It seems like a few weeks ago I saw an ad on tv for a bank that had no fees for overdraft. I believe it was exclusively online. Has anyone out there ever heard of such an animal as a bank with no overdraft fees?
When you’re shopping around for a bank account there are a lot of factors to consider. Many people go for up-front incentives, such as money paid into the bank account, vouchers or a gift. However, it is worth looking at bank accounts in more depth to find out what you might be paying for various transactions. Here are some of the transactions that banks might charge you for.
Authorised Overdraft
An overdraft is like a short term loan. The bank gives you permission to spend more than the funds you have in your account. This amount is usually fixed in consultation with the bank and may be reviewed at stated periods. Some banks have a free authorised overdraft up to a certain limit and charge for any balance over that limit. This is the best way to arrange an overdraft.
Unauthorised Overdraft
When customers spend more than they have in their accounts without arranging an overdraft limit, this is known as an unauthorised overdraft. Banks penalise customers heavily for this by charging an unauthorised overdraft fee of more than £35 in some cases. The excess spending will also be charged interest at a higher rate than normal.
Cheque Services
Some banks charge for clearing cheques more quickly than the standard period (this can range from three to seven days depending on the banks involved and the day of the week). There may also be fees for processing cheques in a foreign currency.
Taking Money Out
Sometimes customers need to set up direct debits, where companies take certain sums from a bank account each month. They may also wish to set up standing orders, where they arrange to pay a certain amount to another bank account or company each month. Some banks charge a setup fee for these services. . It is also worth looking at the daily withdrawal limit on a current account. This can vary widely depending on the bank you choose.
Other Bank Charges
Banks may also charge for other services such as:
setting up a loan facility changing or issuing foreign currency writing cheques that exceed the cleared balance in an account stopping a lost cheque
Banks will also charge customers if they have to write to them about an infraction of bank rules, such as exceeding the overdraft limit or defaulting on loan repayments. This means that defaulting customers have to repay the debt as well as the additional charges.
Doing some research could save consumers a small fortune in bank charges. In addition for looking for incentives, consumers should look for banks that keep their charges as low as possible. With a bit of digging, it is easy to find banks with:
an automatic overdraft limit for which there is no charge free standing orders and direct debits free transfers between banks low unauthorised overdraft fees low charges for other bank transactions
Choosing a bank that fits this profile will help with overall financial health.
I just went over 26 cents yesterday and this is the first time. How much will they charge exactly?
I went to the Bank of America website and found that for the first time, it’s $20 and $35 for any subsequent occurences. Is this true? If not, I’d like to know for sure.
I called my bank because my checkbook got stolen they put a stop payment on my checks that was 36.00 will I be charged that for each check they stop payment on or is that a one time fee?
Hi friends.
I lady I know paid my with a check. I deposited into my bank account. She bounced the check and my bank charges my $15.00 why??
Help ! I do not understand.
Thanks.
If you have bad credit, then banking and using financial products can be hard. However, there are ways that you can bank with bad credit and still get the features that you want. Also, if you have good credit there are some actions you can take that will easily ruin your credit score and reduce your ability to get the deals that you want. Here is some advice on banking with bad credit, and how to make sure your credit rating isn’t affected by your banking decisions
Disputing your credit report
One way to ruin your credit rating is to dispute all of the items on your credit report. Although disputing items that you know to be wrong is a good idea, some people try and dispute all items because unless the agency responds within 30 days they have to remove it. The problem with this is that if all the items on your report are removed, a bank or lender doesn’t know if you are a good or bad borrower. They will not take the risk and so you will be left unable to get the financial products that you want. To avoid this, only dispute items on your credit report that you know to be inaccurate or false.
Not paying bills on time
Another way to hurt your credit rating is to pay your bills or bank fees late. If you do this then your credit report will show that you are unreliable, and the interest rates and fees that you are charged are likely to increase. Although it isn’t always possible, try and pay your bills on time. Using an online bill paying system can help you to keep track of when you need to pay.
Bad credit affects your banking
If you have bad credit, then it will affect all aspects of your banking. Your bank is likely to be much tougher on you if they know that you are unreliable or have bad credit. You will be charged higher rates, and you will have limited access to features. Having bad credit will reduce the chances that you can get a competitive credit card and loan from your bank. Although you can still use a bank, having bad credit will harm your ability to use your bank to the fullest.
Improving your credit
There is no easy way to improve your credit, and the best thing to do is to simply pay your bills on time and then when you have the opportunity to borrow, do so cautiously and make sure you borrow only enough to show the bank you can be relied upon to pay the money back. If you are with a bank a long time and show them you are reliable, then you are more likely to get a better deal.
Switching banks
If your credit problems are behind you but you still think that your current bank is giving you a poor deal, then maybe it is time to switch banks. If your current bank won’t reward you for your loyalty, then a new bank might reward you for switching over to them. Even people with bad credit are welcomed by banks as new customers, and so it pays to regularly shop around for the best deals. Although banking with bad credit can be tricky, if you stay financially stable and are willing to look around for a good deal then you will get the level of service that you require.
Bank customers getting assistance from ‘no win no fee’ lawyers because of overcharging has sparked debates on the necessity of legal help.
Reports from banks show a large increase in customers attempting to claim back charges that were made for going overdrawn. However, some firms acting on the customers behalf have been taking up to 25% of reclaimed money.
A Which? Spokesperson said: “There’s no reason to use a claim handling firm for bank charges.
“They have no extra powers or persuasive abilities and we’ve heard of some firms taking between 20% and 40% as fees. If you can do this process yourself, why give away almost half of your money?”
The claim handling industry argue that their clients prefer additional help with administrative tasks such as filling in forms for the small claims court.
Philip MacDonald, managing director of Phoenix Financial Recovery, said: “If you are confident and have that kind of personality, then you can win it back yourself.
“However we think there’s a reasonable niche market of people who don’t want to have to issue a court summons or deal with it, and would rather have someone to hold their hand through the process.”
Banks have tried to find fault with applications leading to them being thrown out and they routinely make smaller offers added Mr MacDonald. Incorrectly filled in forms could lead to cases going to court when they do not necessarily need to.
Despite this the advice from the British Bankers Association is to contact the bank.
Lesley Mcleod, director of retail at the BBA, said: “There’s no need for an intermediary.
“The best thing for a customer to do if they have a complaint or query about fees is to get in touch with the bank themselves.”
‘No win no fee’ contracts are a kind of conditional fee agreement that is traditionally associated with injury claims but now has a wider scope such as claiming damages from banks.
With this type of contract a solicitor will help form a case for their client and, should they win, the legal fees incurred are paid by the opponent. However there could be other charges that the client has to pay if the case is successful. These might include payment for reports from experts consulted during proceedings and advice from other legal experts.
If a case is lost a client will not normally pay anything to their solicitor but will have to cover the legal fees of the opponents lawyer. They may also have to pay for their own costs and expenses.
Clients can protect themselves from some costs by taking out Legal Expenses Insurance. This comes in two types: Before the Event Insurance and After the Event Insurance.
Before the Event Insurance is paid as a monthly premium along with an insurance policy. Should an event happen needing legal help expenses are usually covered.
After the Event Insurance covers costs should a client lose their case. It is offered to those following the event and would ensure that those making the claim are not liable for the opponent’s legal fees because their insurance company would pay.
Although using a bank is the most common method of storing and accessing your money, there are some alternatives you should consider. If you feel that your bank isn’t giving you what you want, then perhaps it is time for a change. Here are some banking alternatives that might be able to offer you the features and services that you require.
Why use a bank?
Of course, the main reason to use a bank is the fact that banks are widely available, and they are the first option that comes to mind when dealing with finances. In fact, some people aren’t even aware that there are alternatives to banking apart from keeping your money at home. Although banking has its uses, it can cost you money for day-to-day financial matters that you can get for less. Bank fees can be extremely expensive, but there are some alternatives.
Credit unions
Credit unions are one alternative to using conventional banks. Unlike banks, credit unions are not for profit organisations that are run by their members. Credit unions are used by people who share a workplace or occupation, or even a religion. They offer many of the same services as banks, but because profit is not their main function they can offer lower fees and higher interest rates on savings than normal banks. Credit unions can be fairly large and organisations, and some offer similar levels of convenience to a regular bank. If you are looking for cheaper fees and better interest rates on savings then a credit union might be right for you. However, credit unions are still small compared to banks, and you cannot simply join the credit union of your choice. You have to meet their specific requirements or be related to someone who is already a member in order to join. Also, you generally have to save money with a credit union before you can have access to other financial products.
Online banking
Perhaps the best alternative to traditional banking is online banking. There are many banks that operate solely online, and there are a lot of benefits to this sort of bank. Although you might not be able to get money as easily as you could with a normal bank, you can transfer funds and pay bills much more efficiently. Also, online banks usually operate all day every day, meaning that you can access your account and carry out transactions whenever you want. For paying bills and transferring money, you can’t really beat online banking
Combining accounts
Although there are viable alternatives to traditional banking, perhaps the best way to save yourself time and money is to have a combination of accounts. If you are eligible for a credit union, then saving with them is probably the best option as you can get great rates and you might be able to borrow money at a much more reasonable rate if you need to do so in the future. You could combine this with an online account to pay your bills, as this allows you to pay bills quickly and manage your money more effectively so that you always pay on time. Thirdly, having a traditional bank account is usually a good idea, because if any problems arise you can go to your bank and speak to someone face to face. If you look around at all the alternatives to regular banking then you could save yourself money and make banking work more effectively for you.
Any business that intends on accepting credit or debit cards needs to have a merchant bank account. Furthermore, any business that wants to succeed in today’s highly electronic and technological society needs to accept credit cards in their business. In past years, accepting credit cards was an option that stores had, and one that was only exercised by big retailers and companies that could afford the expense of a merchant account. Even still today, there are some local shops that don’t accept credit cards at all, and some other businesses that have a minimum payment amount for their credit card processing, so that it is feasible for them to accept credit cards.
Having a merchant bank account will afford you the privilege of accepting payments for your services and products in electronic form. Credit cards and debit cards will become part of your accepted payment methods, and you’ll usually pay a minimal set up fee, along with transaction fees for each card that is swiped. When you accept a payment, the charge will be sent to your merchant bank account. At that point, the bank will issue a charge to the customer’s bank or credit card company, and deposit the funds into your account. However, those funds that you receive will be less than the actual sale, because the merchant bank will take out their fees and processing costs before giving you your part of the money.
Generally, these fees are minimal, although for small companies they can be a huge expense. This is why so many smaller companies have a limited acceptance of credit cards. For example, if it costs them a dollar or two for every transaction processed, and they only make a $5 sale, accepting a credit card payment for that tiny amount can seem pointless. Therefore, some companies with a merchant bank account will limit their acceptance of electronic payments to cut down on their expenses and their profit loss related to these transactions.
If you are an internet business, you are required to have an international merchant account in most cases. Unless you specifically state that you only sell products within your country, and do not sell to anyone outside of that area, you will need an international merchant bank account to do your business. With a freestanding business, you can have an international account if you are in a location where a lot of offshore customers frequent, but it isn’t a necessity. Having a merchant bank account of some kind will afford you the ability to better serve your customers and increase the amount of business that you receive, no matter what type of business you have.
With so many products and services getting more expensive these days, surprisingly there are some things we can still avail for free. One is the free internet banking service offered by most banks. By free, it means not paying any fees at all in doing certain financial transactions.
People are always attracted to free services. The urge to grab the opportunity is even greater if the service being offered pertains to the management of their hard-earned money. This is where free internet banking services fulfill an important need in the financial aspect of people’s lives.
So what does free internet banking really mean? This type of service generally does not charge fees when you do your financial transactions on a particular bank’s website such as when you open a savings account or pay your credit card bills. Other activities you can do without the fees include viewing your account balance and history, account statements, cancelled checks as well as downloading your transaction history into Quicken or Microsoft Money software.
A great feature of this service is that you can easily get alerts as important as well as suspicious transactions take place on your account unlike when you’re just transacting at a bank’s local branch office. Some banks may offer banking alerts that can be customized. Customers are given the ability to choose where to send your alerts whether through email or text messages to your cellular phone or any other mobile gadget. They can also request their balance to be emailed on a regular basis and specify the types of alerts they’d like to receive.
Bill payment is another free service offered by online banks. This allows consumers to send payments to anybody from your doctor to your child’s school and your power company. By simply adding their names and other vital information to your account, you can already view, change or cancel your payments online.
Most internet banking services also enable you to manage your credit card account. With this feature, you can monitor the activities on your account as well as pay your bill and get your statement online. Some may even allow you to transfer other account balances to your bank credit card.
Self-service features are additional come-ons. You can use them if you wish to change some personal information such as your home address or mobile phone number. The other uses include requesting to stop a check payment or reordering checks for your free accounts.
If you’re still utilizing the traditional banks in managing your finances, maybe it’s time to think about trying the free internet banking services. Using the internet to handle your money not only guarantees your utmost convenience but also offers you a lot of unique features that simplify the transaction process. No need to question the security aspect as every bank makes sure to provide a safe banking environment on the web to all its customers using the most advanced technology.
Customer support is also provided round the clock, seven days of the week so you can get help right way in case you encounter problems. Just keep in mind to choose a reputable bank and do some research beforehand.
