money to invest and pay you back in the form of interest fees.
An article from CNN provides a glimpse of how banks earn from fees. For instance, in 2015, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo made a total of $6 billion from overdraft charges and ATM fees alone. Overdraft fee refers to the amount charged by the bank when you do not have sufficient funds to support the check you issued.
Banks also earn from the total fee income, which refers to the service charge for savings and checking accounts.
When you are charged for failing to maintain the minimum deposit balance, it goes into the total fee income. In 2015, another report said, the total income from deposit service charges reached $34.6 billion.
As you can see, they are not about to waive their transaction fees since these make up a considerable part of their overall income. The big banks stand to benefit from the sheer number of clients alone.
You do not think much about that $2 charged per ATM withdrawal. But they quickly add up when you are talking about hundreds of thousands of transactions each month.
How Can You Protect Yourself?
For the most part, you really have no choice but to bite the bullet. For instance, when you withdraw from the ATM from another bank, you will have to pay the $2 fee unless you are willing to brave the inconvenience of finding a machine owned by your bank.
With that said, there is a solution where you can save money from your bank fees. When you sign up for the services with an account, the app will immediately scan your transactions and identify areas where you can save money. The app manages to do this by negotiating with your bank.
Meanwhile, when the bank happens to overcharge for a service, the app will immediately alert you. As a result, you can demand a bank fee refund. For example, you may get refunds from credit card fees, overdrafts, interests, or wire transfers, among others.
These are some of the ways the app can help protect and save you a lot of money in bank fees.
