Yes, my blog has another flavor that's not part of the bland 30beforeThirty project (or spicy as it has been this week with the Enchilada Pasta!)... it's the banking/finance part that I promised I was going to to talk about when I started this blog. So, I'm going to try to explain the recent appearance of debit/check card fees since I seem to be entertaining that question at least a dozen times a day for the last few weeks.
A lot of banks (particularly big ones) have altered their accounts to encourage you to consolidate your banking into one financial institution- meaning, we want your checking, mortgage, savings, credit card and whatever other financial needs you may have. Yes, it's a little selfish, but in the long run, I would have to agree, it's more beneficial to you (unless you've got some ridiculously irreplaceable rate on your mortgage or money market). The reason why is that with these "full relationship" checking accounts, you'll continue to enjoy some of the perks the banks are phasing out of that you received with your old account like free checks, unlimited ATM/check card usage, online banking, etc.
But WHY are they strongly encouraging you to make those changes and threatening fees?! The FED has been making a lot of changes with the debt consuming customer in mind which are supposed to limit the amount of fees to be assessed. Sometime earlier this year, the FED decided instead of the banks charging businesses .41 to .44 cents for each debit/credit transaction the customer makes, the bank could only charge .12 cents per transaction. And even that decision has been slightly modified. The current cap is somewhere between .21 and .24 cents. This means the profits the bank used to make from you just using your check card have been cut in at least half. To adjust, they've passed the charges on to us... yay! Not.
Most banks offer some way for you to get around that fee, so it never hurts to ask! It might require a minimum balance or maybe a direct deposit or online statements or any combination of specifics the bank wants you to enroll in. And since you asked for my two cents (because let's face it, you're reading MY blog) I'll let you know how I feel about the required stipulations. No one wants to be forced to do these things, but how many people really check their statement on paper anymore? Online is the way to go; be green. Save our planet for cryin' out loud! And who really wants to pick up their paycheck on their day off? Have it direct deposited (again save paper please!) and you can visit your stubs and deposits online to double check their accuracy.
Overall, I'm not really opposed to any of these changes as long as you're knowledgeable about what you have to do to keep your fees to a minimum (ummm, like balancing your checkbook).
Want to know more? Here are several articles about this change.
http://www.gainesville.com/article/20110824/ARTICLES/110829747/-1/news?Title=Banks-raise-fees-to-compensate-for-lost-revenue
http://www.ajc.com/business/debit-card-fees-could-1122638.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/30/business/30debit.html
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