Banks Are Tricky And Getting Trickier.
Money is a scarce resource these days, and the last people we want to give it to are the banks and credit card companies. There are many hidden charges that they take advantage of. I thought that exposing a few of their tricks would be helpful.
LET ME KNOW HOW MANY OF THESE YOU HAVE FALLEN VICTIM TO:
1. Be aware of BANK FEES.
2. Credit Cards charges will kill you.
3. Credit Cards will really kill your College Student children.
4. Taking a trip out of the country? Your bank and credit card company are happy.
5. Keeping your money in the bank? It may be better off elsewhere.
6. Online banking is the way to go, but watch out for certain problems that will cost you money and create more fees for the bank.
For details read on >>>
1. Beware of those BANK FEES” – Check your bank statement carefully. With a failed mortgage market, banks are looking for reliable revenue streams. Hence punitive fees for overdrawing your account,, or for using a competitor’s ATM are increasing. Do you wonder how you are told that you are overdrawn and are charged a fee? Watch for this trick. Banks will change the order in which it pays charges to your account. If the large debts get paid first, that increasing the likelihood that you will be overdrawn when they get around to multiple smaller purchases.
2. Credit Cards will kill you. Regardless of what your credit card agreement says, you can never be sure how much interest banks will charge you. For example, nearly all cards have a default rate. Banks can raise your interest rate to as high as 30% when you’ve done something wrong, usually after two late payments in 12 months. Some banks have cut that to one late payment. Worse is the fact that banks can also change the terms of your agreement, raising your interest rate whenever they like.
Watch your bills see when they post charges, when you have to pay by, and calculate if they are charging you interest even though you pay on time. Be aware of what rate of interest you are paying on the unpaid balance, and when and for what you are incurring “additional fees.”
3. If you have a student in College – the banks are happy to issue them credit cards which they can’t afford. Banks make millions on the unpaid balances, late fees, and minimum payment system that students use because they fall further behind each month. You need to make sure your child is not living on a credit card.
**Note: If you or your child are making the minimum payment required in order to not have late fees, this payment is calculated by the credit card company so that you will never pay off your bill, and you will keep accumulating interest charges each month.
This is the time to consider a low interest, tax deductible home equity loan to pay off these high interest debts that you’ll never pay off any other way.
4. Taking a trip out of the country? – Your bank is very happy. Check in advance how your bank handle overseas transactions. Is there a fee attached to each transaction? Take out cash from an ATM overseas, and you’ll get hit with a foreign-transaction fee, plus a fee for using a competitor’s ATM. It can cost up you $10 just to withdraw $200.
Overseas credit card purchases aren’t much better. Visa and MasterCard charge 1% of the purchase price for converting currency. And the issuing bank may take another cut, which can bring the total to 3% of your purchase price.
5. Keeping your money in the bank? It may be better off elsewhere.
Banks offer lots of interest bearing vehicles (savings and checking accounts and CD’s, but you will usually find a better return elsewhere. Beware of banks that do financial planning, brokerage services and even insurance. They often charge higher fees than independent companies that specialize in those services.
6. Online banking is the way to go, but watch out for certain problems that will cost you money and create fees for the bank.
Online banking has changed the way we handle our finances. We pay bills online, transfer funds, track payments and get a more detailed view of our bank accounts than ever before. This is great, but unfortunately, it may not always show the proper balance.
Online bank statements will show deposits before the money is actually available for use in your account. Banks can sit on deposits. An out-of-state check may take up to five days or longer to clear. Using your credit or debit card to reserve a hotel room or rent a car, for example, can put a hold on funds that you think are available for use. Add to that the constant reordering of the payment of debits that we have already talked about, and you have a false picture of the balance in your account.
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