Be Your Own Banker

Banking is not what it was fifteen years ago, or even ten years ago.  The cost of doing business has risen dramatically and it just isn’t cost effective to encourage in person banking anymore.  More and more banks are encouraging their customers to do business online.  Part of this is starting to charge fees for things that used to be free.  But how can you avoid these fees and still manage your finances with smart banking.

If your spending a lot of money in fees every month, first you need to examine the banking products you’re using.  This is things like cost checking accounts, high interest savings accounts, and other such things.  Most of these services charge a fee unless you meet certain requirements.  Maybe these services no longer meet your needs and you’re getting charged unnecessarily.  Meet with a banker to determine if there’s something else that would better suit you needs.

Try to determine if your using in person bankers for things that you may not need to be.  Part of smart banking is doing what you can by yourself.  If another human being is required to service you, this is highly expensive for the bank and there will likely be a fee involved.  So, if you just want to know your balance it will be cheaper for you to check it online or with the automated phone system.  This also applies for in person banking.  There will be more fees simply because it costs so much to hire, train, pay, and supply uniforms for the employees.

Also the type of transaction you use could be the problem.  Some banks are charging fees for check usage because so much more work is involved to process it.  Electronic transactions are much less expensive so likely would be fee free.  All you need for this area of smart banking is a debit card.  Anything done without actual paper if going to be much less expensive.  Educating yourself about your bank’s procedure is the best way to avoid unnecessary charges and bank online.